Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts

Driving the 101 freeway in Los Angeles California, one couldn't help notice the unique futuristic building,as you enter downtown Los Angeles, it is a... more

by Joseph Hollingsworth

Title

Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts

Artist

Joseph Hollingsworth

Medium

Photograph - Digital

Description

Driving the 101 freeway in Los Angeles California, one couldn't help notice the unique futuristic building,as you enter downtown Los Angeles, it is a high school.

When the school opened on September 9, 2009, it was known as Central Los Angeles High School #9. In June, 2011, the school board renamed the school in honor of then-former school district superintendent Ramon C. Cortines. As of 2014, it has been unofficially called Grand Arts High School.the school has been featured in several commercials, films, and photo shoots. Most recently, the school released a music video in Summer of 2015 called, "Dream It! Do It!" which was Directed and Choreographed by Debbie Allen. The music video was produced and conceived by the school's principal, Kim Bruno. "Dream It! Do It!" featured both Grand Arts and Debbie Allen Dance Academy students showcasing the importance of the arts in the Los Angeles community.

The facility was designed by the project team of HMC Architects (Architect-of-Record) and the Austrian firm Coop Himmelb(l)au (Designer-of-Record). They were selected through a design competition in September 2002. In 2006, ground was broke on the school.[8]
The design has been controversial, with descriptions such as "bold", "unconventional", its forms "stunning" and "a testament to the provocative power of art;" its interior spaces given "a surprisingly rich range of personalities", "prosaic," "almost barracks-like;" its classrooms "confined and airless," and the cafeteria "cave-like." Its most iconic form, a tower over the performing arts building, is a unique and highly visible sculptural form, intended to provide a point of identification and a symbol for the arts in the city. It was envisioned to be a public space accessed via the ramp that winds around the tower with a viewing platform on top. School officials objected and so it remains inaccessible and a non-functional sculptural form.

Uploaded

November 8th, 2017