“Los Angeles does not get the attention it deserves,” wrote renowned architectural critic Reyner Banham in his 1971 book Los Angeles: The Four Ecologies. “It gets attention, but it’s like the attention that Sodom and Gomorrah have received, primarily a reflection of other people’s bad consciences.”
Banham, a professor at University College London, visited Los Angeles and fell into a wide-eyed, blissful romance, later saying he admired the city with “a passion that goes beyond all sense or reason.” He produced a documentary for the BBC tellingly titled Reyner Banham Loves L.A. An accomplished cyclist, Banham even gave up his two-wheeled hobby so he could better explore the city. “Like earlier generations of English intellectuals who taught themselves Italian in order to read Dante in the original,” Banham wrote, “I learned to drive to read Los Angeles in the original.”
Banham’s other proclamations about L.A., such as his waxing poetic about the advantages of the city’s sprawl and his referring to the 10 and 405 freeway interchange as a “work of art,” are quixotic, but still relevant: L.A. is a challenging city. It’s full of contradictions and frustrations, an urban planning whipping boy, and a depository for negative cliches about plastic surgery, traffic, Hollywood dreams, et al. But, there’s still something special that happens on a 70-degree day in January, or on a bike ride along the boardwalk where Venice turns to Santa Monica and Santa Monica turns to Malibu, or when you’ve split a bottle of wine on a summer night at the Hollywood Bowl. It’s time to give L.A. a fresh look.
Where to Stay
The Line Hotel
