DK Travel : Los Angeles : Downtown : History & Culture

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Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka Memorial

A 1/10th scale model of the Challenger, this 1990 memorial by Isao Hirai honors the first Japanese-American astronaut.
Biddy Mason: A Passage of Time

This memorial by Betye Saar and Sheila de Bretteville commemorates the story of former slave, Biddy Mason (1818–91), a leader who established the city’s first black church.
Bradbury Building

The nondescript façade of this Victorian-era office building doesn’t do justice to the magical courtyard within. Muted light filters in through a soaring glass roof while open-cage elevators take you up floors hemmed in by lacy banisters. Commissioned by the mining and real estate magnate Lewis Bradbury and completed in 1893, architect George Wyman allegedly found inspiration for some of his designs in Edward Bellamy’s 1887 novel, Looking Backward .
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels

LA’s strikingly modern Roman Catholic cathedral looms above the Hollywood Freeway that has been likened to a “river of transportation.” Opened in 2002, the adobe-colored structure is entered through giant bronze doors cast by LA sculptor Robert Graham and guarded by a statue of Our Lady of the Angels. The soaring hall of worship, which seats 3,000 people, is bathed in soft light streaming in through alabaster windows. It is the first Catholic cathedral to be constructed in the western US in over a quarter century.
Chinatown

The Chinese first settled in LA after the Gold Rush, but were forced by the construction of Union Station to relocate a few blocks north to an area that is today known as “New Chinatown.” The cultural hub of over 200,000 Chinese Americans, this exotic district has stores hawking dried and pickled ginger and lucky bamboo, the offices of herbalists and acupuncturists, and restaurants that serve hot dim sum. In February, the Chinese New Year is celebrated with colorful parades and dragon dances.
City Hall

LA’s tallest building for over four decades, the central tower of this 1928 shiny white downtown presence was three times higher than the then height limit. A recent renovation has made it possible for the public to admire its marble-columned rotunda once again. City Hall has been immortalized on celluloid countless times, most famously as the headquarters of the Daily Planet in the Superman TV series. It was also attacked by Martians in The War of the Worlds (1954).
Corporate Head

This evocative sculpture (1990) by Terry Allen and Philip Levine condemns the greed and erosion of moral responsibility in today’s corporate America.
El Pueblo de Los Angeles

This historic district near LA’s 1781 founding site comprises buildings dating back to the early 19th century, when the city was little more than a scruffy outpost under Mexican rule. Its main artery, Olvera Street, has been restored to a lively lane lined with Mexican trinket shops and restaurants.
Four Arches

Alexander Calder is best known for his mobiles, but this looming 1975 steel work painted in glowing fiery orange-red is a “stabile,” an abstract stationary sculpture.
Grand Central Market

Angelenos have perused the produce aisles of this exotic and lively market since 1917. Today, homemakers mingle with office workers to stock up on everything from fruits and vegetables to fresh fish and meat, and spices and herbs to cakes and bread, all available at bargain prices. Many of the eateries here also have long traditions, such as Roast-to-Go where the Penilla family has served made-to-order tacos and burritos since the 1950s. The architect Frank Lloyd Wright once had an office upstairs in this 1905 Beaux-Arts building.