Westwood Village has languished for most of this decade, but there are signs it is ready for a comeback. Several landmark buildings have been revamped or are being restored, including 1100 Glendon, designed by Paul R. Williams. In addition, some of the tired plastic signage covering up original 1920s and '30s building facades is being removed. Broxton Avenue, at the heart of the village, has been remodeled with widened sidewalks, new street furniture and public art. High-end restaurants, including Eurochow, Palomino and Tanino, are recreating some of the district's allure. Culturally, the Geffen Playhouse was sensitively remodeled and the UCLA/Armand Hammer Museum is planning a more visible street presence with a new main entrance, prominent graphics and restaurant. Yet, despite all these elements of resurgence, Westwood still faces some key decisions if it is to regain its former vitality.
Building on the Past for a Future Westwood
Sense of Place
The problems Westwood faces today are not so different from those it confronted in the past. Disputes between developers and local homeowners, UCLA's isolation from the village and a lack of parking have been stumbling blocks for decades. Fortunately, the bones of the original Westwood Village, conceived in the late 1920s, remain.
This is where Westwood has an advantage over districts such as Hollywood, where many significant structures have been eliminated, replaced by strip malls or insensitive remodels.
The low density of the village, though compromised in the 1950s through '70s by a flurry of high-rise construction, has been largely maintained with a majority of two- and three-story buildings that create an aura of a small-town commercial oasis.
What is lacking is the cooperation of various Westwood factions to act cohesively and bring back the viable, lively shopping district that once serviced its primary users. By returning tothe original idea of Westwood as "a village within a city," restoring the many vintage buildings and installing a mix of commercial venues, Westwood can accelerate its road to recovery.
The Westwood of the past should serve as a model for what a future Westwood can be. As a mixed-use shopping district, it offered a range of amenities to students, business people and nearby communities. You could grab a malted at Tom Crumplar's, shop for the latest clothing at a variety of upscale stores such as Bullock's and Desmond's, bowl a few frames at the Westwood Bowling Center, pick up groceries at one of five village markets, see your broker, get your hair cut, go to the cleaners, have your shoes repaired, stop for gas at one of the seven local gas stations, see a movie, browse the latest best sellers at Campbell's bookstore and even go ice skating year round at the outdoor Tropical Ice Gardens. All this within a few square blocks.
Housing these services was, and still is, one of Southern California's largest collection of significant architecturally designed buildings. The list of architects responsible for village buildings reads like a who's who of L.A. architectural history: John and Donald Parkinson (Bullock's Wilshire), Gordon B. Kaufmann (Los Angeles Times Building), Williams (the LAX theme building), Morgan, Walls and Clements (Arco Plaza, Pellisier Building/Wiltern Theatre) and others.
The intervening years have also given the area many signature contemporary buildings, including Kanner Associates' tribute to '50s jet-age architecture, the In-N-Out hamburger stand on Gayley. This remarkable collection of vintage and contemporary structures in one enclave is key to a revived Westwood Village. Maintaining this heritage while allowing for new, small-scale architectural endeavors is one path to renewal.
This architectural gold mine needs the guidance of the various stewards of the village, who need to create a plan to preserve existing historical buildings and implement and enforce architectural guidelines that will ensure the village remains just that. Alterations to existing structures should be carefully reviewed. New buildings must be integrated to the existing fabric. There should also be tax breaks and financial incentives for property owners willing to restore buildings and maintain the low density of the original plan. Streamlining procedures for those seeking renovation should be advocated by the City of Los Angeles.
Westwood Village was originally developed in the late 1920s as "a village within a city." This was the mandate of the Janss Investment Corp., primary developer of Westwood and the surrounding area. With the groundbreaking of UCLA in 1926, an additional sobriquet was added, "a town for the gown." The new business district would have a unified architectural theme, with architectural codes, regulated signage, underground utilities and a three-story maximum building height. The Janss Corp. would relax some of these rules during the lean years of the Depression, allowing Moderne, Hollywood Regency and other styles as well as the original "Mediterranean" motif.
