L.A. Celebrates the ‘60s Hits

Angelenos have always enjoyed their architectural heritage, from the serious and stately to the playful and even the grotesque. A fine selection of all the above can be found in a carefully annotated and illustrated listing recently released by the Los Angeles Conservancy.

‘Top 60 of the ‘60s’ lists 60 favorite modern buildings throughout Greater Los Angeles, as selected by more than 2,000 people who responded to a call from the Conservancy and its Modern Committee. The winners range from the funky and anonymous—the Donut Hole (designed as a pair of giant doughnuts)—to the iconic—John Lautner’s saucer-shaped home, the Chemosphere.

Residential architecture on the list includes Pierre Koenig’s Stahl house, architect Ray Kappe’s residence, and Joe Eichler’s Balboa Highlands tract.

The effort to promote 1960s architecture coincides with buildings from the era turning 50 years old, an age that marks “the widely accepted threshold for consideration as historic,” according to the conservancy.

The Top 60 can be found at laconservancy.org/sixties.