A new perspective

This past Thursday evening, I was "installed" as the new Graduate School representative to the 2008 Board of Directors for the AIA Los Angeles. I'm pretty excited about this new position and despite my initial qualms about it, I am assured that I am, in fact, a full member, and I'm even invited on the retreat in January. I don't know how much input I'll be able to give, but I'm a talker so I'm sure my voice will be heard at some point over the next year!

The really cool thing about Thursday evening's gathering was that it was held at Los Angeles City Hall, in the 27th floor observation deck. For those of you unfamiliar with LA City Hall, it's the tallest building in the world to have received a seismic safety retrofit. In a massive $300 million project, they actually dug under the foundation of the building and put 537 base isolators down there. So in the event of an earthquake, the building should glide gently while the rest of the city around it has to fend for itself:



The view from the observation deck was killer. Fortunately I take my camera with me everywhere, and although night shots are nearly impossible without a tripod, the railing to protect me from jumping off served as a nice substitute. Here are some photos I took of my new perspective of the city...


Disney Hall by Frank Gehry


The heart of downtown


Caltrans building by Morphosis