L.A.'S K-Town: Culture and Community
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L.A.’s K-Town: Culture and Community n the early twentieth century, Los Angeles’ Korean and Korean-American population lived primarily on downtown’s Bunker Hill, one of the few places that allowed non-white residents. Over the next few decades, the community began to shift to a part of downtown adjacent to Wiltern Theatre and Pellisier Wilshire Boulevard Tem- The Mercury Wilshire Professional Building Wilshire Colonnade St. Basil Catholic Church the UniversityThe of lineSouthern Hotel California. The new Korean community near Jeff erson Boulevard became a hub for organizations that provided Building I ple 3810 Wilshire Address 3731 Wilshire Blvd 3611 Wilshire Blvd Korean immigrants and families with services such as medical and fi nancial assistance, as well as political and religious support. 3790 Wilshire Blvd Blvd 3663 Wilshire Blvd Year, architect 1970, Edward Durell Stone 1969, A. C. Martin & Associates By the 1950s, a second wave of Korean immigrants reeling from the Korean War made their way to the United States and Los Angeles. The 1931, Stiles O. Clements and G. Albert The Mercury was the 1929, Abram M. Edelman and Samuel population of what is now called “Old Koreatown” swelled with newcomers. A decade later, thanks to relaxed federal immigration rules, it grew [blurb] Formerly called the Ahmanson Cen- The $3 million project of massive concrete Lansburgh last buildings designed Tilden Norton was the target of Chicano Movementeven pro- more. by architect Cluad ter, Wilshire Colonnade was built as a This art deco gem originally opened as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monu- test for its extravagance. Started by AlbertMeanwhile, the central Wilshire area was growing by leaps and bounds. In 1957, the City lifted building height restrictions, and high-rise Beelman. Desinged for tribute to the financier, Howard F. part of the Warner Brothers Western The- ment #116 C. Martin Sr. and finished by his sons,commercial Al- buildings sprouted up along the corridor. Original residents of the area, lured by the siren song of affl uent postwar suburbia, J.Paul Getty The Mer- Ahmanson, his contribution to Los atre chain. Closing only 18 months after bert Jr. and John Edward, the building is cury was once the Angeles, and classical Roman architec- Congregation B’nai B’rith, the first migrated west and to the suburbs, leaving the neighborhood free for denser development. opening , the theatre reopened in 1935 inspired by early churches and monaster- headqyartes of the Jewish congregation in Los Angeles, Lower rents and abundant commercial real estate drew the with its current name but by 1970s was in ture. ies. Getty Oil Company. dedicated its current temple in 1929. plan to be demolished. Reopened in 1985, AVE. ALEXANDRIA S. burgeoning Korean community to the area, many of whom set up S. KENMOREAVE. S. the building is currently used for re- NORMANDIE AVE. storefronts and eateries in the area’s now ubiquitous strip malls. 11 12 ST. CATALINA S. tail spaces and special events and live Hotel Normandie W. SERRANOAVE. S. 6TH STREET W. 6TH STREET S. HARVARD BLVD. HARVARD S. In and between the pastel terra cotta of some of Los Angeles’ fi nest entertainment. 9 NEWHAMPSHIREAVE. S. HOBART BLVD. HOBART examples605 Normande of its early Ave architecture, Korean immigrants made their S. VERMONTAVE. S. Oasis Church 1926,homes. Walker & Eisen 634 S. Normandie Avenue 3 5 6 7 8 10 13 15 16 Los AngelesAs with Historic so many-Cultural neighborhoods Monu- in Los Angeles, the buildings WILSHIRE PL. WILSHIRE BOULEVARD PL. SHATTO mentand #1013historic sites encompassed within Koreatown are home to S. ARDMOREAVE. S. S. MARIPOSA AVE. MARIPOSA S. S. WESTERN AVE. WESTERN S. S. OXFORD AVE. OXFORD S. S. ST. ANDREWS PL. ST. S. Robert Orr KINGSLEYDR.S. 2 1 4 14 17 18 BERENDOST. S. 19 20 21 Openedmultiple during community the heyday identities, of Wil- layered one atop another. Roughly Wilshire Christian Church was the IROLO ST. IROLO shire53% district, of the thispopulation former residential in Koreatown identifi es as Latinx. The El first church built in the Wilshire hotelSalvador hosted Corridor, many famous formally names, designated in 2012, is located just area. The original bungalow style, most notably novelist Malcolm Lowry, set away from the street, was re- 7TH STREET 7TH STREET whosouth wrote of Under Koreatown the Volcano on Vermontduring Avenue, and Little Bangladesh placed with a Romanesque struc- Community and Culture hisborders stay at the four Normandie. blocks of Koreatown to the north. The people in these ture with Byzantine elements by neighborhoods infl uence the blocks and buildings of Koreatown Robert Orr. Visible from Wilshire K-Town: L.A.’s Chapman Plaza Robert F. Kennedy Community through the food they eat, the languages they speak, and the is the rose window by the master The Equitable Gaylord Apartments The Windsor Apart- 3451 W 6th St Schools. (Ambassador Hotel) buildings they inhabit. To explore the iconic buildings in Koreatown craftsmen at Judson Studios, said 3435 Wilshire Boulevard 3355 Wilshire Blvd ments 3400 Wilshire Blvd is to explore a storyscape of communities—the communities of to be a copy of one in the Rheims 1929, Morgan, Walls, and Clem- Finished in 1969 this in- 1924/1962, Walker & Eisen 3198 W 7th St ents 2010, Los Angeles. Security Pacifi c National Bank Collection/Los Angeles Public Library ternational style sky- Named after Henry Gaylord Wil- 1927/1949 Chapman Park Studios Originally named Chapman Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools scraper ties with Los An- are a collection of six schools that now shire, founder of Wilshire Blvd Park Market, the plaza was one geles City hall as the sits on the former site of the Ambassa- This Tudor style apartment is Art Deco in Koreatown Skyscrapers in Koreatown located on what once was one of the first automobile-centric, 26th tallest building in dor Hotel. The site of six Oscar ceremo- he term ‘Art Deco’ was coined in 1968 to describe the style earful that the downtown streets of the growing city would drive-in markets in the west nies and assassination of Robert F. Ken- of the most luxurious spots in Los Angeles. nedy, the Ambassador was demolished of design popular in the late 1920s to 1930s. Post-World War follow the path of the East Coast’s hulking, shadow-casting coast. Exploring Olympic Boulevard: Sunday, November 5, 2017 Los Angeles. T F in 2005. I, designers sought to create a more modern look, infl uenced by skyscrapers, Los Angeles chose a diff erent route. By 1911, the Los Immanuelnon-anglo Presbyterian cultures (mainly Mayan, Egyptian, and Assyrian) and Angeles City Council passed a bill limiting building heights to 150 1 S. NEWHAMPSHIREAVE. S. Churchthe new technologies of the machine age. Unlike previous classical feet. Additional height would only be allowed to accommodate 2 3300architectural Wilshire Blvd. styles, such as Beaux Arts, Art Deco emphasized unoccupied (i.e. non-leasable) space for rooftop mechanical rooms The Furrier W. OLYMPIC BOULEVARD 5 Chauncey F. Skilling IROLO ST. IROLO NORMANDIE AVE. FEDORA ST. KENMOREAVE. S. DEWEY AVE. S. VERMONTAVE. S. S. BERENDOST. S. S. CATALINA ST. CATALINA S. S. MARIPOSA AVE. MARIPOSA S. 3 1928vertical, streamlined movement and included decorations with and similar considerations. As a result of this mandate, most of the repeating geometric shapes and zigzag patterns. Glazed terra cotta, older buildings in downtown Los Angeles and those along Wilshire Modeled after French Gothic ca- glass and mirrored surfaces, metal fi ttings, and custom-designed Boulevard, such as the Gaylord Apartments or the Talmadge, are thedrals, this church houses a con- 4 gregationfi xtures that were dates also to 1888 used. and Built-in symbolic references to the building no taller than twelve or thirteen stories – the maximum number of The todayowners, serves nearby or to theLatinx, type Filipi- of business conducted at the site, were also fl oors a 150-foot height limit would allow. Oriental Mission Church (Not no, popular.Korean, and Be Ethiopian sure to commu- look for these features in Art Deco buildings along The arrival of the Art Deco style, which favored tapering towers shown) Talmadge Apartments Bullocks Wilshire nities.Wilshire The building's Boulevard, stone-clad including Wilshire Professional, The Wiltern, in the vein of New York’s Chrysler Building, allowed architects I. Magnin corner tower soars 205 feet above the Wilshire Galleria, and Bullocks Wilshire/Southwestern Law to push the boundaries of what could constitute unoccupied 1 Da Wool Jung 3050by Hi Wilshire Duk Lee, Blvd who also built the neighboring VIP Plaza, the VIP Palace and Wilshire, supported by a steel 3240 Wilshire Blvd. School. “mechanical” rooms. The Bullocks Wilshire building (now part 1000 S. Normandie Ave. • 2006 1929,Plaza Parkinson were the fi& rst Parkinson buildings in Los Angeles to be constructed in the traditional frame that allows for a strikingly Da Wool Jung (“harmonious gathering place”) is Korean style, with blue roof tiles and a façade painted to resemble Korean of Southwestern Law School) erected in 1929, tops out at 241 1938 Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument a traditional Korean-style pavilion. It was built palaces. Now occupied by the Oaxacan restaurant Guelaguetza, which opened in feet, thanks to a nearly 150-foot-high “mechanical room” atop #56 LegendReligion and Its Role in Koreatown using time-honored methods – without any 1994, the restaurant has continued to serve as a neighborhood gathering place, this time centered around Oaxacan food, dance, and culture. In 2015, it was its structure. Despite the City’s height limit, Los Angeles got its nails or screws – by craftspeople from Korea. One of the first department stores to Blue: Saturdayoreatown is home to over one hundred religious institutions.