URBAN POETRY

摘要

Los Angeles sprawls across a desert and its survival depends on water and transport.The city's Department of Water and Power commissioned a landmark headquarters building from A. C. Martin 40 years ago; now the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has moved into an even bolder structure, symbolically located across from City Hall, and a few blocks east of Disney Hall (AR March 2004). Speed, economy of construction, flexible work spaces and energy conservation were the priorities; the architects met all these goals while creating a building and piazza that enrich downtown and its meagre public realm. It's also a breakthrough for Morphosis, the firm Thorn Mayne co-founded in 1975, which has finally (like Gehry) won a place at the top table in its home city. Mayne is working with David Childs of SOM, developing plans for vacant lots on Grand Avenue, which links Moneo's Cathedral (AR March 2005) to Disney Hall, Isozaki's MOCA and the public library. With luck and creativity, it could become the major axis of a revitalised downtown.