Delirious LA

work and writings in urbanism by Alan A Loomis

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Tag Archives: Union Station

Glendale Connected

January 19, 2017by Alan Loomis Leave a comment

Glendale Connected is a proposal advanced by the City of Glendale for a series of regional transit routes that individually and collectively integrate Glendale into the larger regional transit system and link the City to nearby destinations such as Burbank Airport, Union Station, Pasadena and the Media Center.

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City of Glendale, Citywide Plans, Mobility Plans, Work

From Tokyo to LA

August 1, 2014by Alan Loomis Leave a comment

Fronting for UNIQLO, or how Godzilla inspired me to make great cities.

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1/3 Charles Moore’s contribution to the UC Irvine campus, the domestically scaled Extension Education Center, is inspired by the three chapels of San Gregorio in Rome. In fact, as Moore himself admits in the essay “The Qualities of Quality,” the triparte elevation design featuring a scalloped baroque centerpiece flanked by paired arched facades, is a near literal copy of the 17th Century Roman precedent. (As seen in the etching by Giuseppe Vasi). Approached via a set of scalloped steps and sitework, more elaborate than in Rome, the building likely felt more monumental when first built than today now that it is surrounded by the multi-story boxes of the Business School, Law Library and nearby Social Sciences Parking Structure. 2/3 Behind the ochre-colored baroque facades of Moore’s UC Irvine Education Center, are simple gable-roofed buildings containing offices and classrooms. Here the unity of the main facade(s) dissolves into a collection of loosely arranged structures around a loosely defined central courtyard flanked by shed-roof post-and-beam arcades. From this perspective, where the baroque facades read as clear false fronts, the architectural inspiration seems more cowboy western than Roman. As is often the case with Moore’s more experimental work, the quality of the architectural finishes and details is also a little cowboy western. 3/3 The baroque centerpiece of Moore’s UC Irvine Education Center is flanked by a pair of rambling buildings that create a piazza of sorts, delineating a promenade and pathway leading to/from the larger campus. Indeed, one of the structures bridges over the pathway with a low-slung postmodern archway, marking a gateway to this strange quasi-Roman fragment within the UCI campus. Like many of the forgotten corners of Rome, the legibility of this odd little California piazza is now obscured by overgrown landscaping and sycamore trees. One suspects Moore would be pleased. The typology and culture of Parisian cafes is most wonderful.

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