As with almost everything else about Los Angeles, the entertainment industry and its over-the-top persona exert a great deal of influence over the city’s architectural styles. As a result Los Angeles has evolved into a city that’s glitzy, glamorous and far from understated, much like Hollywood itself. Whether you love ‘em or hate ‘em, you have to acknowledge that many Los Angeles buildings are stylish, innovative and full of pizzazz.

Los Angeles features an extremely eclectic concoction of architectural styles. Sturdy California Mission and Spanish Colonial Revival, gingerbread Victorian, functional Arts and Crafts, elegant Art Deco, 1950s retro, Pre-Modern, Modern and Post-Modern — the city has buildings in all of those styles. Checking out some of the city’s more stylish and innovative buildings is one more way that people entertain themselves while they’re in Los Angeles.

Many of the city’s more prominent buildings were designed by widely-acclaimed architects. Truth be told, the list of these architects is almost a “Who’s Who” of international architecture. Pierre Koenig, Eero Saarinen, Frank Lloyd Wright, I.M. Pei, Arata Isozaki, Frank Gehry and other renowned architects are all represented by buildings in this city. Be advised, if you tour some of these architects’ buildings you may or may not like what you see. So what’s the bottom line about these buildings? They’re controversial but they’re also entertaining and like Hollywood film stars, they’re ever-so strikingly stylish. Say what you like, but in the world of architecture these buildings and their designers are no slouches.

Several spectacular buildings are located in downtown Los Angeles. The showy Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by Frank Gehry, is an exuberant, effervescent riot of curving stainless steel panels. You may love or hate its unusual exterior, but no one ever quibbles about the beautiful interior and its extraordinary acoustics.

The modern US Bank Tower, also called the Library Tower, is another dramatic building in the downtown area. An I.M. Pei design, this skyscraper is said to be the tallest building between Chicago and Singapore, and it’s designed to withstand an earthquake of 8.3 on the Richter scale. It features an illuminated glass “crown” at the top, along with the highest building helicopter pad in the world.

The austere but imposing Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles is the third-largest cathedral in the world. A recent complex designed by Jose Rafael Moneo, it features Mission-style colonnades, numerous tapestries and other works of art, a large plaza and several gardens. Its exterior is sand-colored, angular and somewhat uninviting, but its interior is sublime.

Not all the interesting downtown buildings are so new. The city’s center also has the historic Biltmore Hotel, an architectural monument to early 20th century elegance and grandeur, along with the Bonaventure, another grand hotel. It features a 1970s urban design and exhilarating outdoor glass elevators.

The L.A. Central Library is a downtown landmark. Originally designed by Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue in the 1920s to mimic buildings in ancient Egypt, the building has been renovated and expanded and now features a Modernist/Beaux Arts style. The library’s splendid interior features an eight-story atrium, a colorful mural depicting the history of California, and various statues, chandeliers and other features.

One of the few remaining great American train stations, downtown’s Union Station is a wonderful example of California’s pre-World War 2 Mission-style architecture. Completed in 1939, its richly paneled and beautifully detailed interior evokes the elegance and glamour of yesteryear. Union Station’s interior may even look familiar: popular films shot there include Blade Runner, The Way We Were and Bugsy.

For many years Los Angeles City Hall was the tallest building in Los Angeles. Its unusual ziggurat-shaped tower, designed to resemble one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, is quite conspicuous. But people outside the city may best know it as being the headquarters of the fictional newspaper that employed Clark Kent in the old Superman television series.

Lest you get the wrong impression, rest assured that not all of the city’s more interesting buildings are located downtown. For example, if you fly into Los Angeles International Airport you’ll probably notice the Theme Building. It’s hard to miss because it looks like it’s something from The Jetsons, the futuristic early 1960s animated television show. And the main control tower at LAX is noteworthy; it’s designed to look like a stylized but still welcoming Southern California palm tree. In Beverly Hills there’s a 1950s-style gas station that looks like a spaceship. And the entrance of the Chiat/Day building in Venice is framed, somewhat bizarrely, by a three-story pair of binoculars. It’s odd, but that’s Southern California.

Many other architectural works of art in Los Angeles provide visual entertainment. The Victorian Bradbury Building and its huge skylight, Hollywood’s circular Capitol Records Building that resembles a stack of vinyl records, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and the lesser-known Egyptian Theatre, centuries-old Spanish missions and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Freeman House can all be explored in Los Angeles and its surrounds.

Los Angeles vacations are fun for the whole family. When looking at vacation packages and travel deals to Los Angeles make sure to bundle and save your vacations. Buying the car, flight, hotel, and activities all at once will increase the savings on your trip.

Looking for another destination? I would suggest also looking at Las Vegas vacations for some fun in party city.

Deco & Streamline Architecture in L.A: A Moderne City Survey $37.95 Dramatic photos and fascinating text explore the rich angular ornament, towers, graphics, and exaggerated works created by architects and designers in 1920s to 1940s Los Angeles. Students and admirers of the Art Deco and Streamline styles will delight in the remarkable array of public buildings, office towers, theaters, restaurants, religious structures, apartments, hotels, and individual homes. M…