Rudi Baumfeld; Architect of L.A.’s First ‘Skyscraper’

Rudi Baumfeld, 84, designer of the nation’s first two-level enclosed shopping center--Southdale in Minneapolis in 1956--who spent most of his career in Los Angeles with the noted architect and planner Victor Gruen. He joined Gruen in 1943 and over the years designed South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa and the Tishman 615 Building on South Flower Street, a 20-story structure that was the first to exceed Los Angeles’ 13-story limit when it opened in 1960. He also designed several City National Bank offices and a dozen Joseph Magnin stores. In Los Angeles last Saturday.