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AKA: Griffith Park Observatory and Samuel Oshin Planetarium, Los Angeles
Structure Type: built works - exhibition buildings - planetariums
Designers: Austin and Ashley, Architects (firm); Hardy, Holzman, Pfeiffer, Architects (HHPA) (firm); Levin and Associates, Architects (firm); McKay Conant Brook (MCB), Incorporated (firm); Frederic M. Ashley (architect); John Corneby Wilson Austin (architect); Hugo Ballin (artist/muralist); Brook (acoustical engineer); David Conant (acoustical engineer/architect); Archibald Garner (sculptor); Hugh Gelston Hardy (architect); Malcolm Holzman (architect); Brenda A. Levin (architect); Ronald L. McKay (acoustical engineer/architect); Norman Henry Pfeiffer (architect)
Dates: constructed 1934-1935
Overview
Located in the hills above Hollywood, the Griffith Park Observatory and Planetarium has become one of Los Angeles's most enchanting landmarks, particularly after its 2006 renovation. The building's panorama of the LA Basin has been featured in multiple Hollywood films over the years, from Rebel Without a Cause (1955), The Terminator (1984), to LA LA Land (2016), adding to its mystique. Views from the observatory at sunset reveal Los Angeles's most beautiful, glittering aspect.
Building History
This observatory atop Mount Hollywood was built with money bequeathed by Col. Griffith J. Griffith (d. 1919), a local landowner. Griffith donated half of his ranch's land to the City of Los Angeles on which Griffith Park was created.
Building Notes
The Obelisk to the north of the Griffith Park observatory contained sculptures of the astronomers Hipparchus, Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, and Herschel executed by the sculptor, Archibald Garner (1904-1969), in 1934. Interior murals were done by Hugo Ballin (1879-1956), in 1935.
The central dome housed a large planetarium, the east dome contained a 300 mm. Zeiss refractor telescope of 5 meters focal length and a coelostat in the west dome.
Alteration
Renovated 2002-2006 by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer and Associates (HHPA), and, subsequently, Pfeiffer Partners. HHPA dissolved in 2004, and Norman Pfeiffer retained the commission for his new firm headquartered in Los Angeles. Pfeiffer's obituary in the Los Angeles Times.com said of the observatory renovation: "Pfeiffer’s newfound independence from HHPA also allowed him to take on more historic preservation projects, most notably the renovation and expansion of the Griffith Observatory, completed in 2006. Incorporating several new facilities while maintaining the building’s iconic outward presence — essentially a magic trick — required the painstaking re-creation of the sprawling front lawn to its original specifications to install a 40,000-square-foot exhibition space beneath its sea of green." (See Shane Reiner-Roth, Los Angeles Times.com, "Norman Pfeiffer, prolific architect of SoCal institutions and L.A. Central Library expansion, dies at 82," published 08/29/2023, accessed 09/01/2023.)
At this time, the planetarium was renamed the "Samuel Oshin Planetarium."
PCAD id: 912
