Wilshire Beverly Center
- Architect
- Victor Gruen
- Year
- 1962
- Style
- International Style
- City
- Los Angeles, CA
The Wilshire Beverly Center opened in 1962 on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Beverly Drive, designed by renowned architect Victor Gruen (1903–1980) and built by the Buckeye Construction Company under founder George Konheim (1917–2001). The International Style tower spans 184,000 square feet over nine floors, with three levels of underground parking below.
the building
Cold War basement. The three levels of subterranean parking were designed with Cold War contingency in mind, engineered to shelter as many as 4,000 people for fourteen days in the event of a nuclear attack.
the style
Gruen's International Style design gives the building a street-facing facade at the corner of Wilshire and Beverly that reads as a clean commercial modern landmark.
More on International Stylethe architect
Victor Gruen (1903–1980) was a renowned architect whose work is associated with typological innovations in commercial design.
significance
Over the years the building has housed the largest Bank of America branch in the United States, served as headquarters for airline companies, and operated as a medical center; it currently houses a Chase bank branch.
nearby
- Anderton Court Shops
- Beverly Hills City Hall
- Beverly Hills Main Post Office
- The Century
- Century Plaza Hotel
- Memorial Branch