Siting Santa Monica: Architectural Variety is the Splice of Life

Siting Santa Monica: Architectural Variety is the Splice of Life

An informal romp through  the Pico-Lincoln neighborhood of Southwest Santa Monica yields glimpses of  architectural treasures of all sorts.

WEBaAlleyways across the board in Santa Monica yield moments of contemplation and surprise, like this wall crawling with red blooms, reminding me for all the world, of Southern France.

WEBcFantastical decorative gates are another Los Angeles hallmark, and Santa Monica is no exception.Here an image that has become “au courrant” among the holistic set.

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WEBeGlass bricks, metal and stone flanked by green combine to elegant effect in this vertical structure.

WEBiI wondered if this brilliant yellow and white building was live work space.

WEBjIt looked to be designed with a nautical feel, appropriate to its location in the beach town of Santa Monica.

WEBgVariety is the spice of life, and here in Santa Monica, architectural styles run the gamut. Here we have a study in yellows: bright yellow on the modern, multi-unit building, and earthy ochre yellow on the small neighboring house.

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WEBfVoila, a beautiful ad hoc complimentary set up!  Starring the complimentary pair of purple and yellow hues, opposite each other on the color wheel.

WEBkFinally, another pastoral scene that one sees often in Santa Monica..an outdoor dining set up, in an enclosed area that is right off the street! Santa Monicans, and Angelenos in general love themselves some hedges, fences, plants and gates to create privacy, but true to theatrical form, often right off the busy sidewalks outside their homes! What else would you expect in this glowing and glittering home to the entertainment industry?

Lucky for us, the setting in these parts here has its pastoral side…and a great deal of variety, which makes for some rewarding walks for the  flaneur. Big Fun, and a visual feast…or is it a movable feast?

Let’s get walking!

Magical Santa Monica

Magical Santa Monica

An ode to the joys of being a  flâneur in Santa Monica, and the whimsical treasures revealed while engaging in Flânerie .

WEB1Kettle’s on…

WEB2the open roof of this patio on 34th and Pearl streets…

WEB3Quite a sight seen from the street.

WEB4A closer view  reveals trees getting into the act. What a collection!

WEB6Details of a beautiful painted door on the west side of one of the shady North South Streets south of Wilshire…14th?

WEB5The textures created by weathering make it all the more entrancing.

WEB8Nearby….on 14th or 15th Street just south of Montana Avenue…a magical realm of flamingos and butterflies.

WEB9Right next door paper lanterns hang like daytime moons, amongst the brilliant purple blooms of the seasonally ubiquitous Jacaranda tree.

webx4Crushed cans form a mosaic surface on the walls of an apartment building (or condos?) on a north south street, south of Wilshire.

webx3Someone, or some…spent a lot of time on this. Let’s hear it for recycling…an aesthetic coup for environmentally conscious Santa Monica.

webx7LITE details.  A touchingly tactile transformation.

WEB7Well wishes from the Yarn Bombers…brightening up a chain link fence protecting what looks to be an empty lot.

We hope YOU are well, too.  Come and enjoy the whimsical beauties of art, nature and creativity abounding in Santa Monica.  If you didn’t  feel well before you visit, you are certain to feel better afterwards.

Surface-ing in Santa Monica

Surface-ing in Santa Monica

Right here in Santa Monica there is a house completely covered in mosaic…every surface touched.

The patio table top allows for dining on mosaic, while gazing upon mosaic.

A tree of life is flanked by trees of nature.

Aquatic life swims across the wall…

allowing a close-up view.

A doorway to the surely magical intrigues.

The wind is in the details

Not too far away, also in Santa Monica, is different sort of embellishment: a wall encrusted with crushed cans.

In the display case on that wall, folded paper cranes fly.

Around the corner is

an  entire wall of apartments surfaced with crushed cans.

People live here.

With all the accoutrements.

They barbeque here.

Lite transformed into art.

What other surface music is played visually here in Santa Monica?

One must stroll without a goal…play the flâneur...

Expect the unexpected….

And reap the delight.