This past Saturday the Music Center in Los Angeles fêted its 50th anniversary with star-studded performances by the Gustavo Dudamel–led LA Philharmonic, the Center Theatre Group, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the LA Opera, and Glorya Kaufman’s dance troupe. The event offered an opportunity to recall highlights from five dramatic decades and to celebrate the architectural contributions of Welton Becket, who designed the center’s campus and its first building, the 3,197-seat Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, which opened in December 1964.
“The gala is a perfect way to acknowledge the importance and beauty of Becket’s concept and design, and to showcase the Music Center as the catalyst for the ultimate development of downtown Los Angeles,” said Music Center COO Howard Sherman.
Becket, whose other credits include the Beverly Hilton Hotel, the UCLA campus, the Cinerama Dome on Sunset, and the Capitol Records building, pursued a total-design philosophy in his work, focusing on interiors and exteriors, master-site planning, landscaping, furnishings, and finishes. For the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, he used a mix of classical elements (columns, colonnades, entablatures), noble materials (marble, granite, crystal chandeliers), and iconic signatures (waffle slabs, umbrella shells), creating an elegant structure that hosted the L.A. Phil—not to mention 25 Academy Awards shows—before it moved in 2003 to the newest building on the campus, Frank Gehry's steel-clad Walt Disney Concert Hall.
“The design, the integrated furniture, the chandeliers—everything really seems both from that time and timeless,” said Sherman. “In the future, we plan to update the outdoor plaza and integrate technology in terms of fiber optics, digital screens, and state-of-the-art kitchen facilities. This would make the plaza more of a performance space and more accessible and in tune with the lifestyle of Angelenos today.”
