Government & Politics

#201: Beverly Hills Post Office (Beverly Hills)

#201: Beverly Hills Post Office (Beverly Hills)

April 7, 2024
For a Depression-era federal building, the Beverly Hills Post Office is an unusually opulent one, clad in Italianate masonry and terracotta with a lobby awash in marble. After serving Beverly Hillers for over 60 years it was transformed into the beloved Wallis Center for the Performing Arts in 2013.
#179: US Post Office – San Pedro

#179: US Post Office – San Pedro

November 6, 2023
Built in 1936, the San Pedro Post Office merges New Deal-era "starved classical" style with art deco quirks. While the architecture and Fletcher Martin mural are the draw here, the original glass-top writing desks are plenty charming, too. PLUS: a surprise postal museum downstairs!
#161: Wilshire Federal Building (Westwood)

#161: Wilshire Federal Building (Westwood)

July 4, 2023
The 1969 Wilshire Federal Building is a 17-story, late modernist office tower that houses some of the unsexiest branches of the American government. Compositionally, it's a pretty spectacular work by Charles Luckman Associates. It's also been the site of numerous major protests staged here over its 50+ year history.
#116: Fire Station No. 14 (South LA)

#116: Fire Station No. 14 (South LA)

September 12, 2022
As the home of the LA Fire Department's second all-Black engine company, Fire Station No. 14 was a symbol of both pride and pain for LA's Black community before LAFD was integrated in 1956. The current station was built in 1949, a time of great change as LA reckoned with its segregated past.
#102: Glendale Main Post Office

#102: Glendale Main Post Office

June 15, 2022
This stately post office has served the city of Glendale since 1934, and survived multiple waves of USPS consolidations. Yes, its Italian Renaissance revival style was old hat by the time it was built – but what a lovely example it is!
#42: Burbank City Hall

#42: Burbank City Hall

November 19, 2021
One of the few reasons to go to downtown Burbank: a streamline moderne masterwork of civic architecture Me @ Burbank CIty HallNRHP plaqueFountain detailBas relief sculpture @ Burbank City[…]