Do The Preservation Bop

This entry is very much inspired by one on my fiancé’s blog which you can check out over at (http://perfectlyswell.blogspot.com/)

From the perspective of history America is an extremely young nation. We’re like on the cusp of puberty. As a result of this we do not have very many historical structures – particularly here in Southern California. The primary reason for this is that we just LOVE to tear shit down.

How are we ever supposed to have a record of our past?

Now some would argue that the stuff they’re tearing down is just cheap pre-fabricated pop architecture from hardly 50 years ago.

To this I put on my best Miles Davis voice and say, “So what?”

Could you imagine how boring and homogenized our world would look if every 20 years or so we just tore everything down and re-built? We would desperately yearn for variety.

Look how beautiful these babies are:

If you have any interest in preserving this period please check out:

(http://www.atomicage.org/)

And if you want to find out more about this type of architecture here are some key words you can look into:

1)The Case Study Homes
2) Joseph Eichler
3) Googie
4) John Lautner

5) Mid-Century Modern

Help preserve our past

Mahalo

PS: If you're interested in this type of stuff and are reading this before October 12th 2008, the Hammer Museum in Westwood is having a show titled "Between Heaven and Earth: The Architecture of John Lautner". The exhibit consists mostly of floor plans and designs along with models and video footage.