Two Midcentury Modernisms in Southern California
Abstract
Abstract In the twentieth century, Los Angeles developed an ambitious vision of architecture revolving around its novel sprawling urban configuration. Inspired by the channelization of the L.A. River and the contemporary freeway system, iconic works of midcentury modern architecture explored the possibilities inherent in a horizontal metropolis. But that midcentury urbanism was also deeply imbricated in systems of exclusion and segregation. Amidst that social and architectural landscape, several quite different creative and defiant expressions of modernity emerged in midcentury Los Angeles, suggesting an alternative way to understand the artistic and democratic potential of the era.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Architecture
Modernity
and Design
Art
Politics
and Modernism
Modernist Literature and Criticism
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Pacific Coast Philology
- Volume
- 59
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 9–50
- Publication date
- 1 January 2026
- Language
- EN