Offbeat South L.A. bus tour follows in the steps of architecture critic Reyner Banham
"I learned to drive in order to read Los Angeles in the original" -Reyner Banham, Architecture of Four Ecologies (1971)
WHAT: Esotouric presents "Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles: South Los Angeles" architecture & urbanism bus tour
WHEN: Sunday, September 7, 11am-4pm
COST: $58, or save $25 on four tours with a Season Pass
WHERE: Departs from Philippe's downtown, tour covers Vernon, Bell Gardens, Santa Fe Springs, Downey, East L.A.
INFO: http://www.esotouric.com, 323-223-2767
Turning the notion of an L.A. architecture tour on its ear, Esotouric's latest bus adventure delves deep into the uncharted wonders of South Los Angeles, where some of the city's most compelling and unexpected landmarks rub elbows with stucco taquerias and seemingly endless sprawl. Inspired by the British architectural critic Reyner Banham, who Esotouric's Richard Schave and Kim Cooper studied under at UC Santa Cruz, the four tours in the REYNER BANHAM LOVES LOS ANGELES series (South LA, Route 66, The New Chinatowns and The Many Downtowns) offer a fresh way of looking at the urban web of history, mass transit, migration and mystery that somehow holds L.A. together.
This Esotouric bus adventure begins downtown and works its way south through Vernon, Bell Gardens, Santa Fe Springs and Downey, and through the past two centuries, exploring some of L.A.'s seldom-seen gems. The bus goes into areas not traditionally associated with the important, beautiful or significant, raising issues of preservation, adaptive reuse and the evolution of the city from Spanish ranchos to the 'burbs. The locations all speak to the power, mutability and reach of the Southern California Dream.
Tour stops include:
Pueblo del Rio (1942). The first African-American housing development in LA,this mass-produced International Style public project was partly designed by Paul Williams and Richard Neutra.
The Gage Mansion (1808). The oldest adobe structure in L.A. County, this fascinating home sits in the middle of a 65-year-old trailer park on the banks of the Rio Hondo River in Bell Gardens. Between the layers of context at this site is the history of migration and growth in the Southland, from Spanish land grants to the dust bowl to the vast waves of stucco suburbs.
The Clarke Estate (1919). A recently rediscovered masterpiece by tilt-slab concrete innovator Irving Gill, this Mission Revival-inspired dwelling features symbolic leaves pressed into the walls and feels like a time capsule from a simpler California.
The Downey Space Plant (1929-present). It began as airplane factory carved out of a castor bean field and grew to be the hub of North American Aerospace development, before being sold off in pieces in the early 2000s. Currently it's a motion picture sound stage. Is the only long-term solution for this awe-inspiring, 160-acre space a vertically-integrated condominium and retail development?
East Los Angeles Train Station (1932). A prominent location in the 1946 film "The Postman Always Rings Twice," it was built to deal with congestion and overcrowding in the existing downtown terminals. Currently a picturesque Mission-style ruin in the shadow of the wacky Citadel shopping center, will it rise again as the rail lines reassert themselves?
Johnie's Broiler (1958/2008). A cautionary tale about historic preservation, this beloved Downey diner with its landmark neon sign was illegally demolished by a renter who wanted to park use cars in its place. The site was barred from further commercial use due to public outcry, and is now being restored as a Bob's Big Boy.
These are just a few of the extraordinary buildings and stories we'll explore on the South L.A. edition of "Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles," Esotouric's unique architectural tour series.
Upcoming Esotouric bus tour schedule
Thurs Aug 14 - The Hippodrome (Downtown LA Art Walk Shuttle, free
Sat Aug 16 - The Real Black Dahlia
Sat Aug 23 Skylight Books - John Fante's Dreams from Bunker Hill
Sat Aug 30 - Crawling Down Cahuenga: Tom Waits' LA
Sun Sept 7 - Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles: South LA
Thurs Sept 11 - The Hippodrome (Downtown LA Art Walk Shuttle, free)
Sat Sept 13 - Blood & Dumplings
Sat Sept 20 Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles: The Many Downtowns
Sat Oct 4 Bodhi Tree Visionary Hollywood
Thurs Oct 9 - The Hippodrome (Downtown LA Art Walk Shuttle, free)
Sat Oct 11- Vroman's Bookstore - Raymond Chandler's LA
Sat Oct 18- Raymond Chandler's Bay City
Sat Oct 25 Halloween Horrors with Crimebo the Clown
For more info on Esotouric, please visit http://www.esotouric.com
For more on Reyner Banham, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reyner_Banham
And the BBC documentary "Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles" http://reyner.notlong.com
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