Gateway Monument

Regarding the Gateway monument for Los Angeles, what is being lost here, in the debate concerning the merits or lack thereof of the model chosen by the committee, is the fact that Los Angeles is no longer the national dumpster for kitsch. We are, hopefully, a city coming of age.

The metaphor of the proposed monument is apt and even stirring. The idea of bridges and stairways linking the diversities of Los Angeles (and by implication, the nation) is wonderful. What those of us who protest the design (and we are legion) are protesting is the execution. The monument lacks dignity, and so loses its power to move the spirit.

What if, as an example, the idea of bridges and stairways was retained, and the monument did indeed consist of soaring gateways and walkways and bridges linking the city. And what if these passages were planted with magnificent greenery, a veritable hanging garden of lushness, and what if, as an example, these pathways led to a magnificent sparkling fountain erupting high into the Los Angeles sky, a shimmering apex that could be seen for miles? And lighted in the night? What if?

Isn’t this really a better image? And isn’t it timeless and elegant and dignified . . . without losing the sense of fun that is basic to Los Angeles’ view of itself?

Don’t burden us with another Triforium. Los Angeles is trying to becoming world class. The minimalls have just about undone us. Let’s try to overcome our natural propensity for junk architecture.

JASON BRIDGES

North Hollywood