Fortress L.A. : WELCOME TO THE POST-RIOT CENTRAL CITY, WHERE MANY DAMAGED BUSINESSES ARE BEING REDESIGNED TO BE AS CRIME-PROOF AS POSSIBLE.

SHOPPING CENTERS ARE SURROUNDED BY iron bars. Windowless department stores have concrete walls thick enough to stop vehicles from crashing through. Rooftops are extra-high in the hope of preventing Molotov cocktails from landing on them. Supermarket loading docks are hidden behind walls and metal doors to deter robberies.

Welcome to post-riot Central Los Angeles.

Throughout the central city, many businesses destroyed in last year’s riots are being redesigned to be as crime-proof as possible. These new buildings go far beyond barred windows and burglar alarms to incorporate security as a key element of structural design.

“These concepts are changing the way buildings are designed,” said architect Paul Kim. “Ten years ago, you would never have thought these measures would be needed.”

Some urban-affairs experts contend that such buildings add to the siege mentality in crime-ridden neighborhoods, although many residents accept them as a sad reality of inner-city life. Business owners and architects say such measures are necessary and that the fortifications can be softened through subtle designs.

“A lot of people get sad about this (trend), but it’s just a fact of living in an area of haves and have-nots,” said Norman Millar, an architecture professor at USC. “However, these buildings do not have to be ugly.”

In Pico-Union, the $15-million La Curacao furniture store will be the “ultimate, high-tech riot-proof” building when it is completed, according to its owners. The new 200,000-square-foot store, which will cover half a city block, will have a $2-million maze of security systems hidden behind a graceful pre-Columbian facade of arches, waterfalls and Mayan statues.

On the second day of last year’s riots, a truck rammed through the display window of the original store. Hundreds of looters stormed the complex, carrying away furniture as co-owner Ron Azarkman and his partners watched in disbelief. The building was then set on fire and burned to the ground.

The walls of the new four-story windowless structure will consist of two layers of eight-inch-thick concrete blocks. At night, the glass entry will be sealed by heavy “guillotine-like” steel doors that can stop a tank, said architect Michael Naim. And the building’s concrete, glass and metal design will make it impervious to firebombings.

The underground parking lot will be ventilated by narrow metal slats backed by iron bars to stop prowlers. Video cameras will scan every inch of the building, and the automated vaults where the cash is stored will open only during certain hours.

“We are going for the ultimate safety that we know of in every aspect of the building,” said Azarkman, who is still arranging financing for the project.

Security is also playing a significant role in the redesign of a Mid-City mini-mall and a South-Central swap meet destroyed in the riots. Vehicles were rammed into the two wood-frame buildings, ripping gaping holes that allowed hordes of looters to enter. The thieves then tossed Molotov cocktails onto the roofs, burning both complexes to the ground.

But things will be different next time, said architect Kim, who is redesigning both structures.

The new mini-mall will be guarded by a 6-foot iron fence, and a gate will seal the compound at night. Its walls will be made of 8-inch-thick cinder blocks, with glass storefronts built above a 2-foot-high concrete bulkhead designed to smash the grills of vehicles that might try to punch through.

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The bunker-like swap meet will be constructed of concrete block, and there will be no windows. Ventilation ducts will be blocked by iron “burglar bars” to prevent thieves from sneaking in, and roll-down metal doors will seal the entryways at night. The parapets of both buildings will be about seven feet higher than normal to block flaming objects from being hurled onto roofs.

The security designs for both structures will cost about $200,000, or about one-tenth of the total price, Kim said. Construction is expected to begin within two months.

“Before, the owners were concerned about appearance. But now they are just as concerned about security,” Kim said.

Today’s “fortress” designs evolved from the “brutalist architecture” style popularized in Europe during the early 1900s, according to architecture experts. Buildings of that era are characterized by thick, blank concrete walls with few windows.

During the past decade, fortress architecture has spread throughout Southern California. These designs can include the obvious, such as iron gates, to more subtle measures such as prickly vegetation around perimeters to ward off intruders.

Other measures include “pre-graffitied” window covers, which are installed at night to fool taggers into thinking that the building has already been vandalized. There are also wax-based graffiti-proof coatings that are applied to exteriors to make the scribbling easier to remove.

Although no design can guarantee that a building will be riot-proof, experts say defensive architecture proved its worth during the civil unrest.

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In Koreatown, while other buildings went up in flames, Kim’s Home Center was untouched. That’s because its windowless pillbox construction and seven-foot iron fence made it an uninviting target, said its designer, architect Tae Hee Lee.

In Los Angeles, the riots and staggering crime rates have accelerated the trend toward fortress architecture, said urban theorist Mike Davis, author of “City of Quartz: Excavating the Future of Los Angeles.”

“It’s one of the major evolutionary processes in this city,” Davis said.

He and others say there is a dark side to this development.

“What we are doing is installing piece by piece the infrastructure of a police state,” said architect and urban theorist Steven Flusty, who is preparing a research paper on fortress architecture for the Los Angeles Forum of Architectural and Urban Design.

The fortress designs can also reinforce feelings, especially among children, that crime-ridden neighborhoods are under siege, said Desdemona Cardoza, a Cal State Los Angeles social psychologist. “It’s one of those situations that’s lose-lose,” she said.

Many residents say they despise the fortress designs and other security measures, but accept them as necessary.

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“I really hate it,” said Helen Coleman, leader of a South-Central block club, “but I would much rather see these barriers going up than (see) people getting killed.”

“We are living in a war zone,” said Pico-Union resident Suzanna Arejuin, head of a Neighborhood Watch team. “These (measures) are necessary.”

The alternative to not having such security measures would be the exodus of more businesses from the inner city, said Ted Fortier, president of the Crenshaw Chamber of Commerce.

At the Crenshaw Town Center, property owners say wary customers demanded that an iron gate be placed around the complex, which was heavily damaged during the riots.

“Because of the civil disturbance and because of tension in the community, we are looking at upgrading our security (further),” said Bob Shields, president of Watt Commercial Properties, which owns the Crenshaw Center and about nine other properties in Central Los Angeles.

Other riot-damaged businesses have added new security designs.

The rebuilt Smart & Final grocery store in South Los Angeles is surrounded by a new seven-foot iron fence. And the loading dock is hidden behind concrete walls and a metal door that opens and closes when delivery trucks drive through.

“We wanted to make it completely enclosed for additional protection,” said Smart & Final spokeswoman Leanne Reynolds.

In Pico-Union, the strip mall housing a King Taco restaurant burned to the ground. Today, an iron fence surrounds the property and gun-toting guards watch as customers eat tacos.

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Businesses wanting to relocate in the inner city often ask about security, said Bernard Kinsey, a co-chair of Rebuild LA. The nonprofit organization informs businesses that security is a problem in some areas but that any additional costs can be outweighed by revenue gained from a lack of competition from other companies, he said.

In the past, security experts say, businesses often relied solely on burglar alarms for protection. But during the riots, hundreds of alarms overwhelmed emergency switchboards. Many were never answered.

So more businesses are installing iron gates and heavy metal doors that can be rolled up and hidden during the day.

“The people in the inner city have more or less learned that (alarms) are not going to work very well. What is going to work is an obstacle between you and the burglar,” said Bob Poirier, general manager of Action Door Repair Corp., a security company that has a number of inner-city clients.

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Business has increased about 15% since the riots, he said, adding that other companies have experienced similar gains.

The costs, which can range from $3,000 to $10,000 for metal doors, can be prohibitive for smaller companies. Many have turned to less expensive measures such as razor wire over chain-link fences.

Some architects say the fences and razor wire are not only eyesores but that they create a false sense of security because attackers can wait outside the safety of the barriers or find other ways to break in. They also say such measures only serve to isolate people from each other.

But business owners say the trend toward fortress designs is likely to continue. “You have to be realistic,” said Fortier of the Crenshaw Chamber. “The elements of criminal behavior are escalating.”

Preparing for the Worst

Security figures prominently in the proposed redesign of La Curacao furniture store, which was looted and burned to the ground during the second day of last year’s riots. Here are some of its features:

1. Walls will be made of two layers of concrete block. The building also features a fire-proof glass-and-metal design.

2. The grills ventilating the underground parking structure will be metal slats spaced five inches apart and backed by iron bars to keep out intruders.

3. The first floor will be five feet above street level to keep vehicles from crashing through the entry to pave the way for looters,

4. “Guillotine-like” steel doors will seal the glass entryway at night.