5900 Wilshire
Encyclopedia
5900 Wilshire is a 443ft (135m) tall skyscraper in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. It was completed in 1971 and has 32 floors. It is 30th tallest building in Los Angeles, and the tallest in the Miracle Mile
Miracle Mile
-Places in the United States:*Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, a district of Los Angeles*Miracle Mile , New York, a premium shopping district on the North Shore of Long Island*Miracle Mile , a shopping area in Coral Gables, Florida...

 district, and the 2nd tallest in the Wilshire Area
Wilshire Boulevard
Wilshire Boulevard is one of the principal east-west arterial roads in Los Angeles, California, United States. It was named for Henry Gaylord Wilshire , an Ohio native who made and lost fortunes in real estate, farming, and gold mining. Henry Wilshire initiated what was to become Wilshire...

. The International style building was designed by William Pereira
William Pereira
William Leonard Pereira was an American architect from Chicago, Illinois, of Portuguese ancestry who was noted for his futuristic designs of landmark buildings such as the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco...

. The building is across Wilshire Boulevard from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is an art museum in Los Angeles, California. It is located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles, adjacent to the George C. Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits....

. The Ratkovich Co spent $34 million on a renovation which began in 2005 and was still in process in the second quarter of 2008. The renovation will include a new lobby. The placement of a bus zone across the street at LACMA and the subsequent removal of the crosswalk that would have fed traffic to a proposed cafe, caused a rethinking of those plans. It was built for the Mutual Benefit Life by the Shorenstein Co. of San Francisco. The 491000 square feet (45,615.4 m²) building was acquired by The Ratkovich Company in December 2005.

In December of 2008, "5900 Wilshire" became the official westcoast headquarters for the entertainment newspaper Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...

. The newspaper's name now adorns the top of the building in red letters.

Berlin wall segments

In the building's front lawn is a memorial to the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...

, containing reproductions of the wall. They were installed in 2009 by the Wende Museum. The installation included temporarily walling Wilshire Boulevard in commemoration of the wall's removal.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK