Day Capsule · the Theme Building → the Towers → the concrete campus

The Basin
Line

Three objects with nothing in common except that they are all somebody’s idea of the future, strung along one line across the bottom of the city. The discipline is to shoot all three exactly the same way and let them argue with each other.

When
Thu–Sat
Light
06:00 up · 20:00 down
Moving on
Driving from the Westside · ~55 mi round
Frame
X2D II · XCD 38V + 90V · color
01

The Threads

what the day is really about

This day is a method rather than a route. Three objects that could not be less alike — aerospace optimism, one man’s thirty-three years of scavenged steel, and a public university built out of raw concrete — each given the same frontal, undramatic treatment. What survives the sameness is the point.

Arch
The future, 1961
The Theme Building is two parabolic arches crossing over a raised disc, built when an airport was still a civic idea. It reads as a single gesture from a distance and as a lot of poured concrete up close. Public, free, and visible from the road.
Spires
Thirty-three years, one man
Simon Rodia built the Watts Towers alone between 1921 and 1954 out of rebar, mortar, bottle glass and broken tile, then gave the lot away and left. Seventeen structures, the tallest nearly a hundred feet. It is the densest surface on any of these lists — the exact opposite of everything else here.
Slabs
The future, poured
Cal State LA climbs a hillside in raw board-marked concrete: decks, stair runs and deep window recesses stacked up the slope. A public campus, open, and almost never photographed.

And under it, one rhythm: curve → encrustation → mass. One smooth gesture, one surface with nothing smooth on it at all, and one hillside of flat gray planes.

Start at the arch. Square-on, no favorites. Finish on the concrete.

Teaches · Frontality — after Ed Ruscha · Lewis Baltz

02

The Map

where it all is · tap a point for its leg

Open the whole day in Google Maps ↗ — in order: World Way · E 107th St · State University Dr. It routes from wherever the phone is, and every spot below links its own leg the same way.

Tap any point for the leg it belongs to. A straight line east across the bottom of the basin, LAX to City Terrace, then home. About fifty-five miles round and none of it is a hard drive.

08:30
the arch
10:15
east to Watts
11:00
the Towers, before the lunch shut
12:30
lunch · the site shuts
13:45
the concrete campus
16:15
home

One door, and it governs everything: the Watts Towers are closed Monday to Wednesday, tours run Thursday to Saturday 11 to 3, and the site shuts 12:30 to 1:30 for lunch. That hour is why lunch sits where it does. Bring cash — $12, no cards, no reservations. The other two are open whenever you arrive.

03

The Day

three legs · curve, encrustation, mass

A day trip's unit is the leg, not the day — each carries a locator map, its theme, and an energy read. A gold pill on the clock means that time belongs to someone else: a door that opens or a slot that was booked. Everything unpilled is a suggested shape, not a schedule.

Leg I · Curve — the Theme Building
Two arches crossing over a disc, and a lot of concrete underneath the gesture.
Leg 1 · Curve
08:00–10:30
Aerospace
steady

Start with the smooth one, so the next stop lands harder.

08:0030 min
Leave · down to the airport
  • Lincoln Blvd south · ~9 mi, ~25 min
  • the closest first stop of any capsule here
  • coffee before leaving

Barely a drive. The building sits in the middle of the airport loop and is visible from the road well before you reach it.

08:301h30
Theme Building · the archesAnchor
  • World Way, in the central terminal loop · short-term parking
  • parking is $9 the first hour · the observation deck has been closed for years
  • morning sun across the arch faces

Pereira and Luckman, 1961, and one of the last buildings made when air travel was a civic idea rather than a logistics problem. Two parabolic arches cross over a raised disc; from a distance it is a single line, up close it is a great deal of poured concrete. Shoot it square-on and undramatic — the temptation is a heroic low angle, and the discipline today is to refuse it.

Leg II · Surface — the Watts Towers
Seventeen structures, thirty-three years, one man, no plan and no scaffolding.
Leg 2 · Surface
10:15–13:30
Watts
the peak

The densest thing on any of these lists.

10:1530 min
East to Watts
  • the 105 east → Central Ave · ~15 mi, ~30 min
  • check the battery on arrival

Straight east along the bottom of the basin. The towers appear over the rooftops a few blocks out.

11:001h25
Watts Towers · the encrustationAnchor
  • 1765 E 107th St · free street parking
  • grounds free to view · tour $12, cash or check only
  • closed Mon–Wed · tours Thu–Sun 11–3, shut 12:30–2:00 for lunch

Simon Rodia worked alone from 1921 to 1954 with no scaffolding, no bolts and no permit, then handed over the deed and left town. Rebar wrapped in mortar and pressed with bottle glass, tile and shell. The frame is surface: get close enough that the structure disappears and the encrusted skin becomes a flat field. Then, still square-on, the towers whole against sky — same treatment as the arch, which is the argument of the day.

Leg III · Mass — the concrete campus
A public university poured up a hillside, and almost nobody photographs it.
Leg 3 · Mass
12:30–16:15
Concrete
steady

Afternoon sun into the recesses, which is when the slabs read.

12:301h
Lunch · while the site shutsCup
  • anywhere near Watts · the site closes 12:30–2:00
  • the last stop is 20 minutes on

Not optional and not a gap in the plan — the Towers shut for an hour at half twelve, so the day eats lunch when the site tells it to.

13:452h15
Cal State LA · decks and recessesAnchor
  • State University Dr · paid visitor parking
  • public campus · walk anywhere outdoors
  • raking afternoon light into the window recesses

A campus built up a hill in board-marked concrete — stair runs, stacked decks, and window openings cut deep enough that the shadow inside goes solid black in the afternoon. Nobody shoots it. Same treatment again: square-on, consistent distance, no hunting for the flattering angle. Twenty frames of gray concrete taken the same way is the point.

16:1540 min
Home · west before it thickens
  • the 10 west · ~18 mi, ~40 min at this hour
  • leave much later and it is an hour

Straight back across the middle of the city. Half five is the line.

04

The Spots

where to stand · what the light does · who built it

Three anchors, all free. The discipline is that they get identical treatment despite having nothing in common. Tap a spot’s map for driving directions.

Theme Building08:30 – 10:00Pereira & Luckman, 1961
Stand
Square-on from the loop road. Resist the low heroic angle.
Light
Morning sun across the arch faces, which separates them from the disc.
Frame
Frontal and undramatic. Let it be a shape rather than a monument. 38V from the loop road, square-on.
See
The last building made when an airport was still a civic idea.
three frames to come back with
The crossing arches square-on, disc centered
One arch leg alone, concrete texture close
The whole object small, road and sky around it
Central terminal loop CTA parking $9 the first hour — budget for it Directions
Watts Towers11:00 – 12:25Simon Rodia, 1921–1954
Stand
Close for the skin, then well back for the whole. Same distance rule as the arch.
Light
Midday. Hard sun makes the pressed glass and tile flash, which is what it was made for.
Frame
Get close enough that the structure disappears and the surface becomes a flat field. 90V from the fence — it does the getting-close the fence will not let you do, and keeps the surface flat.
See
Thirty-three years of one man with no scaffolding, no bolts and no permit.
three frames to come back with
Encrusted surface filling the frame, no structure visible
The towers whole against sky, square-on
One pressed bottle base, close, as pure pattern
E 107th St free street parking · closed Mon–Wed Directions
Cal State LA13:45 – 16:001950s–70s · poured up a hill
Stand
Below the decks looking up, and close under the window recesses.
Light
Raking afternoon sun drives the recesses to solid black.
Frame
Square-on, consistent distance, twenty times. The sameness is the content. 38V close under the decks, the same distance every time.
See
A public campus in raw board-marked concrete that essentially nobody photographs.
three frames to come back with
A window recess as a black rectangle in gray
Board-marks in the concrete, close and flat
A stair run as one diagonal across stacked decks
Visitor lot paid campus parking, walk from there Directions
05

If the Day Turns

two speeds · pick one on the morning

Every leg below carries the same day at two speeds. Dawn is the early, light-driven version; Slow starts late, drops a stop and keeps the good one. Steady is the shape written above. None of them is the failure case — pick on the morning, from how the day actually feels.

The arch
Dawn
Be at the loop for first light. The arches face open sky in every direction and there is a fifteen-minute window where the concrete goes warm against a cold sky — and the airport is genuinely quiet at six.
Steady
Leave at eight, ninety minutes at the arch, east by eleven.
Slow
Skip it and start at the Towers for half eleven. The arch is a five-frame stop and the Towers are the day.
The Towers
Dawn
Take the guided tour rather than viewing from the fence — it is the only way inside the enclosure, and Rodia’s joins are the thing worth seeing up close. 🔴 It cannot be booked: first-come, first-served, $12, cash or check only. Arrive for the 11:00.
Steady
Eighty-five minutes before the site shuts at half twelve: close on the surface first, then back for the whole.
Slow
This is the one to protect, never the one to drop. If the day is short, do the Towers and go home.
The concrete
Dawn
Walk the whole hillside rather than the plaza — the campus keeps going up, and the upper decks look back over the basin with the towers of downtown small in the gap.
Steady
Lunch, campus at three, home before half five.
Slow
Drop it. Two strong stops is a complete day, and the concrete wants the afternoon light it would not be getting anyway.
06

Before You Go

the pack, and the one set of hours to check

Camera

  • Hasselblad X2D II, the 38V and the 90V, handheld — mode A, f/8, stabilizer on
  • A spare battery — the X2D runs down faster than a pocket camera
  • Room on the SSD, and a CFexpress card — frontality means volume
  • No tripod needed anywhere today

Body

  • Shoes for pavement; nothing today is a hike
  • A hat — the Towers yard has no shade
  • Water
  • Nothing warm needed; this day ends before dark

Logistics

  • Cash for the tour — $12, no cards, no booking
  • Card for campus parking
  • Free street parking at the Towers
  • Leave City Terrace by half four
Bring cash for the Watts Towers tour$12, cash or check only, no card and no reservations — first-come, first-served, and it is the anchor of the day
Go Thursday, Friday or Saturdaythe Towers are closed Monday to Wednesday and tours run Thu–Sat 11–3 with the site shut 12:30–1:30 — the whole day is built around that window
Shoot all three the same waythe method is the point — square-on, consistent distance, no favorites. An arch, a spire field and a concrete deck given identical treatment.
Batteries charged before leavinga day of square-on volume — the battery is the only thing that can end this day early
Check the battery at Wattsthe Towers are the volume stop — twenty frames square-on, and you want a full battery for them
•

What You Got

the frames that survived the edit

The geotag gets each frame close to where it stood — close, not exact; the last hundred yards are always a hunt. What a machine can't do is the part below: which ones survived, and whether the day was worth the drive.

The frame of the day.

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Could I actually give all three the same treatment, or did one seduce me?

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Which survived the sameness best?

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What the light did on the concrete, versus the plan.

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•

After

what the day taught

Did frontality hold, or did I go hunting a good angle?

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Which hour was actually the best one?

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What would I cut if I ran it again?

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Where next — and would I use this method again?

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