Design
A Dreamy New Database for L.A. Architecture Nerds
15 years in the making, the most complete resource on L.A.'s historic built environment has just launched.
People love to say that Los Angeles lacks history, or at least that its history tends to be invisible. And it's true that from a tourist's eye-view, strolling Hollywood Boulevard or the Santa Monica Pier, there might not be a ton of buildings that look like they pre-date 1960. But that doesn't mean the city's all Googie and Geoff Palmer. You just have to look a little harder to find the old stuff.
Today, that task got a lot easier. Almost 15 years in the making, HistoricPlacesLA is the first online database specifically designed to "inventory, map, and help protect the City of Los Angeles' significant historic resources," according to a press release trumpeting its launch.