The Theme Building stands at the center of Los Angeles International Airport, completed in 1961 to a design credited to a team that included the architect Paul Williams along with the firms Pereira and Luckman and Welton Becket and Associates. Its four curved white legs rise to support a suspended, flying-saucer-shaped structure crossed near its top by a parabolic arch, a form widely cited as a defining example of the mid-century Googie architectural style associated with the Space Age optimism of postwar Southern California. The building originally housed a restaurant, and its lower level continues to serve as event and exhibition space, though its upper observation deck has been closed to the public for extended periods over the decades since its opening. The City of Los Angeles designated the Theme Building a Historic-Cultural Monument in 1993, protecting its distinctive silhouette, which remains one of the most recognizable structures associated with the airport and the city's postwar architectural identity.
Facts
Building Type LocationLos Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California, United States 1 Completed Year Classification
Standing Status Building Type
Building Type (category) Connections
Has Building Type
Entity-backed identity for the building-type enum value this building already carries, resolved to an architecture concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The building-type fact itself stays on the building unchanged.
In Style
Source Wikipedia: Theme Building
Source Wikipedia: Theme Building
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Theme Building
Wikidata claim P31 (instance of)
observation tower
Infobox, location
201 World Way, Westchester, Los Angeles, California, United States
Wikidata claim P571 (inception)
1961
Entity description and the lead/infobox of the Wikipedia article
The Theme Building stands at the center of Los Angeles International Airport, completed in 1961 to a design credited to a team that included the architect Paul Williams along with the firms Pereira and Luckman and Welton Becket and Associates. Its four curved white legs rise to support a suspended, flying-saucer-shaped structure crossed near its top by a parabolic arch, a form widely cited as a defining example of the mid-century Googie architectural style associated with the Space Age optimism of postwar Southern California. The building originally housed a restaurant, and its lower level continues to serve as event and exhibition space, though its upper observation deck has been closed to the public for extended periods over the decades since its opening. The City of Los Angeles designated the Theme Building a Historic-Cultural Monument in 1993, protecting its distinctive silhouette, which remains one of the most recognizable structures associated with the airport and the city's postwar architectural identity.
In Style: Mid-Century Modern Architecture, Infobox, architecture
architecture: Mid-century modern, Googie
In Style: Googie Architecture, Infobox, architecture
architecture: Mid-century modern, Googie
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