The Struggle to Define L.A.'s Transitional Moment

Last January, Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne kicked off a year-long project to explore his city through its literature. He picked 24 – plus three more reader suggestions – of the “most significant books on Southern California architecture and urbanism.” The Reading L.A. project covers the city's growth, development, design, infrastructure and culture, including well-known titles like Reyner Banham’s 1971 Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies, as well as less prominent books like David Brodsly’s 1981 L.A Freeway: An Appreciative Essay. His final installment of the series was published earlier this week.

“Twenty-seven is sort of a ridiculously big number of books to consider in one year,” Hawthorne says. “It did catch up with me by the end of the year.”