cineplexable

Our shortcomings in manufacturing and distributing liquid nostalgia to the sentimental masses will forever be one of humanity’s greatest hurdles. Despite this, it would be difficult to find someone who does not have an anecdotal romance for a time once captured on the acetate strip. The cineplex is an artefactual relic which, much like Los Angeles itself, continues to defy speculation and the foretellings of a digital age. Located in the Arts District on the edge of the Los Angeles River, this cineplex operates as a mat-building, a term coined by Alison Smithson in 1974. In that sense, it is a highly compact, low-lying structure which may tesselate in perpetuity, regardless of programming.

“Mat-buildings can be said to epitomize the anonymous collective; where the functions come to enrich the fabric, and the individual gains new freedoms of action through a new and shuffled order, based on interconnection, close-knit patterns of association, and possibilities for growth, diminution, and change.” – Alison Smithson

An articulated superstructure performs the role of organizational sieve, directing the circulation of movie-goers and partitioning individual theatres. A suspended steel footpath works in conjunction with a set of fourteen folly-esque staircases to utilize the full height of the construction, including occupiable theatre rooftops. A two-dimensional graphic, chain-link façade conceals the interior, allowing only slight moments of insight. A suspended lobby is the single idiosyncrasy in the mat-building, ultimately breaking the grid and becoming a visual anchor. Outside of the lobby is an open-air theatre, the largest of the nineteen theatre spaces. In their deployment, theatre volumes act as an armature for spontaneous, artistic endeavors which adapt and transform the notion of what a cineplex can or should be.

700 S Santa Fe Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90021