The Eastern Columbia Building is a thirteen-story building located at 849 S. Broadway in the Broadway Theater District of downtown Los Angeles, and is considered by many to be the most beautiful of Los Angeles' historic buildings (one architecture critic called it "Architectural Visine in a district full of eyesores"), as well as its finest surviving example of Art Deco following the 1969 destruction of Richfield Tower. It is easily spotted from the Interstate 10 due to its bright turquoise color.
The building sits just across the street from the restored Orpheum Theater.
Developer Kor Group is turning the property into condominiums that are scheduled to open in fall 2006.
[edit] History
The Eastern Columbia Building was designed by Claud Beelman and opened on September 12, 1930, after just nine short months of construction. It was built as the new headquarters of the Eastern Outfitting Company and the Columbia Outfitting Company, furniture and clothing stores. With the construction of this lavish structure, the companies could also boast one of the largest buildings constructed in downtown until after World War II.
[edit] Building Features
It is built of steel reinforced concrete and clad in glossy turquoise terra cotta trimmed with deep blue and gold terra cotta. The building's vertical emphasis is accentuated by deeply recessed bands of paired windows and spandrels with copper panels separated by vertical columns. The façade is decorated with a wealth of motifs - sunburst patters, geometric shapes, zigzags, chevrons and stylized animal and plant forms. The building is capped with a four-sided clock tower emblazoned with the name Eastern in neon and crowned with a central smokestack surrounded by four stylized flying buttresses. The sidewalks surrounding the Broadway and Ninth Street sides of the building are of multi-colored terrazzo laid in dynamic pattern of zigzags and chevrons. The central main entrance has a spectacular recessed two-story vestibule adorned with a blue and gold terra cotta sunburst. The vestibule originally led to a pedestrian retail arcade running through the center of the building.
Nick, thank you here are the specs: File name: 1250123-large.jpg File size: 203006 bytes (698x528, 4.4bpp, 5x) EXIF Summary: 1/500s f/6.4 ISO80 14mm
Camera-Specific Properties:
Equipment Make: FUJIFILM Camera Model: FinePix S9100 Camera Software: Adobe Photoshop CS Macintosh Maximum Lens Aperture: f/2.8 Sensing Method: One-Chip Color Area
Image-Specific Properties:
Image Orientation: Top, Left-Hand Horizontal Resolution: 72 dpi Vertical Resolution: 72 dpi Image Created: 2007:01:21 16:53:36 Exposure Time: 1/500 sec F-Number: f/6.4 Exposure Program: Normal Program ISO Speed Rating: 80 Lens Aperture: f/6.5 Brightness: 9.8 EV Exposure Bias: -1 EV Metering Mode: Pattern Light Source: Unknown Flash: No Flash, Compulsory Focal Length: 14.00 mm Color Space Information: Uncalibrated Image Width: 698 Image Height: 528 Rendering: Normal Exposure Mode: Auto White Balance: Auto Scene Capture Type: Standard Contrast: Normal Saturation: Normal Sharpness: Normal Subject Distance Range: Unknown
Other Properties:
Resolution Unit: i Chrominance Comp Positioning: Co-Sited Exif IFD Pointer: 272 Compression Scheme: JPEG Compression (Thumbnail) Horizontal Resolution: 72 dpi Vertical Resolution: 72 dpi Resolution Unit: i Offset to JPEG SOI: 934 Bytes of JPEG Data: 6972 Exif Version: 2.20 Image Generated: 2007:01:20 11:50:13 Image Digitized: 2007:01:20 11:50:13 Meaning of Each Comp: Unknown Image Compression Mode: 4 Shutter Speed: 1/523 sec Focal Plane Horiz Resolution: 4482 dpcm Focal Plane Vert Resolution: 4482 dpcm Focal Plane Res Unit: cm File Source: Other Scene Type: Unknown
0 
