National Building Museum - Overdrive: L.A. Constructs the Future, 1940–1990

 

Overdrive: L.A. Constructs the Future, 1940–1990
Exhibition open until March 10, 2014 at the National Building Museum in Washington DC.

 “Every city has had its boom, but the history of Los Angeles...should be regarded as one continuous boom punctuated at intervals with major explosions.” 
Carey McWilliams, Southern California: An Island on the Land, 1946



The exhibition traces the city’s transformation into an internationally recognized destination with its own design vocabulary, canonized landmarks, and coveted way of life. Organized by the Getty Research Institute and the J. Paul Getty Museum, the exhibition features hundreds of original drawings, photographs, and models drawn from the collection of the Getty and dozens of other institutions.

They were organizing this exhibition before I left the US and it is one to definitely see before March.
All multimedia available through the National Building Museum at:
http://www.nbm.org/exhibitions-collections/related-exhibition-resources/overdrive-la-constructs.html

Pierre Koenig (1925-) and Julius Shulman. Cast Study House No. 22 (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1960. Gelatin Silver. © J. Paul Getty Trust. Used with permission. Julius Shulman Photography Archive, Research Library at the Getty Research Institute (2004.R.10)



Architectural photographer Julius Shulman (1910-2009) reflects on the growth and evolution of Los Angeles over eight decades. He discusses his photographic techniques and offers an eyewitness account of the myriad changes and developments in areas like Bunker Hill and Century City, as well as the opening of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and Aliso Village public housing.