Since it’s boiling out I’ve been kicking it old person style and spending my time indoors. A strange man once told me I don’t do well in the heat because of my excess Yang energy.
One of my favorite places to hang and take in the subpar air conditioning is the hotel where Clint Eastwood chased an assassin around the lobby (In The Line of Fire, 1993).
I have spent many aimless afternoons at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles. That’s what it was initially for, anyway. A city within a city.
Designed by architect John C. Portman in 1976, it followed a series of his atrium style, large scale mixed-use projects that helped bring US cities back to life in the latter half of the 20th century.
I’ve been through this gargantuan building for numerous architecture tours, once I received a free room here for some hospitality brand’s sponsored video (rooms are ight)… I was at the lobby bar for the Super Bowl because I knew that was probably the only lowkey place to watch Bad Bunny in peace.
Portman knew how to call upon sensory appeal, how a space could create a lasting impression. He told author Johnathan Barnett in The Architect as Developer (1977), “At the cafes in the hotels I have designed, there are places where you can watch the movement of the elevator cabs, which become a huge kinetic sculpture… People are fascinated by kinetics.”
Today the bar is incredibly low, I’m just fascinated by any place that puts me in a real seating area and not on the curb.
Within this maze of a building, organic elements offer an escape from its concrete systems. Kinda like what I’d imagine our bunker houses will be once we really push our planet to its limit. Spiraling staircases that look like shells, curving ponds lined in baby blue, oval cantilevered pods that feel like the best booths at Casa Vega.
It’s a brutalist building…duh…but all of the different opportunities for wandering, sitting around, grabbing a meal, dancing in a ballroom (if you want), working out in a semi-creepy gym, make it feel like ours.
It’s the futuristic labyrinth of a third space you didn’t know you needed.
I remember a perfectly curated mental b I had while I was still living in New York. It was in Battery Park, early fall. I had just picked up my acai bowl from Juice Generation. It was about time for the next tour group to board the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. I think I was upset over working with a scammer, ultimately getting scammed myself. Anyway, I had the ideal weather, my favorite meal, and excellent people watching as I cried in silence (Lol).
On the top floor of the Bonaventure, you’ll find the BonaVista Lounge. My life isn’t as dramatic anymore, but my next crisis will definitely be spent at this cocktail bar. It rotates!! Extremely slowly, but they’ll warn you not to put your bag on the windowsill or it will drift away. You get to see every angle of good old Downtown L.A. It actually looks really nice from 34 floors up. P.S. They have great bar snacks, something like a trail mix from Trader Joes but again, with unparalleled ambiance.
I wish I could force everyone to go see it for themselves.
By the way, the building is 34 stories high, with four glass cylinders surrounding a central tower. I haven’t done the best job at describing the depth of this space’s architectural impact. Really, it’s worth the trip, park at the library, its easy. But if you want the breakdown I liked this guy’s review from 2018. He compares it to Portman’s much larger Detroit version, talks about all of the flight attendants that stay there, etc.
I think I want to make a post about my favorite places to loiter around L.A…I know I’ve already included a few, in that Substack where I also talked about prepping for the big one (earthquake talk).
Until then, 10 estate sales below that are better than sweating through your shirt at any flea.