The Theme Building is a structure at

Los Angeles International Airport Los Angeles International Airport is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles and its Greater Los Angeles, surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of California. LAX is located in the Westchester, Los Angeles, Westcheste ...

(LAX), considered an architectural example of the

Space Age The Space Age is a period encompassing the activities related to the space race, space exploration, space technology, and the cultural developments influenced by these events, beginning with the launch of Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, and co ...

design style. Influenced by "

Populuxe Populuxe was a consumer culture and aesthetic in the United States popular in the 1950s and 1960s. The term ''populuxe'' is a portmanteau of ''popular'' and ''luxury''. Description The style evoked a sense of luxury with the design of consumer ...

" architecture, it is an example of the

Mid-century modern Mid-century modern (MCM) is a movement in interior design, product design, graphic design, architecture and urban development that was present in all the world, but more popular in North America, Brazil and Europe from roughly 1945 to 197 ...

design movement, later to become known as "

Googie Googie architecture ( ) is a type of futurist architecture influenced by car culture, jets, the Atomic Age and the Space Age. It originated in Southern California from the Streamline Moderne architecture of the 1930s, and was popular in the U ...

". In 1993, the city designated the exterior and interior of the Theme Building as a historic-cultural monument.

Architecture

The distinctive white building resembles a

flying saucer A flying saucer, or flying disc, is a purported type of disc-shaped unidentified flying object (UFO). The term was coined in 1947 by the United States (US) news media for the objects pilot Kenneth Arnold UFO sighting, Kenneth Arnold claimed fl ...

that has landed on its four legs. The initial design was created by James Langenheim, of

Pereira & Luckman Pereira & Luckman was a Los Angeles, California architectural firm that partners Charles Luckman and William Pereira founded in Los Angeles in 1950. They had been classmates at the University of Illinois’ School of Architecture and had each becom ...

, subsequently taken to fruition by a team of architects and engineers, headed by

William Pereira William Leonard Pereira (April 25, 1909 – November 13, 1985) was an American architect from Chicago, Illinois, who was noted for his Futurist architecture#Post-modern futurism, futuristic designs of landmark buildings such as the Transamer ...

and

Charles Luckman Charles Luckman (May 16, 1909 – January 26, 1999) was an American businessman, property developer, and architect known for designing landmark buildings in the United States such as the Theme Building, Prudential Tower, Madison Square Garden, ...

, that also included

Paul Williams Paul Williams may refer to: Authors * Paul Williams (Crawdaddy) (1948–2013), American music and science fiction journalist; founder of ''Crawdaddy'' and the Philip K. Dick Society * Paul Williams (Irish journalist) (born 1964), Irish journalis ...

and

Welton Becket Welton David Becket (August 8, 1902 – January 16, 1969) was an American modern architect who designed many buildings in Los Angeles, California. Biography Becket was born in Seattle, Washington and graduated from the University of Washingt ...

. The civil engineer was Richard Bradshaw. The appearance of the building's signature crossed arches as homogeneous structures is a design illusion, created by topping four steel-reinforced concrete legs extending approximately 15 feet above the ground with hollow

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

-covered steel trusses. To counteract earthquake movements, the Theme Building was retrofitted in 2010 with a

tuned mass damper A tuned mass damper (TMD), also known as a harmonic absorber or seismic damper, is a device mounted in structures to reduce mechanical vibrations, consisting of a mass mounted on one or more damped springs. Its oscillation frequency is tune ...

without changing its outward appearance. Constructed near the beginning of the

, the building is an example of how

aeronautics Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design process, design, and manufacturing of air flight-capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. While the term originally referred ...

and

pop culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...

, design and architecture came together in Los Angeles.

History

The original design for the airport created by Pereira & Luckman in 1959 had all the terminal buildings and parking structures connected to a huge glass dome, which would serve as a central hub for traffic circulation. The plan was eventually scaled down considerably, and the terminals were constructed elsewhere on the property. The Theme Building was subsequently built to mark the spot intended for the dome structure, as a reminder of the original plan. The building construction contract was awarded to Robert E. McKee General Contractor, Inc. of El Paso, Texas. The structure was dedicated on June 25, 1961, by Vice President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

. The

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the Legislature, lawmaking body for the Government of Los Angeles, city government of Los Angeles, California, the second largest city in the United States. It has 15 members who each represent the 15 city council ...

designated the building, which lies within the Westchester neighborhood of the city of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, a historic-cultural monument (no. 570) in 1993. A $4 million renovation, with

retro-futuristic Retrofuturism (adjective ''retrofuturistic'' or ''retrofuture'') is a movement in the creative arts showing the influence of depictions of the future produced in an earlier era. If futurism is sometimes called a "science" bent on anticipat ...

interior and electric lighting designed by

Walt Disney Imagineering Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, Inc.—commonly referred to as Walt Disney Imagineering, Imagineering, or WDI—is the research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation, design, and construc ...

, was completed before the Encounter Restaurant opened there in 1997. Visitors are able to take an elevator up to the Observation Level to get a 360-degree view of arriving and departing planes. An airport spokeswoman said that because of its appearance and views, some people thought it revolved after visiting it, even though it did not. After the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, the Observation Level was closed for security reasons. Following a $12.3 million restoration of the building completed in 2010, the observation level re-opened to the public on Saturdays and Sundays starting July 10. Additionally, on September 9, 2003, a permanent memorial honoring those who perished in the attacks of September 11 was opened on the grounds of the Theme Building. The Encounter Restaurant closed for business in December 2013 with no future plans to reopen. The reason cited was that the restaurant was in a non-secure area of the airport, so travelers were reluctant to spend time there when a possibly lengthy security checkpoint lay ahead, or leave after being screened and have to go through security again upon returning. The observation level of the building was then open on weekends until 2016 when its schedule was reduced to one weekend per month, before closing permanently in September 2018. Previously, the restaurant had been closed for repairs in March 2007, after a piece of the stucco skin on the upper arches crashed onto the roof of the restaurant. The restaurant reopened on November 12, 2007.

Delaware North Companies Delaware North is an American multinational food service and hospitality company headquartered in Buffalo, New York. The company also operates in the lodging, sporting, airport, gambling, and entertainment industries. The company employs over 5 ...

Travel Hospitality Services operated the restaurant. In 2018, the Bob Hope

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

at LAX relocated to the ground floor of the Theme Building, opening a 7,100 square foot facility described by its president as "the most technologically advanced USO in existence."

References

External links

Theme Building
– via USC * via Emporis {{Authority control 1961 establishments in California Buildings and structures in Los Angeles Buildings and structures completed in 1961 Landmarks in Los Angeles Culture of Los Angeles Googie architecture in California Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments Los Angeles International Airport Modernist architecture in California Towers in California William Pereira buildings Westchester, Los Angeles Retrofuturism Paul Williams (architect) buildings

Architecture

History

See also

References

External links