The Bradbury Building
in downtown Los Angeles
From its exterior, the Bradbury
is just another rosy red brick building in the downtown Los
Angeles Old Bank District on Broadway at Third Street. The interior, however, will
take your breathe away.
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 Entrance
to the famous Bradbury Building on Third Street. |
Commissioned by mining mogul and
real estate developer Lewis Bradbury, this architectural wonder was designed by architectural draftsman
George Wyman. Wyman was not a trained architect, but
Bradbury apparently saw some of his sketches for a fantastical
building and asked him to take over the design from Sumner Hunt,
the original architect.
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Left, the
interior of the main level.
Right, a view of the
skylight.
Click on photos to
enlarge. |
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Warm, mellow colors on the walls
and floors contrast with ornate black wrought iron beneath a
wide, roof-spanning skylight in the central atrium of the
building. Now used as an office building, tourists and
visitors are welcome on the first floor only. To this day
a cage elevator still operates, carrying employees up to their
offices.
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Left, a detail
of the ironwork.
Right, a sculpture of Charlie Chaplin.
Click on photos to enlarge. |
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The Bradbury Building has been featured in
more than a dozen movies including Chinatown, Double Indemnity, Blade
Runner, and, most recently [500] Days of Summer. It is
fitting that near the back of the main level a sculpture of
Charlie Chaplin, shown above right, is seated on a bench.
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And across from the Bradbury Building on Third Street is the towering mural of
Anthony Quinn in his role of Zorba the Greek--fading away in the
bright Los Angeles sun. |
A downtown Los Angeles Public
Art Walking Tour begins at Second
and Grand then goes along Bunker Hill and down the Library
Stairs.
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12
things you can do for FREE
in
Las Vegas. |
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