Running head: ArtRT Research And Analysis Paper

One of the few architects to ever crucially analyze Los Angeles was Reyner Banham. He analyzed the built environment and comprehensively established the relationship between the various architectural aspects that formed the uniqueness of the city. He studied the city in a way that had not been previously achieved by any other architects in the past. He paid keen attention to the industrial ingenuity of the city, the manifestations of common taste, and the traditional construction techniques utilized in both commercial and industrial buildings.

Consequently, he constructed four key ecologies that shape the primary architectural appearance of the city: the foothills, the beach, the flatlands, and the freeways .

One of the unique architectural aspects of the city is the LAX International Airport. The airport forms a fundamental architectural aspect of the city as a majority of the people coming to LA have to utilize it. The LAX International Airport is one of the busiest airports across the world. It is estimated that approximately sixty-three million individuals use the airport while traveling from one city to the other on an annual basis.

The airport has a unique architectural design that complements the lifestyle and culture of majority of the people living in the city. In addition, the airport was uniquely the quintessential airport during the jet-age period due to the fact that the airport made it intentional to incorporate its functional aspect to the midcentury designs found in Southern California.

Moreover, LAX design buildings honor the historic Theme Building concept paved way for the Jet Age.

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Architects of the airport designed it in such a way that it was comfortably equipped to handle its own obsolescence. Banham once described the airport as “The Obsolescent Airport” as it made other airports seem not only poorly designed, but also inefficient and ineffective. The Airport informed a new age where era of designing airports that were comprehensively imperceptible to the passengers. The long-term relationship that existed between the historic buildings and LAX formed a foundation that would eventually allow for the development of that distinct architectural aspect such as the arched bridges that enlarged as they moved towards the West.

As a result, plains take off and gain their altitude on top of the Pacific Ocean. During the design stages of the airport, several meetings were held to ensure that measures were established that would make sure the airport maintained and subtly complemented the general architectural aspect of the city. For example, themes such as mountains, beaches, openness, movements, trendsetting, creativity and entertainment were all considered in the construction process (Los Angeles World Airports, n.d.). The success in incorporating the above-mentioned themes resulted in an airport that has its own identity, offers passengers an experience that make sure they get the feeling and appreciation of the LA culture. It is crystal clear that LAX International Airport in one way of the other incorporated the four ecology aspects addressed by Banham.

The beaches located along the coastal region of Southern California form what Banham classified as Surfurbia. The beach ecology is composed of aspects such as suburbs, sunshine, and surfing (Bell, 2015). Los Angeles is known for its beautiful beaches that not only form part of international tourist attraction, but also attracts the local tourists. One of the themes that were comprehensively considered during the design stage of the airport is that the airport had to depict the beach life that forms part of the LA culture. As a result, the airport dramatically expresses the sea tides and the smooth flow of the tides from the point where passengers take off as well as in the landing process.

The foothills ecology is composed of areas that form the hillsides surrounding the larger L.A. basin. Foothill ecology ideally composes of roads founds in residential areas that in some cases lead up to the wilderness (Plagens, 2012). Such roads sometimes lead to the discovery of movie locations or even ritzy castles. The roads form some of the ways through which an individual can move from one location to another on foot. The foothills ecology is incorporated in the architectural design of the LAX in that the airport has numerous foot paths that allow users to move from one location to another on their feet.

Flatlands form the crucial part from where development in the city begins. Flatlands offer the opportunity to develop monument architectural aspects of LA such as the LAX International Airport. The Airport is located on an area that was previously occupied with a lush green scenery. However, the lush green scenery has now been replaced with the architectural monument. He most conspicuous aspect of LA architectural development is the expansive construction of beautiful freeways. The freeways compose the largest form of movement from one location to another within the city. There is a freeway that connects almost every corner of the city with the other. Similarly, the airport has an expansive collection of freeways that allow for the ease of movement from one point of the airport to the other.

References

1. Banham, R. (2009). Los Angeles: The architectural of four ecologies. California: University of California Press.
2. Bell, J. P. (2015, July 14). Reyner Banham, Mike Davis, and the discourse on Los Angeles ecology. Retrieved from https://losangeles.urbdezine.com/2015/07/14/areyner-banham-mike-davis-and-the-discourse-on-los-angeles-ecology/
3. Los Angeles World Airports. (n.d.). Capital Improvement Projects. Retrieved from https://www.lawa.org/en/lawa-employment/lawa-business-and-job-resources-center/capital-improvement-projects/architectural-and-design-vision
4. Marshall, C. (2016, August 24). A ‘radical alternative’: how one man changed the perception of Los Angeles. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/aug/24/radical-alternative-reyner-banham-man-changed-perception-los-angeles
5. Plagens, P. (2012, May 6). Reyner Banham’s ‘Los Angele: The architectural of four ecologies’. Retrieved from http://www.art-agenda.com/reviews/los-angeles-the-architecture-of-four-ecologies/