LA's Red Building

After 30 years, Cesar Pelli is completing the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood with his Red Building - an office complex aimed at entertainment and new media companies. The building is due in 2008 and the LA Times argues that it represents a shift in the architectural theme of Los Angeles: The progress of the Red Building is worth paying attention to, though, for another reason. The project suggests an acceleration in L.A.'s shift from a city of scattered landmarks to a place where ensemble architecture — several prominent buildings designed in concert on the same or adjacent sites — will become more common, more noticeable and more important.