Richfield Tower

Coordinates: 34°03′03″N 118°15′25″W / 34.050799°N 118.256966°W / 34.050799; -118.256966

Richfield Tower

From cover of The Richfield Building 1928-1968 by David Gebhard (1970), published after the building's demolition.
General information
Architectural style Art Deco
Town or city Los Angeles, California
Country United States of America
Construction started 1928
Completed 1929
Demolished November 12, 1968[1] - spring 1969[2]
Client Richfield Oil Co.[2]
Technical details
Structural system steel skeleton
Design and construction
Architect Stiles O. Clements

Richfield Tower, also known as the Richfield Oil Company Building, was constructed between 1928 and 1929 and served as the headquarters of Richfield Oil. It was designed by Stiles O. Clements and featured a black and gold Art Deco façade. The unusual color scheme was meant to symbolize the "black gold" that was Richfield's business. Haig Patigian did the exterior sculptures.[1] The building was covered with architectural terra cotta manufactured by Gladding, McBean along with many west coast buildings from this era. In an unusual move, all four sides were covered since they were all visible in the downtown location.

The 12-floor building was 372 feet (113 m) tall, including a 130-foot (40 m) tower atop the building, emblazoned vertically with the name "Richfield". Lighting on the tower was made to simulate an oilwell gusher and the motif was reused at some Richfield service stations.[1]

The company quickly outgrew the building, and it was demolished in 1969, much to the dismay of Los Angeles residents and those interested in architectural preservation, to make way for the present ARCO Plaza skyscraper complex. The elaborate black-and-gold elevator doors were salvaged from the building and now reside in the lobby of the new ARCO building (now City National Tower).

The central figures of the Tympanum (Navigation, Aviation, Postal Service and Industry) over the main entry were donated by the Atlantic Richfield Company to the UC Santa Barbara Art & Design Museum, negotiated by Professor David Gebhard, noted UCSB architectural historian. He published a small volume on the building before demolition, which is richly illustrated: The Richfield Building 1928-1968. Atlantic Richfield Co., Santa Barbara, 1970. After languishing in university storage for well over a decade, they were mounted outside the UCSB Student Health Center in 1982, where three of the four remain today (34°24'56.47" N 119°51'08.39" W). The fourth figure was incomplete and remains in storage.

Richfield Tower was starkly featured in a few scenes of Michelangelo Antonioni's 1970 film Zabriskie Point, shot shortly before its demolition.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Richfield Oil Company Building. he Architect DB, Architecture and Urban Planning Library, University of Washington Libraries.
  2. 1 2 Richfield Oil Building, 555 South Flower Street, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, CA. Historic American Buildings Survey, Library Of Congress.

Further reading

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