Purple Diary
[March 7 2014]
The United Artists Theatre, Los Angeles
On the heels of its full renovation and its exciting start of the Ace Hotels partnership with L.A. Dance Project, a collective founded in 2012 by choreographer and dancer Benjamin Millepied, Purple presents an exclusive documentation of the historic Spanish-Gothic style United Artists Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles. Revived by the Ace Hotel, the United Artists Theatre stands in the epicenter of Downtown L.A.’s modern renaissance that has been taking effect for the past decade. This once obsolete and derelict part of town, where stood dilapidated hotels and abandoned buildings, now signifies the breeding ground for culture in Los Angeles. The United Artists Theatre built in 1927 has a poignant return to it’s Golden Age roots with the recent residency of the L.A. Dance Project. The original elaborateness of the 1927 theatre remains with it’s vaulted ceilings covered in murals and entryways which are copies of the Cathedral in Segovia, a lush interpretation of the Spanish Gothic style. The terra cotta and plasterwork exterior of the building were stripped of decades of paint, carefully cleaned, and the iron grill work restored. A wood front, with molding reminiscent of Josef Hoffman‘s work, was installed to frame stained glass windows, with transoms made by the legendary The Judson Studios from an abstracted Gothic-inspired design. What is presented today is the original marriage of decadence and prosperity that it once was. Watch our exclusive film by Samantha Casolari on the United Artists Theatre and Benjamin Millepied‘s L.A. Dance Project on Purple Television here.
Text Annabel Fernandes and photo Samantha Casolari
