I'm sure you're aware by now that I have a little bit of a love affair with architecture (an amateur one, sure, but it's still alive and kicking), and I suppose some might try to put me in the 'hipster' category - yes, okay, so I like a good gentrified market/vintage stores/oversized spectacles, but that doesn't make me hipster. I'm way too much of a conformist for that. Anyway, both of these characteristics have led to my falling hard for the old buildings in Downtown LA.
In fact, I love everything about Downtown: the wide streets; the way that the silhouettes of the buildings cut into the sky and soften the light; the way it reminds me of a quieter, emptier, cleaner Joburg/Cape Town CBD (ML, you would love this place); the markets; the cafes; the way it's divided into districts (flower district, fashion district, jewelry district); Grand Central Market; the Art Deco buildings, particularly The Eastern building; the old theatres; and The Bradbury.
We drove through the flower district - store after store filled with enormous bouquets of roses - found some parking in Spring Street ($3 an hour), and mosied up and down Broadway Avenue, which is the main strip in Downtown, I think. We still have no stove, so we went to Grand Central Market for a late breakfast at the Eggslut (isn't that just the funniest name for a breakfast place?). They have delicious orange juice, and egg&bacon combos. Both R and I LOVE eggs (so she's not at all like you, B) and have a whole bunch in the fridge that we can't use on account of the stove situation, so we were ecstatic to be able to have a nice eggy brekkie.
I also really like the ceiling and lights in Grand Central Market - industrial and stripped down.
Across the road from Grand Central Market is the Bradbury building. I don't know if any of you remember the scene at the end of 500 days of Summer, when Joseph Gordon-Levitt (that's his name, right?) meets Autumn at his job interview? Well, that scene was shot inside the Bradbury building. From the outside, the building looks a bit boring and unassuming, but we went inside and it is just BEAUTIFUL. Take a squiz.
It's got a greenhouse ceiling and the staircases are all exposed and go up and up and up. If I could own any building, it would be the Bradbury or the Eastern (see below).
This is the entrance hall to The Eastern. We couldn't go inside because they were filming a scene for the TV show 'Revenge', so keep your eyeballs glued to the next season of Revenge, AB and BT.
Downtown LA is experiencing a period of revival and rediscovery. We spoke to a shop clerk in a shop in the Eastern Building, and she told us that the area is seeing a sudden influx of businesses and people moving back into the district, particularly Broadway Avenue and Spring Street. R backed this up. I think it's fantastic that this part of town, which is utterly exquisite in my opinion, will once again be busy and bustling, even though I enjoyed the almost tranquil and empty state that it's in now. The only thing is that there are many homeless people living on the streets of Downtown LA, and with the gentrification of a suburb, you often see the displacement of its current residents. We see this a lot in Johannesburg, and it makes me sad for, and angry on behalf of, the nomads who'll have to pick up and move off when the young hipsters decide that they want to reclaim a forgotten district. Call me a bunny-hugging hippy if you like, but it's something to think about.
In other totally unrelated news, I start classes tomorrow which is incredibly nerve-wracking and exciting at the same time. I need to finish my reading for it so I'll love and leave you here.
xx
ps: my furniture is being assembled, and the stove delivered, as we speak, so by the time most of you wake up, I'll finally have a complete nest and we'll be able to make our own dinner. R and I just did a little victory dance. Stay tuned for the next instalment of pictures.