"In a dérive one or more persons during a certain period drop their relations, their work and leisure activities, and all their other usual motives for movement and action, and let themselves be drawn by the attractions of the terrain and the encounters they find there. Chance is a less important factor in this activity than one might think: from a dérive point of view cities have psychogeographical contours, with constant currents, fixed points and vortexes that strongly discourage entry into or exit from certain zones. - GUY DEBORD 1958, Theory of the Dérive
This piece relates to the situationist 'Dérive theory.'
For Postopolis! LA, I would like to do a Los Angeles 'drive by,' as we call them, here, in a car...
Let us say and imagine, in Los Angeles, urban scale "planned points of interests" are indeed constellations. They are places in this vast metropolis. They are formed by the grid, by the politicians and their supporters, developers, engineers, and, as far as the buildings go, the architects.
Separated by mere 15 miles and sometimes as close as the next lane, urban core of Los Angeles is indeed 'the house of everything.' All the variables contrasted and occupied. The grid goes for hundreds of sq. miles. These special constellations let us to assume, experience, imagine and expect while driving. They are vortices of our stories in an horoscopic sense. These are the lines of our reality and the reasons of our act.
Your next friendly gathering, cultural outing or errand, you drive by these constellations... There are thousands of them...
MAP SHEET: 111B157 - RANCHO LA BALLONA
CONSTELLATION NICK NAME: FROG
INFORMATION / OBSERVATIONS
Time: 10;30
Weather: Sunny and clear
Walkability: Yes
Lot sizes: Variable sizes and shapes, large plots observed
Vegetation: Very good, nice shades, well kept yards
Architecture: Well designed new houses with wood siding and substantial older homes in Craftsman and Spanish style. Low construction activity with one near completion residence in artisan style. Few contemporary and recently finished homes observed.
Accessibility: Open to public
Population: Mostly middle class professionals, blue collar retirees, mixed age and race.
MAP SHEET: 129 B 137 - BRENTWOOD PARK
CONSTELLATION NICK NAME: ELLIPTIC LOVE BY
INFORMATION / OBSERVATIONS
Time: 11;15
Weather: Sunny and clear
Walkability: Yes
Security: High
Lot sizes: Variable sizes and shapes, upscale large plots
Vegetation: Very good, nice shades, well kept public property
Architecture: High end homes in Mediterranean, ranch and contemporary styles with considerable construction activity in near completed projects.
Accessibility: Open to public with around the clock private patrol and over 8' fences.
Population: Mostly executives, upper class with sparks of ethnic mix. Average five to ten domestic employees, including nannies, handyman, housekeepers, gardeners, dog walkers, chauffeurs. No property owners encountered, except a man and a women seemingly meeting incognito behind the large sun glasses in a watchful manner. A middle aged women with a maid uniform observed walking a large white dog.
WILL ROGERS PARK, BEVERLY HILLS
CONSTELLATION NICK NAME: SEXTed
INFORMATION / OBSERVATIONS
Time: 11;45
Weather: Sunny and clear
Walkability: Yes
Security: High
Lot sizes: Variable sizes and shapes, upscale large plots
Vegetation: Very good, nice shades, well kept public property
Architecture: High end homes in Mediterranean, ranch and contemporary styles.
Accessibility: Open to public with security around the clock by Beverly Hills cops.
Tennis court & swimming pool count: +,- 1 : 1, average tennis court size with clearances; 7200 sq. ft.
Population: CEO's, intense tennis players and swimmers. Average ten domestic employees, including nannies, handyman, housekeepers, gardeners, dog walkers, chauffeurs. No property owners encountered. A group of middle aged women were picnicking in the park with nannied children and lunch truck adding color to otherwise busy and unfriendly intersection. Tourist bus drop off with a notorious public bathroom where a popstar caught doing a lewd act (see 4.1.1 Los Angeles incident.) The park's Wikipedia presence exists.
Personal comment by me: "Wow, this is really an octopus rather than a starfish."
MAP SHEET: 135B177, METROPOLITAN TRACT, LA BREA PARK
CONSTELLATION NICK NAME: RUGTOWN SUPREME
INFORMATION / OBSERVATIONS
Time: 12;15
Weather: Sunny and clear
Walkability: Yes but under utilized. You can walk to Natural History Museum, which is much more beneficial to public, instead of, ever expanding "my art can beat your art" type of donor fed LACMA.
Security: Semi high to high.
Lot sizes: Variations on the octagon and square. Super block to garden apartments. Designed in early 40's when drafting templates were kings.
Vegetation: Very good, nice shades, well kept public property with European style circles with flower beds, thanks to condo fees.
Architecture: Designed as public housing. Here is a quote from Wikipedia that explains all:
"Park Labrea was designed in the early 1940s by Architects Gordon Kaufman and J.E. Stanton. Inspired by the innovative housing of Le Corbusier in Paris, this architectural team set out to create multifamily housing in a new way. Garden Townhomes followed an innovative plan that placed blocks around common green space, in a way that gave the impression of a spacious back yard. Landmark Towers, in a revolutionary "X" structure with a unique placement, became icons of the Los Angeles skyline. The ingenious design plan insured that every unit enjoyed expansive views."
Accessibility: Semi open to public. High rise blocks are gated, more down to earth two story housing with shared courtyards accessible to curious people.
Managed by a real estate company.
Population: A lot of transplanted New Yorkers (info from personal sources), old tenants from 70's who still pay low rents, metrosexuals with modern furniture. Average 1 telescope per unit on the high rises. Wikipedia presence exists. Vast Google information available under La Brea Park. Some open spaces were used by home remodeling workers eating lunch.
MAP SHEET: 132B173, ORLANDO AND LA JOLLA
CONSTELLATION NICK NAME: A-MEN
INFORMATION / OBSERVATIONS
Time: 13; 00
Weather: Sunny and clear
Walkability: Yes
A Mid Town constellation of beautiful duplexes with generous sq. footage and charming modern and Spanish fronts with a flat roof above the scenes. A residential gem of a neighborhood. Easily accessible from La Cienega, Pico, Olympic, San Vicente, Fairfax.
The neighborhood seems like an owner occupied multi units zoning. Very close to where we had lunch.
Amen. Great neighborhood to live in LA. Observed few available rental units. The guy who was smoking cigarette in front of his apartment knew the girl walking her little white puddle.
A multi race, multi color neighborhood.
-------------------------1/2 Hour LUNCH-----------------------
LA Burger
-------------------------1/2 Hour LUNCH-----------------------
MAP SHEET: 114B177, BALDWIN HILLS
CONSTELLATION NICK NAME: DON, DON QUIXOTE
INFORMATION / OBSERVATIONS
Time: 13; 30
Weather: Sunny and clear
Walkability: Yes, no walking person encountered.
Population: Middle class black neighborhood with many well kept multi family housing stock at the bottom of the hill. The view from the well maintained neighborhood is breath taking looking toward North, from Pacific Ocean to Downtown and further East. Unusually quite time of the day. Most meandering hillside streets are named with 'Don' prefixes.
Here is a brief description from the black mystery novelist Paula L. Woods:
"When Baldwin Hills was developed, a lot of the streets were given Spanish names--maybe to honor the Mexican landowners who sold the property to real estate speculator Lucky Baldwin in the early 1900s, maybe to sucker the early Anglo buyers into thinking they were part of some exotic, early California past. So the streets were christened with names like Don Lorenzo and Don Zarembo. Don Diablo and Don Quixote. There were so many that by the time black folks integrated Baldwin Hills in the sixties everybody just called the whole area "the Dons."
Lance Mitchell lived in a fifties-style ranch house at the end of a cul-de-sac on Don Alegre. Happy was not the word I would have used for the tired one-story structure with its faded paint job, white burglar bars on the windows, and crime tape stretched across the driveway."
MAP SHEET: 102B193, FLORENCE AND NORMANDIE
CONSTELLATION NICK NAME: CHECK!
INFORMATION / OBSERVATIONS
Time: 14; 30
Weather: Sunny and clear, considerable increase in radiant heat level due to less vegetation on the ground.
One of Los Angeles' historical intersections marking the start of 'LA Riots' after the acquittal of LAPD officers in a Simi Valley Court.
Florence and Normandie still has the burden of urban weight on it.
There, proudly stands ART'S CHILI DOGS on its cardinal location, the cook continuously surveying the corners from this strategic spot.
Mostly young people observed on the streets, almost all of them students. School children were observed widely using public transportation systems. This is one of the City's most unemployed neighborhoods. All the improvements in the area show that the uprising had a major role of drawing the politicians' attention into the area.
City's investment into the infrastructure visible in corridors parallel to metro rail. I am happy to report the calm continues after this 2002 NPR report.
A quote from Maxine Waters (D) on the 1992 LA Riots;
"If you call it a riot it sounds like it was just a bunch of crazy people who went out and did bad things for no reason. I maintain it was somewhat understandable, if not acceptable. So I call it a rebellion."
MAP SHEET: 090A215, FARRIS TRACT, WATTS TOWERS
CONSTELLATION NICK NAME: GRAZIE!
INFORMATION / OBSERVATIONS
Time: 15; 15
Weather: Sunny and clear, very pleasant.
Ah, the memories. remembering the school years where no constellation was beyond the limits!
Read;
SAM (SIMON) Rodia was born on February 12th, 1879 in Ribottoli Italy.
Rodia's older brother immigrated to the United States in 1895 and settled in Pennsylvania where he worked in the coal mines. Rodia followed his brother a few years later. Little is known about his early life in the United States except that he moved to the west coast and found work in rock quarries and logging and railroad camps as a construction worker.
He lived in Pennsylvania, Washington (Seattle), California (Oakland, San Francisco and Martinez), Texas (El Paso) and again in California (Long Beach).
In 1921, after having lived in Long Beach since 1917, Rodia purchased the triangular-shaped lot at 1761-1765 107th Street in Los Angeles and began to construct his masterpiece, which he called "Nuestro Pueblo" (meaning "our town"). When he was asked why he made the towers, he answered "I wanted to do something big and I did it."
There are so much story and documentation behind the 'GRAZIE,' but Simon Rodia's eventual moving forward from the towers and never looking back, trumps all the speculations and facts about this wonder of the World. I have one word for Mr. Rodia, a.k.a Sam, "grazie!"
MAP SHEET: 129B185, VICTORIA PARK
CONSTELLATION NICK NAME: 'PROBE'
INFORMATION / OBSERVATIONS
Time: 15;45
Weather: Sunny and clear.
MAP SHEET: 132A203-1335A203, MC ARTHUR PARK AREA
CONSTELLATION NICK NAME: ARTHURS
INFORMATION / OBSERVATIONS
Time: 16;00
Weather: Sunny and clear.
On a personal note I would say a lot about this constellation. Before I went to Langer's on the corner of Alvarado and 7 th., I used to buy paper McManus & Morgan.. To the North of Langer's, stood a World Savings Bank by one of the locals, Eric Moss, which partially burned down and damaged and eventually demoed. It was mainly interior design job with po-mo pastels exterior stucco. No big loss there. I, with a demoed bookstore to my name in 1990, understand...
In the middle, Mac Arthur Park is divided by Wilshire Blvd's 1/6 th. full curve slicing Arthur to Arthurs, connected via a under the bridge tunnel.
Back then, in mid 80's, working in nearby Granada Building, I would go see a show at Otis Art Gallery on South Park View, which in itself was LA's smallest museum, arguably and in my opinion. The art school, Otis/Parsons, as commonly called then, was located next to Elks Club Building, where I went to many parties with bands on giant lobby and on the second floor to the right of giant stairs. Side-across is the American Cement Building with its most adored prefab concrete screen, whose El Salvadorian night club in the basement is probably long gone, so as the art school, since moved to Westchester near LAX.
Who else I didn't thank yet? Yes, La Fonda's restaurant, H.G. Daniels art and drafting supplies, American Red Cross Building, apartments where they partially shot the movie "Grafters", artist Alexis Smith for lighting up one of the signs on top of a historical building, Granada building on Lafayette Park Place, LA's original live-work artist studios, Lafayette Park itself, nicely sited CNA Building, held by its triangulated feet on NW corner of the park, down the street Bullock's Wilshire, Tallmadge Apts. Etc... Wait, there is more, back to Arthur, now demolished artist colony of an old period building with a giant window arch., edging the So. side of the lake. Beautiful studio lofts there, on all 7-8 floors.
This area is definitely one of the most senior of Wilshire Blvd's few centers and history.
Note of this section, from 'The City Observed: Los Angeles,' one of the best guide books on LA architecture and urbanism, written by Charles Mooore, Peter Becker and Regula Campbell:
"With the increasing comfort and speed of the transportation, California is fast becoming a winter playground of the leisure class of Americans. I have no doubt that when we have socialism, and the place of man's abode will be determined by his will rather than as it is now by his job, Southern California will be the most thickly settled part of the American continent." - H. Gaylord Wilshire (1861-1927), "a capitalist, socialist, monopolist, and golfer of Los Angeles," as well as the namedaddy of the Wilshire Blvd...
We turn left on the Vermont Blvd. northbound and end up in Griffith Observatory. Looking back, one can see as far as where the 'GRAZIE!' would have been.
Drive by is done. Six hours. 16;30.
Date; March 24, 2009
Special thanks to Bora Barut for joining me throughout the drive by.
Google Earth was intensively used in preparation of this piece.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
