Los Angeles County Hall of Records
- Architect
- Richard Neutra
- Year
- 1962
- City
- Los Angeles, CA
The Los Angeles County Hall of Records, at the northern edge of the Civic Center, was designed by Richard Neutra with Robert Alexander and completed in 1962 in the International Style, at an estimated cost of $13.7 million in 1961. It replaced an 1911 Hall of Records that stood just to the south and was demolished in 1973 after officials determined that moving and renovating the older building would cost more than building new. What was originally planned as two separate structures, one for record storage and one for workers, was combined by Neutra and Alexander into a single T-shaped tower.
the building
Louvers and screen. The building's exterior uses louvers similar to those on Neutra's Kaufmann Desert House, and a decorative screen to their right, designed by sculptor Malcolm Leland, works ornament into the otherwise strict modernist facade.
The T-shaped plan. Neutra and Alexander merged what were meant to be two separate buildings, one for storing records and one for office workers, into a single T-shaped tower with odd-numbered floors on the north side given double-height ceilings.
the style
The Hall of Records is an example of International Style architecture, reusing a signature Neutra device, the horizontal louver, that he had already deployed at the Kaufmann Desert House.
the architect
Richard Neutra, a historically significant modernist architect, co-designed the Hall of Records with Robert Alexander.
More on Richard Neutramore by Richard Neutra
nearby
- Los Angeles City Hall
- Spring Street Courthouse
- Pico House
- Caltrans District 7 Headquarters
- Higgins Building
- Walt Disney Concert Hall