California architecture

Architect John Portman - Westin Bonaventure Hotel Los Angeles

Los Angeles, Calif. -- The top floor has a revolving restaurant and observation level. Architect John Portman claims influence by the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson and teachings of Frank Lloyd Wright with focus on the systems by which buildings are organized with organic unity as a design ideal. Westin Bonaventure Hotel; John Portman & Associates, 1976; largest hotel in Los Angeles is 367 feet (112 meters) tall and has 35 floors.

Portman believes that architecture is a comprehensive discipline that should shape and direct all aspects of life. Portman received the City Association Award for this project. 

When Architect John Portman created the Westin Bonaventure in Los Angeles, some heralded the design while others complained that it was out of place for L.A. We find it one of the bright spots, along with the Walt Disney Concert Hall that was recently completed under the direction of L.A. based Architect Frank Gehry.

Portman has never shied from controversy and as a result, his projects have become increasingly larger, more dramatic and spectacular through time.  Portman meets commercial success and is sought out in countries such as China where the need for living and commercial space grows daily.

Architect John Portman continues to rise to new heights in spectacular, world-class projects in China, the United States and elsewhere. Designing mixed used projects to stand out, yet blend with incredibly diverse city landscapes of one of the world's largest cities, Shanghai, Portman is no stranger to China's penchant for beautiful buildings that are anything but understated. In the heart of one of the world's great financial centers that features an incredibly cosmopolitan environment, Portman's unique blend of towering objects mixed with smaller structures and spaces, will continue to enhance Shanghai with the project, Shanghai Jin Hongqiao International Center. If you have the opportunity to see L.A., add Shanghai to your list of the finest cities to visit for studies in architecture and the great works of Architect John Portman.
 

John Portman hotels include: New York Marriott Marquis, Hyatt Regency San Francisco, Le Meridien San Francisco, J.W. Marriott San Francisco, Atlanta Marriott Marquis, Westin Peachtree Plaza, Hyatt Regency Atlanta, The Westin Charlotte, Westin Warsaw Hotel, Hyatt Regency Hangzhou, The Regent Singapore.

John Portman mixed use projects include: San Francisco's Embarcadero Center (Design in Steel Award, American Iron and Steel Institute, 1975), Beijing Yintai Centre, Shanghai Centre, and Shanghai Jin Hongqiao International Center. Projects sport columns, cylinders, spires, obelisks and other dramatic shapes and often include unique, reflective exterior treatments.