3030 nebraska landmark assessment · 233 wilshire boulevard, suite 130, santa monica, ca 90401...

233 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 130, Santa Monica, CA 90401 INTERNET www.pcrnet.com TEL 310.451.4488 FA X 310.451.5279

Memorandum

TO: Roxanne Tanemori, City of Santa Monica DATE: JANUARY 2, 2008 CC:

FROM: Peter Moruzzi, Architectural Historian

RE: Landmark Assessment: 3030 Nebraska Avenue, APN 4268-010-008, Santa Monica

As requested by City staff, PCR Services Corporation (PCR) has prepared this landmark assessment report as supplemental information to the “Preliminary Historic Assessment” memorandum of November 8, 2007 for 3030 Nebraska Avenue, the subject property. This report was prepared by PCR architectural historian Peter Moruzzi. It presents a statement of Historical Importance for the subject property and an assessment of the subject property against the City of Santa Monica’s Landmark criteria.

STATEMENT OF HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE

Santa Monica

In 1875, the original town site of Santa Monica was surveyed, including all land extending roughly from Colorado Avenue on the south to Montana Avenue on the north, and from 26th Street on the east to the Pacific Ocean to the west. Between 1893 and the 1920s, the community operated as a tourist attraction visited by a mix of wealthy and middle class patrons. Those areas just outside of the unincorporated city limits were semi-rural in setting and populated with scattered residences. After the advent of the automobile in the 1920s, Santa Monica experienced a significant building boom. Commercial buildings, primarily one- and two-stories in height, were initially concentrated along 2nd and 3rd Streets between Colorado Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard. The open area of land on the western edge of the City offered picturesque views of the Pacific Ocean and played a major role in the recreational life of the community.

Nebraska Avenue Industrial Area

The Santa Monica town site’s southern boundary, Colorado Avenue, was originally named Railroad Avenue because the Pacific Electric railway’s right of way ran just south of it. Nebraska Avenue, the location of the subject property, is situated between the railway line and Colorado Avenue and is identified as being within the Town of Santa Monica plat on Tax Assessor records. According to previous research and available Sanborn maps, development along Colorado Avenue during the late 19th and early 20th centuries was haphazard – partly residential and partly industrial along the tracks. This heritage is evident today, as Colorado Avenue retains no urban design unity and none of the older buildings near the coast remain. Of the major industrial activities located in the vicinity (south and west) of Nebraska Avenue prior to World War II, Sanborn maps indicate that the large Gladding McBean Santa Monica plant was the most notable. In fact, it appears that the expansive parcel (Block 199) upon which the subject property and adjacent buildings were constructed between Nebraska Avenue and Olympic Boulevard was largely unimproved prior to 1946, when several

Memorandum RE: LANDMARK ASSESSMENT: 3030 NEBRASKA AVENUE, APN

4268-010-008, SANTA MONICA

PCR Services Corporation January 2, 2008

vernacular industrial buildings were erected in the newly subdivided property. A historic resources survey conducted in 1994 identified four Nebraska Avenue buildings as contributors to a potential Nebraska Avenue Industrial District (2920, 2928-2940, 3015, and 3025 Nebraska Avenue).1 This architecturally unified grouping of one-story industrial buildings are characterized by brick construction with prominent mortar lines, raised piers, and Late Moderne detailing. The subject property – a one- and two-story vernacular utilitarian industrial building that is not a contributor to the grouping – was erected five years later in 1951 (with a penthouse addition in 1952). Today, the Nebraska Avenue industrial area is a mix of offices, studios, and light manufacturing uses.

The Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc)

The Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) was founded in 1972 by Ray Kappe following his acrimonious departure from California State Polytechnic University (Cal Poly), Pomona as the chairman of the school’s architecture department. With the urging of many Cal Poly students and faculty, Kappe decided to open his own architecture school in Santa Monica that same year. Initially called the New School, the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) started classes with approximately 75 students – the majority having followed Kappe from Cal Poly Pomona to SCI-Arc – in October 1972. Located in a former light manufacturing building at 3030 Nebraska Avenue (aka 1800 Berkeley Street, the subject property), the school’s initial faculty – most of whom had also followed Kappe from Pomona – consisted of Shelly Kappe, Ahde Lahti, Thom Mayne, Gary Neville, Glen Small, and William Simonian.

SCI-Arc’s online history details how the school was a radical departure to the conventional system of architectural education.2 This “college without walls” featured a faculty committed to an alternative to the more rigid, hierarchical structure they had encountered at other institutions, establishing SCI-Arc as a mechanism for invention, exploration, and criticism. Said Ray Kappe of SCI-Arc’s goals, “We have always been proponents of an educational process that promotes freedom of thought, opposing ideas, questioning, invention and concern for urban problems.”3

According to Ray and Shelly Kappe, the school’s original building (the subject property) was essentially a large open space with a mezzanine and penthouse.4 Other than painting the building’s exterior, eliminating electrical wires dangling from the ceiling, and removing partitions, little else was done to the property prior to SCI-Arc’s occupancy. Students soon installed a scaffolding system

1 Santa Monica Historic Resources Inventory, Phase 3, prepared by Leslie Heumann and Associates for the City of Santa

Monica, May, 1994. 2 http://www.sciarc.edu/portal/about/history/index.html

3 http://www.volume5.com/sciarc/25_years_of_sci-arc_1.html

4 Telephone interviews with Shelly Kappe on December 26, 2007 and Ray Kappe on December 27, 2007.




within the large open interior to which they hooked floors, walls, and ceilings, creating some 75 workspaces. In addition, a student-designed rhomboid dodecahedron structure was erected inside the building that provided workspace for approximately 40 students. A small library and school offices initially located on the mezzanine level moved up to the penthouse after a few years.

Four years after its founding, in 1976, a Los Angeles Times article about the school noted that SCI-Arc was “…a learning environment featuring diverse teaching styles, a minimum of academic restraints, a maximum of student responsibility, a togetherness among students and faculty seldom found outside the home, and a sense of excitement seldom found anywhere.”5 By 1976, SCI-Arc’s undergraduate and graduate architectural programs had received initial accreditation by the National Architectural Accreditation Board (NAAB). That same year, the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) California Chapter awarded Ray Kappe with an Excellence in Education Award, and also recognized the school’s students and faculty with an Honor Award for the renovation of 1800 Berkeley Street (the subject property). Full accreditation by the NAAB for professional degrees of Bachelor’s and Master’s of Architecture was achieved by SCI-Arc in 1980.

After 15 years as SCI-Arc’s founding director Ray Kappe stepped down in 1987 to return to his practice. Michael Rotondi, a SCI-Arc founding student and co-founder of the architectural firm Morphosis became the school’s new director. Wrote architectural critic Michael Webb in 1997, “From the beginning, Kappe believed passionately in a free flow of ideas and people, inviting outsiders like Peter Eisenman, Tadao Ando, and James Wines to lecture or conduct classes, often in response to requests from groups of students.”6 In turn, Michael Rotondi made the curriculum broader and more rigorous in his 10-year term (1987-1997) while simultaneously reorganizing the graduate program. Meanwhile, Rotondi continued to be a partner in Morphosis, and then went on to practice independently as RoTo Architects. Said Rotondi of SCI-Arc in 1997, “This place creates conditions for great risk; it attracts people who feel comfortable with uncertainty. It’s important to push them into the unknown and give them the sense of discomfort that they will have to manage.”7 Further, Rotondi noted that the school “was founded on the premise that working architects should form the core of the faculty, and impart their knowledge and skills to the next generation.”8

Five years into Rotondi’s 10-year term as director and 20 years after its founding, SCI-Arc, in 1992, vacated its original Santa Monica campus (that had expanded to include adjacent buildings situated between 1800 Berkeley Street and Olympic Boulevard) and relocated to another large industrial

5 Dreyfuss, John. “Mundane to Mile-High: Architecture in the Halls of Lively,” Los Angeles Times, March 10, 1976.

pp. F1 and F6. 6 Webb, Michael. “An Established Experiment,” Metropolis, October, 1997. p. 94.

7 Ibid. p. 95.

8 Ibid. p. 96.




building on the south edge of Marina del Rey. According to Ray Kappe, the reason for the move was due to a substantial increase in the lease rents of the subject property and associated school buildings that made it untenable to remain at that location. For the same reason, in 2000, SCI-Arc moved from Marina del Rey to its current location at the former Santa Fe Freight Depot in downtown Los Angeles.

In 1997, Neil Denari began a five-year term as SCI-Arc’s next director followed in 2002 by Los Angeles architect Eric Owen Moss, a position he holds today. Noting the transition, the influential AIA journal Architecture stated “Two of the architectural academy’s most influential institutions [SCI-Arc and Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design] – as different in timbre as two schools can be – recently appointed new leaders.”9 Under Moss’ leadership, SCI-Arc’s mission is “Re-imagining the edge: Educating Architects to engage, speculate, innovate.”10

Over the decades SCI-Arc, its faculty, and its students have received numerous awards and commendations. In addition to the AIA awards noted above and the many accolades bestowed on founder Ray Kappe (detailed below), in 1991, SCI-Arc was selected as one of two architecture schools to represent the United States at the 5th Biennale of Architecture in Venice, Italy; in 1994, the school was rated 13 out of 20 top Master’s of Architecture programs in the country by US News

& World Report. Two years later the same magazine rated it 12 out of 20 and was the only independent school so named. In 1995, Michael Gruber was the first SCI-Arc alumnus to receive the Rome Prize from the American Academy. Other former SCI-Arc students whose subsequent architectural work has received much acclaim include Jennifer Siegal for her efforts in pre-fabricated construction methods, Hitoshi Abe for projects in his native Japan, as well as Benjamin Ball, Michael Folonis, Scott Hughes, Gaston Nogues, and many others. In 2005, former SCI-Arc founding faculty member Thom Mayne was awarded the Pritzker Prize for lifetime achievement in architecture. Mayne is the second Los Angeles-based architect to win the highest honor awarded to a living architect (after Frank Gehry in 1989). Since its founding in 1972, SCI-Arc’s educational innovations have continued to influence architectural schools locally, nationally, and internationally.

3030 Nebraska Avenue (aka 3060 Nebraska Avenue, 1800 Berkeley Street) – The Subject

Property

Located on the southwest corner of Nebraska Avenue and Berkeley Street in an industrial area of east Santa Monica, the subject property is a one- and two-story former industrial building with a third floor penthouse. Of steel frame, concrete, and stucco construction, the large building currently houses offices, studio spaces, and several classrooms (utilized by the adjacent New Roads high

9 Bareneche, Raul A. “GSD and SCI-Arc Name New Heads,” Architecture, March, 2002. p. 17.

10 http://www.sciarc.edu/portal/about/mission_statement/index.html




school). The subject building is bordered on its south by a narrow alley and other industrial buildings, on its west by industrial buildings and a small café, and on its east and north by Berkeley Street and Nebraska Avenue, respectively. The subject property is within the boundaries of the previously identified Nebraska Avenue Industrial District; however, it has not been identified as a potential contributor to the district in any previous surveys. The Nebraska Avenue Industrial

District was first identified and recorded as part of the Santa Monica Historic Resources Inventory,

Phase 3, prepared by Leslie Heumann and Associates for the City of Santa Monica in May, 1994.

The potential district’s four contributing buildings were given a National Register status code of 5D3

at the time (appearing eligible as contributors to a City of Santa Monica Cluster of Merit –

equivalent to a 5D3 status code today). The district was surveyed again after the 1994 Northridge

earthquake when its status codes were reconfirmed at that time.

The subject property’s location is not well covered by the 1918 and 1950 Sanborn maps for the City

due, perhaps, to the lack of substantial development prior to the erection of a cluster of industrial

buildings along Nebraska Avenue in 1946. Building permits indicate that the subject property – a

9,600 square foot one-story building with mezzanine with a 3030 Nebraska Avenue address – was

erected in 1951 for owner/contractor John F. Drescher for an estimated cost of $15,000. No

architect was listed for the property. One year later, in 1952, owner/contractor Drescher paid

approximately $5,900 for the erection of a recessed third-story penthouse atop the building’s

second-story mezzanine portion designed by architect Otto Beyerle. As noted above, the utilitarian

property has been altered since its initial construction during its years as the location of SCI-Arc

and, since the school’s departure, by subsequent tenants who have reconfigured the building’s

interior spaces, many of its ground floor windows, and its Nebraska Avenue entrance.

City directory research reveals that the subject property’s initial tenant was the American Gyro

Corporation. From 1958 through at least 1961, the William Brand Wire and Cable Corporation

leased the building. In 1972, SCI-Arc occupied the building, vacating it in 1992.

Architecture of the Subject Property

Rectangular in plan and of steel frame construction with concrete exterior walls and stucco sheathing,

the building located at 3030 Nebraska Avenue consists of a large one-story interior space, a

mezzanine fronting Nebraska Avenue (now considered the building’s second story), and a recessed

penthouse that was added one year following the building’s initial 1951 date of construction.

Designed as a 9,600 square foot light manufacturing facility, the building is capped by a corrugated

aluminum and steel east-facing sawtooth roof with clerestory windows over the one-story portion,




and a flat roof with the added flat-roofed penthouse crowning the building’s two-story portion.

Similar to the original building in its design, the 2,960 square foot penthouse addition is of steel frame

and concrete construction with a corrugated aluminum roof. Fenestration consists primarily of steel-

framed fixed and casement windows, except for the ground floor of the north-facing elevation where

original windows have been replaced with vinyl sliders. In addition, the building’s primary Nebraska

Avenue entrance area has been altered, now featuring a projecting concrete surround with wood-

framed and glazed double-doors. In contrast, the property’s east-facing Berkeley Street entrance

contains a metal-framed door with translucent sidelights and transoms. Wood and rolling metal doors

accessing studio spaces punctuate the building’s rear (south) elevation. A parking area is located to

the building’s east along Berkeley Street; alleys parallel its south and west elevations. Interior

spaces have been altered numerous times over the years; today, the building contains a mix of

segregated offices and studios in its large one-story space, and offices and classrooms in its second

story mezzanine and penthouse.

Person(s) of Historical Importance

Ray Kappe

Ray Kappe, FAIA is an internationally recognized and published architect/educator who has

practiced architecture in Los Angeles since 1953. His much awarded and published work is

considered to be an extension of the early Southern California master architects such as Rudolph

Schindler and Richard Neutra. Kappe was the first chairman of architecture at Cal Poly Pomona and

is the founder of SCI-Arc and was its chairman from 1972 to 1987.

Since graduating from the University of California, Berkeley with Honors in Architecture in 1951,

Kappe has been the recipient of numerous awards for his work as a designer and an educator. These

include six National AIA House & Home Awards, 10 Southern California Chapter AIA Honor and

Merit Awards, an American Institute of Architects California Council (AIA/CC) Merit Award, an

AIA Sunset Honor Award, a National AIA Homes for Better Living Award, a Steel Institute Award,

a Grand Prix Award from the City of Los Angeles, and the State of California Governor’s Mansion

Competition Award, among others. His work has had wide publication locally, nationally, and

internationally.

In 1976, a retrospective of Kappe’s residential work from 1966-1976 was published in “GA Houses

1.” In 1987, he received the Neutra Award for Professional Excellence, and in 1995 he received the




Maybeck Award for his 42 years of outstanding architectural design. This is the highest state design

award given by the AIA/CC and he was the first recipient from Southern California.

For his work as an educator, Kappe was the recipient of the Topaz Medallion, the highest award for excellence in architecture education in the United States presented by the American Institute of

Architects and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. In 1996, he was awarded the

Gold Medal from the AIA/Los Angeles Chapter honoring him for his “Lifetime Achievements, as an

innovative designer, enlightened planner and inspired educator who has influenced generations of

students and practitioners.” In 2003, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the

AIA/CC in “Recognition of his lifetime of selfless contribution of time and energy to the

professional growth of young people, dedication to the American Institute of Architects and the

betterment of the profession.” And in 2006, Kappe received the President’s Lifetime Achievement

in Education Award at the National AIA Convention in Los Angeles, recognizing his 40 some years

in education and the thousands of students whose lives have been touched by that involvement.

As relates to Ray Kappe as a historic personage according to generally accepted designation criteria,

it should be noted that for a property to be considered to be associated with a person of historical

importance, the individual must be shown to be significant in our past whose activities are

demonstrably important within a local, State, or national historic context. In addition, the property

must be the location associated with the person’s productive life, reflecting the time period when he

or she achieved significance. Further, the property should be compared to other properties

associated with the individual to identify those that best represent the person’s historic

contributions. Based upon all of these measures Ray Kappe can be considered a historic personage

in Santa Monica. His reputation as an educator and an architect is bound to the history of SCI-Arc –

an academic institution that has achieved worldwide prominence and acclaim – as the school’s

founder and long-term director; the subject property is SCI-Arc’s original location and is the building

most commonly associated with Ray Kappe’s productive life that is reflective of the time period

when he achieved significance; and, in comparison with other properties associated with Kappe, the

subject property best represents his historic contributions to architectural education and to the City

of Santa Monica.

Other notable individuals associated with SCI-Arc, such as Thom Mayne, achieved recognition for

work produced separate from, or subsequent to, their years at the architecture school when it was

located in Santa Monica. Therefore, based upon the generally accepted criteria noted above, these

individuals do not qualify as historic personages associated with the subject property.




Statement of Other Significance

Is the property representative of a style in the City this is no longer prevalent?

The subject property is a common, undistinguished vernacular industrial building of steel frame and concrete construction. It is of a type and style typical of the 1950s when the building was erected. Similar buildings can be found in Santa Monica’s industrial corridor on either side of Olympic Boulevard from the City’s eastern boundary to Lincoln Boulevard. In addition, the subject building’s ground floor fenestration and entrance area on its primary (north) elevation have been altered in recent years such that its original utilitarian appearance has been softened to accommodate contemporary office and studio uses. As a result, it is not representative of a style in the City that is no longer prevalent.

Does the property contribute to a potential historic district?

As noted, the subject property is within the boundaries of the previously identified Nebraska Avenue Industrial District; however, it has not been identified as a potential contributor to the district in any previous surveys. The Nebraska Avenue Industrial District was first identified and recorded as part

of the Santa Monica Historic Resources Inventory, Phase 3, prepared by Leslie Heumann and

Associates for the City of Santa Monica in May, 1994. The potential district’s four contributing

buildings (2920, 2928-2940, 3015, and 3025 Nebraska Avenue) were given a National Register status

code of 5D3 at the time (appearing eligible as contributors to a City of Santa Monica Cluster of

Merit – equivalent to a CHRC 5D3 status code today). The district was surveyed again after the

1994 Northridge earthquake when its status codes were reconfirmed at that time.

When initially assessed in 1994, the Nebraska Avenue Industrial District represented an architecturally unified grouping of one-story industrial buildings characterized by brick construction

with prominent mortar lines, raised piers, and Late Moderne detailing. In 2007, a Citywide Historic

Resources Survey was undertaken by the consulting firm Jones & Stokes for the City of Santa

Monica. Unofficial, preliminary results of the 2007 survey indicate that one of the four

contributors, 3025 Nebraska Avenue (aka 1750 Berkeley Street APN 4268-011-003), no longer

qualifies as a district contributor due to extensive alterations to the building’s fenestration and

exterior surfaces. As a result, the property has been given a CHRC status code of 6L and the

potential district now contains only three contributors.

The subject property – a one- and two-story steel frame and concrete vernacular industrial building that was erected in 1951 (with a penthouse addition in 1952) – was not previously identified as a




contributor to the Nebraska Avenue Industrial District because its architectural style was inconsistent with the district’s Late Moderne style brick buildings. The same reasoning holds true today. Therefore, the subject property does not appear to contribute to a potential historic district.

CONCLUSION

In summary, based on current research and the above assessment, the industrial building located at

3030 Nebraska Avenue appears to meet two of the City of Santa Monica’s Landmark criteria.

Specifically, due to the building’s 20-year association with the world-renowned SCI-Arc as the

architecture school’s original Santa Monica location from its founding in 1972 until 1992, the

property appears to meet Landmark Criterion 1. In addition, the property appears to meet Criterion

3 for its identification with SCI-Arc founder and respected educator Ray Kappe whose tenure as

school director from 1972 until 1987 corresponds with SCI-Arc’s emergence as one of the nation’s

premier architecture schools. As a result, the property may be eligible as a City Landmark.

Landmark Criteria:

9.36.100(a)(1) It exemplifies, symbolizes, or manifests elements of the cultural, social, economic,

political or architectural history of the City.

The subject property appears to satisfy this criterion. The vernacular industrial building that

became the initial home of the Southern California Institute of Architecture upon the school’s

founding in 1972 through its departure in 1992 symbolizes SCI-Arc’s importance to the

cultural history of Santa Monica. While at this location SCI-Arc rapidly evolved from the

experimental “New School” to become one of America’s best architectural academies based

upon a unique learning environment featuring diverse teaching styles, a non-hierarchical

structure, a minimum of academic restraints, a focus on student responsibility, and a

willingness to engage opposing ideas while grappling with contemporary urban problems.

The level of critical acclaim accorded to its faculty and students over the years attests to the

success of SCI-Arc’s novel academic approach. As a result, the subject property has had a

substantial, positive impact on Santa Monica’s reputation as an incubator for innovation,

securing an important place in the City’s history among such renowned local institutions as

RAND Corporation and the Douglas Aircraft Factory.




9.36.100(a)(2) It has aesthetic or artistic interest or value, or other noteworthy interest or value.

As a vernacular, utilitarian industrial building the subject property does not articulate a

particular or noteworthy concept of design sufficient enough to express an aesthetic ideal

beyond that represented by other properties of the same type and style located in the City.

Therefore, the subject property does not meet this criterion.

9.36.100(a)(3) It is identified with historic personages or with important events in local, state or

national history.

The subject property is associated with Ray Kappe, a historic personage who has been

widely recognized for his contributions to important events in local, state, and national

history as the founder of SCI-Arc and its director from 1972 through 1987. These years

correspond to the time period when SCI-Arc was located in Santa Monica. Therefore, the

subject property appears eligible for local landmark designation under this criterion.

9.36.100(a)(4) It embodies distinguishing architectural characteristics valuable to a study of a

period, style, method of construction, or the use of indigenous materials or craftsmanship, or is a

unique or rare example of an architectural design, detail or historical type valuable to such a study.

The property does not appear to satisfy this criterion. The subject property is a common

example of a vernacular, utilitarian industrial building erected in the 1950s as represented in

industrial areas along both sides of Olympic Boulevard in Santa Monica. In addition, the

original ground floor fenestration and entrance area of the building’s primary (north) elevation

have been modified in recent years such that it no longer exemplifies the type and style of

industrial building typical of the 1950s. Further, the building’s modified interior spaces as

the home of SCI-Arc have since been reconfigured and no longer reflect the innovative,

acclaimed renovation of the building by students and faculty during its early years of

occupancy.




9.36.100(a)(5) It is a significant or a representative example of the work or product of a notable

builder, designer or architect.

Building permits indicate that there was no architect associated with the design of the subject

property; however, owner John F. Drescher was identified as the building’s contractor.

Architect Otto Beyerle designed the nondescript penthouse addition constructed one year

later. Current research revealed no information suggesting that either Drescher or Beyerle

were considered notable members of their respective professions. Therefore, the subject

property does not appear eligible for local landmark designation under this criterion.

9.36.100(a)(6) It has a unique location, a singular physical characteristic, or is an established and

familiar visual feature of a neighborhood, community or the City.

The subject property is located on the south side of Nebraska Avenue, a street consisting

primarily of industrial, office, and studio spaces. Within this lightly traveled area one block

north of Olympic Boulevard in the east end of the City, the subject property blends into the

district and, despite its two-story+penthouse height, is not especially prominent,

particularly as viewed by motorists. Therefore, the subject property does not appear to

meet this criterion.

CONSULTANT’S COMMENTS

Because the building’s significance appears to be based upon its “symbolizing elements of the cultural history of Santa Monica” as the initial home of SCI-Arc and also for its identification with Ray Kappe – and NOT for its architectural significance – consideration should be given as to how best to recognize and honor its importance to the City. If the Landmarks Commission decides in favor of designating the subject property as a City Landmark perhaps the Commission would consider including the following recommendations as part of the public record:

1) The building should be formally recorded under the guidelines of a Historical American Building Survey (HABS) photo documentation report.

2) Utilizing text and images, a prominent interpretive kiosk should be erected on the Nebraska Avenue sidewalk fronting the building that explains the site’s history and significance as well as the association of Ray Kappe and others.




During a December 27, 2007 telephone interview with Ray Kappe, he indicated that such a commemoration would be the most appropriate consequence of Landmark designation – one that did not require that the building itself be retained. His belief is that the subject property is a utilitarian industrial building that is significant only for what occurred there when it was the home of SCI-Arc, but that there should be no impediment to its removal for new uses on the site.


CITY DIRECTORY RESEARCH

3030 NEBRASKA AVENUE (AKA 1800 BERKELEY STREET, 3060 NEBRASKA AVENUE)

APN: 4268-010-008

Year Entry

1952-53 Under Construction

1954 American Gyro Corporation

1958-59 William Brand Wire & Cable Corporation

1960-61 Brand Cable Corporation


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Architecture, “An Interview with Ray Kappe,” August, 1998. Vol. 87, Number 8. pp.37-43.

Architecture, “GSD and SCI-Arc Name New Heads,” by Raul A. Bareneche. March, 2002. Vol. 91,

Number 3. p.17.

Architectural Record, “SCI-Arc Los Angeles: Gary Paige Studio,” by Joseph Giovannini. July,

2003.

Basten, Fred E. Santa Monica Bay – The First 100 Years. Los Angeles: Douglas-West Publishers,

1974.

Basten, Fred E. Santa Monica Bay: Paradise By the Sea. Santa Monica: Hennessey + Ingalls, 2001.

City of Santa Monica Building and Safety Department. Building Permits.

City of Santa Monica. Historic Resources Inventory: Phase 3, prepared by Leslie Heumann and

Associates, May 1994.

City of Santa Monica. Historic Resources Inventory Update, prepared by Parkinson Field

Associates, September 1995.

Gebhard, David and Robert Winter. Architecture in Los Angeles. Salt Lake City, Utah: Peregrine

Smith Books, 1985.

Gebhard, David and Robert Winter. Architecture in Los Angeles. Salt Lake City, Utah: Gibbs Smith

Books, 2003.

http://www.sciarc.edu/portal/about/history/index.html

Ingersoll, Luther A. Ingersoll’s Century History: Santa Monica Bay Cities. Los Angeles: Luther

A. Ingersoll, 1908.

Los Angeles County Tax Assessor.

Los Angeles Times, “Ex-Cal Poly Pomona Architect Director Will Open New School,” September

14, 1972. p.C1.




Los Angeles Times, “Mundane to Mile High: Architecture in the Halls of Lively,” by John Dreyfuss.

March 10, 1976. p.F1.

McAlester, Virginia & Lee. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990.

Metropolis, “An Established Experiment,” by Michael Webb. October, 1997. Vol. 17, Number 3.

pp.92-97, 115.

National Park Service. National Register Bulletin: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for

Evaluation. Washington DC: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, National Park Service, Interagency

Resources Division, 1997.

Newmark, Harris. Sixty Years in Southern California, 1853-1913. New York: Knickerbocker Press,

1916.

Polk. Polk’s Santa Monica City Directory. Los Angeles, (various years).

Robinson, W.W. Santa Monica: A Calendar of Events in the Making of a City. California Title

Insurance and Trust Company, 1959.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, City of Santa Monica.

Santa Monica Public Library, Santa Monica Index.

Santa Monica Public Library Image Archives.

Storrs, Les. Santa Monica, Portrait of a City, 1875-1975. Santa Monica: Santa Monica Bank, 1874.

Warren, Charles S. ed. History of the Santa Monica Bay Region. Santa Monica: Cawston, 1934.

White, Col. Carl F. ed. Santa Monica Community Book (Fifth Edition). Santa Monica: Cawston,

1953.


PHOTOGRAPHS

Primary Nebraska Avenue (north) elevation, looking southeast.

Primary (north) elevation, looking southeast.




East (Berkeley Street) elevation, looking northwest.

Rear (south) elevation, looking northwest.




Secondary (west) elevation, looking southeast.

Entrance detail, primary (north) elevation, looking south.




Window detail, primary (north) elevation, ground floor, looking south.

Window detail, primary (north) elevation, second story, looking south.




Context view, Nebraska Avenue, subject property on left, looking west.

Context view, Nebraska Avenue, subject property on right, looking east.


MISCELLANEOUS ATTACHMENTS

CURRENT TAX ASSESSOR MAPS

Assessor’s Map

Assessor’s Index Map

3030 nebraska landmark assessment · 233 wilshire boulevard, suite 130, santa monica, ca 90401...

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