An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles by
Brief informative captions on buildings, arranged by neighborhood. The most comprehensive guide available.
Arts & Architecture magazine began as California Arts & Architecture in 1929, but it became the unsurpassed magazine of Southern California modernism after John Entenza became the editor in 1940. The A&A website provides PDFs of issues from 1945-1967. The Kappe Library has the Taschen 2008 reprint of 1945-1954 and original issues for 1944-June 1946, 1947-8, 1952-5, 1957-67. Ask at the Office.
Architectural Teaching Slide Collection, USC Digital Library (Features the Fritz Block and Pierre Koenig collections)
LA Public Library Online Photo Collection (Searchable database of historic news images from Southern California)
A.I.A. Los Angeles Architects Directory
DTLA Rising, published by Brigham Yen (real estate blog tracks downtown business development, including new retailers, restaurants, theaters, etc.)
Etan Does LA, published by Etan Rosenbloom (blog documents Los Angeles County landmarks listed on the National Register of Historic Places)
Huntington Digital Library (see their "Architecture, Design, and Planning" page)
The Kappe Library Research Guide: Southern California urbanism
L.A.Curbed, Vox Media (“The Los Angeles neighborhoods and real estate blog” since 2005)
Los Angeles Architecture 1940-1990 (Getty Research Institute)
Los Angeles Times Historical Archive (Available at public libraries, currently covers 1881-1994)
Southern California Architectural History, published by John Crosse (a blog for “fans of the cultural, architectural and design history of Southern California”)
Berger, Robert, Sacred spaces: historic houses of worship in the City of Angels, Balcony Press, NA5235.L67 B47 2003
Cuff, Dana, The Provisional city: Los Angeles stories of architecture and urbanism, MIT Press, NA7238.L6 C84 2000
De Long, David (editor), Historic American Buildings, California, Garland Publishing, NA730.C2 H54, vols. 1-4
De Wit, Wim & Alexander Christopher James, Overdrive: L.A. constructs the future, 1940-1990, Getty Research Institute, NA735.L55O95 2013
Freppel, Denis, Architectures de Los Angeles: photographies de Denis Freppel, 1880-1940, Gourcuff Gradenigo, NA735.L55 F74 2014
Fuss, Troy, Cruising LA: architectural styles in 5 easy drives, Balcony Press, NA735.L55 F877 2006
Gonzalez, Antonio, Architects who built Southern California, The History Press, NA730.C2 G66 2019
Harlander, Thomas, “A guide to the 100 stunning architectural gems of L.A.,” Los Angeles Magazine, February 8, 2017 (via lamag.com)
Heimann, Jim, California Crazy: American pop architecture, Taschen, NA730.C2 H4 2018
Hines, Thomas, Architecture of the sun: Los Angeles modernism, 1900-1970, Rizzoli, NA735. L55 H56 2010
Historic American Buildings Survey online collection of Los Angeles County prints & photographs
Kaplan, Wendy (editor), Living in a modern way: California design, 1930-1965, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; MIT Press, NK835. C3 C35 2011
Koenig, Gloria, Iconic L.A.: stories of L.A.’s most memorable buildings, Angel City Press, NA735.L55 K64 2006
Pacific Standard Time presents Modern Architecture in L.A. (Multi-venue series of exhibits & events April-July 2013)
Tigerman, Bobbye (editor), A handbook of California design, 1930-1965, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; MIT Press, NK835 .C3 C35 2011
Clark, Robert Judson, Los Angeles transfer: architecture in southern California 1880-1980, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, NA735.L55 C58 1983
Gebhard, David, "Architectural Imagery, the Mission, and California," Harvard Architecture Review, no. 1, Spring 1980, p.137-145
Gehbard, David, "The Spanish Colonial Revival in Southern California," JSAH, May 1967, p.131-147
Hannaford, Donald R. & Revel Edwards, Spanish colonial or adobe architecture of California, 1800-1850, Architectural Book Pub. Co., NA7235.C2H3 1989
Historic American Buildings, California, Garland Publishing, NA730.C2H54
Kirker, Harold, California’s architectural frontier: style and tradition in the nineteenth century, Peregrine Smith Books, NA730.C2 K5 1986
Mendoza, Rubén, The California missions, Rizzoli, F864 .M46 2018
Newcomb, Rexford, Spanish-colonial architecture in the United States, Dover Publications, NA707.N44 1990
Newsom, Joseph C., Artistic buildings and homes of Los Angeles, Calliope Press [reprint 1981], NA735.L55 N48 1888
Sanford, Trent Elwood, Architecture of the Southwest, University of Arizona Press, NA727.S26 1997
Schuetz-Miller, Mardith K., Building and Builders in Hispanic California 1769-1850, F861 .S33 1994
Cook, S.F. & Tina Skinner, California colonial homes: case studies with prominent architects, Schiffer Publishing, NA7235.C22 C66 2006
Dailey, Victoria, et al, LA's early moderns: art, architecture, photography, Balcony Press, N6530.C2 D3 2002
Gebhard, David, Los Angeles in the thirties: 1931-1941, Hennessey & Ingalls, NA735.L55G42 1989
Henstell, Bruce, Sunshine and Wealth: L.A. in the Twenties and Thirties, Chronicle Books, F869.L85H46 1984 (Good visuals)
Kropp, Phoebe S., California vieja: culture and memory in a modern American place, University of California Press, F862 .K76 2006
Longstreth, Richard W., City Center to Regional Mall, MIT Press, HF5429.5.L7L66 1997 (Detailed history of the car’s impact on L.A.)
Longstreth, Richard W., The drive-in, the supermarket, and the transformation of commercial space in Los Angeles, 1914-1941, MIT Press, HF5429.5.L7 L663 1999
McCoy, Esther, Five California Architects, Praeger Publishers, NA730.C2M3 1975 (Classic on early moderns)
McMillan, Elizabeth Jean, Deco & streamline architecture in L.A.: a moderne city survey, Schiffer Publishing, NA735.L55 M38 2004
Polyzoides, Stefanos, Courtyard Housing in Los Angeles, Princeton Architectural Press, NA7238.L6 P6 1992 (A classic on a ubiquitous type)
Roseman, Curtis C., The historic core of Los Angeles, Arcadia, F869.L88 A27 2004
Sitton, Tom & William Deverell, Metropolis in the making: Los Angeles in the 1920s, University of California Press, F869.L857 M48 2001
Starr, Kevin, Endangered Dreams: the great depression in California, Oxford University Press, HB3717 1919.S73 1996
Starr, Kevin, Material Dreams: Southern California through the 1920s, Oxford University Press, F867.S82 1990
Wilson, Henry L., California Bungalows of the Twenties, Dover Publications, NA7571.W54 1993
Winter, Robert & Alexander Vertikoff, Architecture of entertainment: L.A. in the twenties, Gibbs Smith, Publisher, NA735.L55 W56 2006
Winter, Robert, The California Bungalow, Hennessey & Ingalls, NA7571.W56
Winter, Robert (editor), Toward a Simpler Way of Life: the Arts and Crafts Architects of California, University of California Press, NA730.C2 T68 1997
Woods, Douglas, Classic homes of Los Angeles, Rizzoli, NA7238.L6 W66 2010
Arts & Architecture (The classic L.A. magazine, published until 1967. Revived briefly in the 1980s)
Didion, Joan, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Simon and Schuster, PS3554.D5S5
Eng, John, Modern tract homes of Los Angeles, Schiffer, NA735.L55 E55 2011
Fante, John, Dreams from Bunker Hill, Black Sparrow Press, PS3511.A57D7
Gallion, Arthur B., “Architecture of the Los Angeles region,” Architectural Record, May 1956, p.159-166
Goldstein, Barbara, Arts & Architecture: the Entenza Years, MIT Press, NX456.5.M64A7 1990 (An anthology)
Grant, Thurman & Joshua G. Stein (editors), Dingbat 2.0: the iconic Los Angeles apartment as projection of a metropolis, DoppelHouse Press, NA7862.L67 D58 2016
Hayden, Dolores, The Power of Place: urban landscapes as public history, MIT Press, F869.L857H39 1995
Hess, Alan, Googie: fifties coffee shop architecture, Chronicle Books, NA7856.H471 1986
Hess, Alan, Googie redux: ultramodern roadside architecture, Chronicle Books, NA7856.H47 2004
Hise, Greg, Magnetic Los Angeles: planning the twentieth-century metropolis, Johns Hopkins University Press, HT394.L67H57 1997
“The housing authority of the city of Los Angeles,” California Arts & Architecture, May 1943, p.[47]-[66]
“Images from a silver screen,” Progressive Architecture, October 1976, p.70-77
Jackson, Lesley (editor), Contemporary: architecture and interiors of the 1950s, NA682.I58 C66 1994
Lubell, Sam & Douglas Woods, Julius Shulman: Los Angeles: the birth of a modern metropolis, Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., TR659.S584 2016
McCoy, Esther, Case Study Houses 1945-1962, Hennessey & Ingalls, NA7235.C2 M2 1977
McCoy, Esther, The Second Generation, Peregrine Smith Books, NA730.C2 M33 1984 (Office)
Phoenix, Charles, Southern California in the ‘50s: sun, fun, fantasy, Angel City Press, F867 .P5 2001
Rosa, Joseph, Constructed View: The Architectural Photography of Julius Shulman, TR659 .R6293 1994
Schreyer, David & Andreas Nierhaus, Los Angeles modernism revisited: houses by Neutra, Schindler, Ain, and contemporaries, Park Books, NA7235.C22 L675 2019
Serraino, Pierluigi, California captured: mid-century modern architecture, Marvin Rand, Phaidon Press Inc., NA730.C2 .R36 2018
Slert, N. Charles & James Harter, 12 Los Angeles Architects, Graphics Communications Department, Cal Poly, NA735.L55 A4 1978 (Office)
Smith, Elizabeth A. T., Blueprints for Modern Living: the Case Study House program, MIT Press, NA7235.C22S684 1989 (Catalog of retrospective)
Starr, Kevin, The Dream Endures: California enters the 1940s, Oxford University Press, F866.S78 1997
Stern, Michael & Alan Hess, Hollywood modern: houses of the stars, Rizzoli International Publications, NA7238.L6 S74 2018
Weisskamp, Herbert, Beautiful homes and gardens in California, H. N. Abrams, NA7235.C3 W43
“What is modern?” SoCal Modern Real Estate Group, accessed January 2019, socalmodern.com
Anderton, Frances, “What are the young architects doing?” Abitare, May 1994, p.220-226, 263
Banham, Reyner, Los Angeles: the architecture of four ecologies, Harper & Row, NA735.L55B3 1973 (Classic)
Betsky, Aaron, et al, Experimental Architecture in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design, NA735.L55E97 1991
The California condition: a pregnant architecture, La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, NA2706.U6C34 1982 (Office)
Los Angeles Times Staff, Understanding the riots: Los Angeles before and after the Rodney King case, F869.L89 N4 1992
Cenzatti, Marco, Los Angeles and the L.A. School, Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design, F869.L83 C36 1993
Chase, John, Exterior Decoration: Hollywood’s inside-out houses, Hennessey & Ingalls, TH4816.C43 1982 (Prophetic study of vernacular)
Davis, Mike, City of Quartz, Verso, HN80.L7D38 1991
Gannon, Todd & Ewan Branda, A confederacy of heretics, SCI-Arc Press; Getty Publications, NA735 .L55 C66 2013 (Catalog of SCI-Arc Gallery exhibit)
Jencks, Heteropolis: Los Angeles, the riots and the strange beauty of hetero-architecture, NA735.L55 J46 1993 (Office)
Jodidio, Philip, Contemporary California architects, Taschen, NA730.C2 J63 1995
Keil, Los Angeles: Globalization, Urbanization, and Social Struggles, HT384.L77K45 1998 (Good survey of L.A. & the L.A. School)
Lacy, Bill & Susan deMenil (editors), Angels & Franciscans: innovative architecture from Los Angeles and San Francisco, Rizzoli, NA735.L55 A54 1992 (Office)
Lavin, Sylvia (editor), Everything loose will land: 1970s art and architecture in Los Angeles, MAK Center for Art and Architecture, NA735.L55 E94 2013
"Los Angeles," Architectural Design, Vol. 52, #3-4, 1982, p.97-176 (A.D. Profile #36)
“Los Angeles,” Werk, Bauen + Wohnen, July/August 1990 (Theme issue)
McGrew, Patrick & Robert Julian, Landmarks of Los Angeles, H.N. Abrams, F869.L843M38 1994
Phillips, Stephen John, L.A. [Ten]: interviews on Los Angeles architecture, 1970s-1990s, Lars Müller Publishers, NA680 .P45 2014
Plagens, Peter, “Los Angeles: the ecology of evil,” Artforum, December 1972, p.67-76 (Scathing critique of Banham)
Reeve, Margaret & Michael Rotondi (editors), From the Center: design process at SCI-Arc, Monacelli Press, NA2750.F76 1997 (Office)
Scott, Allen J. & Edward W. Soja, The City: Los Angeles and urban theory at the end of the twentieth century, University of California Press, HN80.L7C57 1996
Slert, N. Charles & James Harter, 12 Los Angeles Architects, Graphics Communications Department, Cal Poly, NA735.L55 A4 1978 (Office)
Steele, James, Los Angeles architecture: the contemporary condition, Phaidon Press, NA735.L55 S74 1998
Street-Porter, Tim, Freestyle, the new architecture and interior design from Los Angeles, Stewart, Tabori & Chang, NA7238.L6 S77 1986
Toy, Maggie, Los Angeles, Academy Editions, NA735.L55 L66 1994 (Office)
Waldie, D. J., Holy Land: a suburban memoir, W. W. Norton, F869.L217W35 1996
Webb, Michael, Brave new houses: adventures in southern California living, Rizzoli, NA7235.C22 S6846 2003
Chase, John, LA 2000+: new architecture in Los Angeles, Monacelli Press, NA735.L55 C45 2006
Cronan, Todd, Nothing Permanent: modern architecture in California, NA730.C2 C76 2023
Dear, Michael J. (editor), From Chicago to L.A: making sense of urban theory, Sage Publications, HT384.U52 L673 2001
KCRW DnA, by Frances Anderton
Kelley, Mike, New architecture Los Angeles, Prestel, NA735.L55 K45 2019
L.A.Curbed, by Vox Media
Mount, Christopher, et al, A new sculpturalism: contemporary architecture from Southern California, Skira Rizzoli, NA730.C22 S686 2013
Webb, Michael, Architecture + design L. A., The Understanding Business, NA735.L55W43 2000 (Office) (Selective, focused on post-1980 buildings)
“Bunker Hill: rehabilitation of a blighted area,” California Arts & Architecture, July 1943, p. [31]-[35]
Davis, Mike, “Downtown: the Infinite Game,” in Out of site: a social criticism of architecture, edited by Diane Ghirardo, Bay Press, NA2543.S6 O9 1991
DTLA Rising - blog tracks downtown business development, including new retailers, restaurants, theaters, etc. (produced by Brigham Yen)
Rice, Christina & Emma Roberts (editors), Bunker Hill in the rearview mirror: the rise and fall and rise again of an urban neighborhood, Photo Friends of the Los Angeles Public Library, F869.L86 B86 2015
Roseman, Curtis C., et al, The historic core of Los Angeles, Arcadia, F869 .L88 A27 2004 (Vintage photographs)
Roth, Marissa, Real city: downtown Los Angeles inside/out, Angel City Press, F869 L843 R681 2001
Saito, Leland T., Building downtown Los Angeles : the politics of race and place in urban America, Stanford University Press, HT168.L6 S257 2022
Silver, Alain & James Ursini, L.A. noir: the city as character, Santa Monica Press, PN1995.9.F54 S57 2005
Ward, Josi, “’Dreams of oriental romance’: reinventing Chinatown in 1930s Los Angeles,” Buildings & Landscapes: Journal of the Vernacular Architecture Forum, Spring 2013, p.19-42
Akins, Damon B. & William J. Bauer, Jr., We are the land : a history of Native California, University of California Press, E78.C15 A487 2021
Boom: a journal of California (published by U. of California Press)
Gutierrez, Ramón & Richard J. Orsi, Contested Eden: California before the gold rush, University of California Press, F864.C735 1998
Haas, Lisbeth, Conquests and Historical Identities in California 1769-1936, University of California Press, F869.S395H33 1995
Howe, Kathyrn Welch, The Los Angeles Historic Resource Survey Report, 2008 (See also: a brief survey project overview, via Getty Conservation Institute)
L.A. Dept. of City Planning, Office of Historic Resources, SurveyLA Field Survey Findings and Report (Master Report published August 2016)
LA Public Library Online Photo Collection (Searchable database of historic news images from Southern California)
Online Archives of California (part of California Digital Library project)
Perry, Claire, Pacific Arcadia: Images of California 1600-1915, Oxford University Press, N8214.5.U6P473 1999
Southern California Genealogical Society
Starr, Kevin, Americans and the California Dream 1850-1915, Oxford University Press, F867.M25 (Starr’s series is the standard history)
Starr, Kevin, Inventing the dream: California through the Progressive era, Oxford University Press, F867.S8 1985
Beck, Warren A., Historical Atlas of the American West, University of Oklahoma Press, G1381.W1B4 1989
City Map Sites, (Alpha list of resources from UT Austin)
City of L.A., Bureau of Engineering (see the “Mapping Tools” section under “Services”)
Heliphoto (Aerial photographs of Los Angeles and Southern California)
L.A. Public Library online map collection
State of California, Dept. of Conservation, Geologic Maps
UC Berkeley Earth Sciences & Maps Library
Zoning maps (Zimas)
Bakker, Elna S., An island called California, University of California Press, QH105.C2B3 1984
“California Natural History Guides,” a series of books published by the U. of California Press, various call numbers
Davis, Mike, Ecology of Fear, Metropolitan books, HN80.L7D37 1998
De Nevers, Greg, et al, The California naturalist handbook, University of California Press, 2013 (via Ebook Central)
Deverall, William & Tom Sitton, Water and Los Angeles: a tale of three rivers, 1900-1941, University of California Press, HD4464.L7 D48 2016
Elrick, Ted, Los Angeles River, Arcadia Publishing, F868.L8 E47 2007
Felton, Ernest L., California’s Many Climates, Pacific Books, QC984.C2F4
Fradkin, Philip L. & Alex L. Fradkin, The left coast: California on the edge, University of California Press, 2011 (via Ebook Central)
Gilbar, Steven, Natural State: a Literary Anthology of California Nature Writing, University of California Press, QH105.C2N425 1998
Griggs, Gary B., Introduction to California’s beaches and coast, University of California Press, GB458.8 .G75 2010
Muir, John, The Mountains of California, Penguin Books, QH105.C2M818 1993
Palmer, Tim, Field guide to California’s rivers, University of California Press, GB1225.C3 P348 2012
Reisner, Marc, A dangerous place, Pantheon Books, F861 .R43 2003
Schoenherr, Allan A., Natural History of California, University of California Press, QH105.C2 S36 2017
Southern California Earthquake Center
Xia, Rosanna, California against the sea : visions for our changing coastline, Heyday, HT393.C2 X53 2023
Bestor, Barbara, Bohemian modern: living in Silver Lake, Regan Books, NA735 .L55 B47 2006
City of Los Angeles Economics & Demographics
Deener, Andrew, Venice: a contested Bohemia in Los Angeles, University of Chicago Press, HN80.L7 D44 2012
Kling, Rob, et al (editors), Postsuburban California: transformation of Orange County, HN79.C220726 1991
Laslett, John H. M., Shameful victory: the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Red Scare, and the hidden history of Chavez Ravine, University of Arizona Press, 2015 (via Ebook Central)
Lee, Shelley Sang-Hee, Koreatown, Los Angeles : immigration, race, and the "American dream", Stanford University Press, F869.L86 K675 2022
Mapping L.A., by the Los Angeles Times
Martinez, Cid Gregory, The neighborhood has its own rules: Latinos and African Americans in South Los Angeles, New York University Press, F869.L89 A2547 2016
McLung, William A., Landscapes of desire: Anglo mythologies of Los Angeles, University of California Press, F869. L85 M33 2000
Rios-Bustamante, Antonio José & Pedro Castillo, An illustrated history of Mexican Los Angeles, 1781-1981, University of California, Chicano Studies Research Center Publications, 1986
Sanchez, George J., Boyle Heights : how a Los Angeles neighborhood became the future of American democracy, University of California Press, F869.B69 S26 2021
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research
Spring, Arnold (editor), History of Venice of America 1850-1939, Ulan Bator Foundation, F869.V38 H57 1992 (Office)
Webb, Michael & Juergen Nogai, Venice, CA: art + architecture in a maverick community, Abrams, N6535.L6 W43 2007
Wild, H. Mark, Street meeting: multi-ethnic neighborhoods in early twentieth-century Los Angeles, University of California Press, F869.L89 A1 2005
Berry, Rob, et al (editors), L.A. Forum reader, Actar, HT168.L6 L34 2018
Bottles, Scott L., Los Angeles & the Automobile: the Making of the Modern City, University of California Press, HE5634.L7B68 1987
California Department of Housing and Community Development
The Central Plan of the City of Los Angeles, Department of City Planning, HT168.L8L89 (a multivolume series)
Crouch, Dora P., et al, Spanish City Planning in North America, MIT Press, HT169.N68 C76
Cuff, Dana, The provisional city: Los Angeles stories of architecture and urbanism, MIT Press, NA7238.L6 C84 2000
Dear, Michael J. (editor), From Chicago to L.A.: making sense of urban theory, Sage Publications, HT384 .U52 L673 2001
Gottlieb, Robert, Reinventing Los Angeles: nature and community in the global city, MIT Press, HT168.L6 G68 2007
Hise, Greg & William Deverell, Eden by design: the 1930 Olmsted-Bartholomew plan for the Los Angeles region, University of California Press, HT394.L67 E34 2000
“Los Angeles,” Architectural Record, April 1968 (Theme issue on planning)
“A modern city plans its future: the new administrative center for Los Angeles, California,” California Arts & Architecture, November 1940, p. [22]-[23]
Soja, Edward W., My Los Angeles: from urban restructuring to regional urbanization, University of California Press, HT168.L6 S65 2014
Suisman, Douglas R., Los Angeles Boulevard: Eight X-Rays of the Body Public, ORO Editions, HE356.5.L7 S8 2014
Temko, Allan, “Reshaping super-city: the problem of Los Angeles,” Lotus, #5, 1968, p. [62]-69
“Workshop in Watts,” Architectural Forum, January/February 1969
Wit, Wim de & Christopher James Alexander (editors), Overdrive: L.A. constructs the future, 1940-1990, Getty Research Institute, NA735.L55 O94 2013
Deverall, William & Tom Sitton, Water and Los Angeles: a tale of three rivers, 1900-1941, University of California Press, HD4464.L7 D48 2016
“Getting it all together: rapid transit for car-plagued Los Angeles,” Industrial Design, January/February 1971, p.24-25
Hundley, Norris, Great Thirst: Californians and Water, 1770s-1990s, University of California Press, HD1694.C2H83 1992
In Our Path (Documentation of the construction of the Century Freeway)
Los Angeles Dept. of Water & Power
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)
Mulholland, Catherine, William Mulholland and the rise of Los Angeles, University of California Press, HD4464.L7 M85 2000
Reisner, Marc, Cadillac Desert, Penguin Books, HD1739.A17R45 1987 (There's also a good video documentary of the same name)
