Vintage 1950s Lost
Buildings
Richfield Tower
formally 555 South Flower Street
Los Angeles
Richfield Tower, (a.k.a. Richfield
Oil Company Building) was constructed between 1928 and 1929 and served
as the headquarters of Richfield Oil. It was designed by Stiles
O. Clements and featured a black and gold Art Deco façade.
The
12-floor building, including a 130-foot (40 m) tower on top of the
building emblazoned vertically with the name "Richfield". Lighting
on the tower was made to simulate an oil well gusher and the motif was reused
at some Richfield service stations.
The
company outgrew the building, and it was demolished in 1969, much to the dismay
of Los
Angeles residents and those interested in
architectural preservation. It is now the ARCO
Plaza skyscraper complex. The elaborate black-and-gold elevator doors
were salvaged from the building and reside in the lobby of the new ARCO
building (now City
National Tower).
Richfield
Tower was featured in a few scenes of Michelangelo Antonioni's 1970 film Zabriskie Point, shot
shortly before its demolition
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