134. Los Angeles Central Library
There are few municipal buildings quite like the Los Angeles Central Library at 630 West Fifth Street. Now an important landmark in crowded downtown Los Angeles, the public library was built in 1926. It’s a distinctive building that may be the physical manifestation of occult esoteric knowledge. For tourists, its unique look is simply described as being inspired by “ancient Egyptian and Mediterranean revival architecture”. So far, so Architectural Digest: the 1920s did see a boom in Egyptian-inspired architecture following Howard Carter’s exhumation of Tutankhamun in 1922. However, beneath the surface, there are a host of hidden meanings and intentions encoded into the architecture and decoration of the LA Central Library building. Only those who know what they’re looking for, perhaps a secret elite rather than the masses, are able to see the true meaning of the library’s symbolic art.
The key architect behind the library was Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, who was part of the Arts and Crafts movement of late 19th century Boston. He and business partner Ralph Adams Cram belonged to several secret societies, including the Pewter Mugs (a drinking and literary society for Boston’s bohemian crowd) and the Visionists (artists, poets, magazine from 1892.
