Monumental Response

I read Nicolai Ouroussoff and Christopher Knight’s dual attacks on the City of Angels Monument project with some amusement and a great deal of disappointment (“Picture This on Downtown’s Doorstep,” Oct. 24).

Is Brett-Livingstone Strong’s proposed 750-foot City of Angels Monument and tower, which both writers laugh at as L.A.’s poor-cousin equivalent of the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty, truly a “grotesque parody of this city’s reputation”? Absolutely! And as that, it is also the perfect complement to a great city built on whimsy and imagination, a city that sadly reflects about as much signature cultural vision as Des Moines, Iowa.

The comments from these two acerbic journalistic naysayers were instantly reminiscent of the historic letters and campaigns that ironically tried to stop both the Eiffel Tower and Statue of Liberty themselves so many years ago. Today, those stuffy comments are about as dated and laughable as the narrow-minded, visionless comments of Ouroussoff and Knight will surely be a hundred years from now.

TRAVIS MICHAEL HOLDER

Silver Lake

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Ouroussoff and Knight’s articles should have been the cover story. Their insights and observations will prove to be prophetic if this project of darkness sees the light of day.

There is an L.A. precedent, however: the Triforium. This light and music “sound sculpture” had to have been an influence on Strong in the Oscar/Emmy design equation and closer to his heart than the “Winged Victory.”

When was the last time anyone paid a visit to or heard of the Triforium? Who has a collectible of it on their desk? History will repeat itself on a grand scale.

BRUCE RICHARDS

Los Angeles

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Both Ouroussoff and Knight refer to the winged angel itself as a kind of kitschy tombstone sculpture. If anything to my eye truly does resemble a graveyard it is our downtown just the way it is, both in its smattering of drab, hulking monoliths and in the ghostly emptiness of its streets after work hours.

If it were up to me, I’d lose those unimaginative high-rises and keep Strong’s grand vision, gothic kitsch and all. Besides, we all need an angel to watch over us, and why not a “big-busted babe clad in clingy, thigh-high lingerie”!

WALTER DOMINGUEZ

Los Angeles

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I agree wholeheartedly with Ouroussoff and Knight’s assessments. This gaudy monstrosity appears to make up in ornamentation and retail opportunities what it lacks in meaning and relevance to the culture(s) of the city of Los Angeles. And it’s so ugly too!

Besides, the entertainment industry hardly needs a monument to it when it’s proven to be the most self-congratulatory industry we have here in the Southland. God help us if this “angel” really does come to pass.

LISA NAUGLE

Simi Valley

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This is L.A. It’s not Paris; it’s not Milan. This is where they make “Wheel of Fortune” and Adam Sandler movies. This is the town in which being cute is a job skill. Where we give awards for best awards show. Tacky is part of our pedigree. So why shouldn’t we have a gigantic, scary, inspiring, tacky and fun monument adorning our skyline?

Let’s not forget that Los Angeles’ most famous landmark--the Hollywood sign--began its life as a billboard for a real estate development.

Personally, I’m keeping my tacky little fingers crossed that Strong’s Anton Furst/Xena, Warrior Princess/Ice Capades monument gets built!

RAY IVEY

Los Angeles

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I should be happy to buy Strong a one-way ticket to Las Vegas so that he can build his gift-store bauble on steroids in a more appropriate and appreciative location. He should be laughed out of town for attempting to do it here.

MICHAEL WEBB

Westwood

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I assume this proposed project is just an elaborate personal publicity stunt in a city where it is increasingly difficult to get attention. Right?

ALAN SANDOVAL

Costa Mesa

Knight worked overtime on his descriptive phrases of the proposed City of Angels Monument, calling it “the vulgar colossus,” “the morbid spectacle” and “trashy vulgarity.” He was just getting warmed up! How about “overblown bowling trophy,” “Batman meets Marilyn Manson,” or, the best one, “a flying bit of pneumatic cheesecake”?

Knight has convinced this reader. The project sounds perfect for L.A.! Can’t wait to hit the indoor ski slope.

KATE FLANAGAN SIEGEL

Northridge

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I am reminded of former Councilman Ernani Bernardi’s famous comment on the Los Angeles Mall’s then newly built Triforium: “a million-dollar jukebox!”

Well, my name for this latest boondoggle is the Heidi Fleiss Monument!

STEVE MORGAN

Northridge

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Let him who defends Frank Gehry’s plans for the Walt Disney Concert Hall cast the first stone.

MONTE MONTGOMERY

Los Angeles

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Angel City is so out of place and out of scale it looks like it was dropped from a spaceship. It’s so far over the top it makes rococo and baroque seem minimalist. It might even be too gaudy for Las Vegas, if such a thing is possible.

JOEL KENYON

Culver City

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If The Times hates the Angel City development, it can’t be all bad. After all, The Times is promoting the Disney Hall plan; that looks just like newspaper trash in a high wind.

RAY PHILLIPS

Studio City

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As if the Red Line stations’ “art” wasn’t embarrassing enough. . . . If that thing goes up, I’m moving out.

MARK LIGHTCAP

Highland Park

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It is hard to argue that either architecture or art is involved here. But what is? And how can we stop it?

If there’s the slightest chance that these horrors could actually become reality, I am ready to fight back. This is one urban nightmare that should never see the light of day.

JAMES STOECKER

Los Angeles

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Was I the only one who checked the date to see if it was April 1?

ROBERT MILLAR

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