Photoessayist the Blog

Landscaping in and around the Getty Center has matured since I was last up there. It looks all grownup now.

Because it rained when I was there we couldn’t tour the Central Garden. That has really matured since my last visit. The show Huell Howser did on the garden was the incentive to visit the Getty this time. The garden was what I really came wanted to see. Didn’t get that chance.

Because so much of the landscaping around the Getty Center had grown to maturity you couldn’t even see the garden from the terraces that overlook the garden.

If you’ve ever been to the Getty Center here in LA you would know that this place and everything in it was chosen by the architect*, Richard Meier. Mr Meier demands everything in it’s place and nothing allowed if not approved by the architect. So to see this black chair was to see something that resists conformity. It follows the path of: Resist Much, Obey Little.

It will probably be punished when found out. Pun intended.

*The exception was the Central Garden. It was designed by the american installation artist, Robert Irwin.

I’m at the Getty, here in LA, and I take one of the docent tours. This one talks about the architecture of the site. What this fellow is doing is checking out the mortar-less stones that face several of the buildings. There’s no mortar because if an earthquake happens you don’t have the problem of loose mortar to replace. That can be a real pain.

So our groupie decides to check out the stone to verify that there is no mortar.

The architect for the Getty, Richard Meier, would be proud. Here is Meier’s web site info on the Getty.

Laguna Beach’s Main beach is one of the great beaches anywhere. The lifeguard tower pictured has come to represent Laguna Beach. We call it the Icon. It wasn’t always a lifeguard tower. It started life as the office of the gas station across the street from Main beach.

This is the main house. The garage with an apartment above is behind the photographer. The problem any new owner will have is that they will have to work with the existing foot print and gut the interior completly. Looking around it is hard to believe that any part of this structure is worth saving. One problem many of these old houses have is with the foundation. Add in the slow approval process in Laguna Beach and you could be looking at a 5 year timeline.