CB1100 Monthly Photo Challenge

[Gone in 60]

Nice work, Cormanus.

So, I'm having an existential crisis over the first component of this month's photo challenge, finding an architectural feature that doesn't serve any purpose. When you think about it, all architecture serves some kind of purpose. Even Tev's Follies were intended to keep people's hands busy during hard times during hard times, so that they wouldn't be doing other things that would most likely tick off The Almighty (Just assuming).

I had a grand plan to ride to Long Beach and take pictures of the famous Oil Islands, which are oil pumping stations a few hundred yards from the beach. They are decorated with fake facades imitating high-rise buildings and bushes to obscure the oil pumps and related machinery. But even those fake facades serve a purpose of hiding icky-looking things from beach-goers and owners of million-dollar homes. Even the fake stuff at Disneyland that's tall enough to see from the street, like the Matterhorn, serves a purpose - it houses a kick-ass rollercoaster inside.

So, as Darth Vader said, I'm altering the deal. Maybe this will help more people participate this month. Plus, I want to see cool stuff from where you all live and ride. So, since it's my month, I am changing the first component to "Your bike next to an architectural feature in your area that is noteworthy for its design, because it's controversial, innovative, or just plain weird." The second component, your bike in a designated motorcycle parking area, still stands.

There has been a competition in Southern California over the last few decades for public architecture to out-weird whatver was just built. This started with the Disney Concert Hall in the L.A. Music Center, built in 2003.

(Not a new pic, that's an old BMW I was riding at the time).

Since then, we've gotten all sorts of weirdness, like the Broad Museum a block to the Disney Hall's south, which looks like someone leaned a huge white Lexus grille against a department store. The interior reminds me of the Sleestak caves from Land of the Lost. (No pics, but it's featured in my YouTube video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNJOB39NG0U - shameless plug for views)

Then we got SoFi Stadium, a huge chrome burrito that's visible for miles around. The Petersen Automotive Museum figured they'd top them all by coating their exterior, previously a glass-fronted department store, in red corrugated aluminum and draping ribbons of stainless steel spaghetti over the top and down the sides.


The L.A. Museum of Art, a block to the Petersen's east, felt dated in comparison, so it was razed, and the architectural renderings promised something that would take bizarre to the next level. But, it's shape is coming into view now, and it's already being criticized for not being weird enough... it's basically going to be a concrete and glass grilled cheese sandwich melting across Wilshire Boulevard from one side to the other.

And, just wait till George Lucas is done with his new Interpretive Arts Center in Exposition Park. It's shaping up to be a Mon Calimari Space Cruiser with landscaping.

So... what did I bring to the table to kick off the new theme? The new Orange County Museum of Art, which I passed on the way to work this morning. The architects said "You want weird? Orange County can do weird! How 'bout some curves, some angles, some stuff sticking out for no reason! Hah. How 'bout that?" It's seen it's share of criticism so far... like "Um... where do you go in?"