Iconic America

The Hollywood sign in many ways is the perfect emblem of Los Angeles.

First, as an advertisement for a subdivision and then later as an advertisement for Hollywood writ large.

It really goes back to the rise of the automobile and car culture in Los Angeles.

If you look at photographs of Wilshire Boulevard in the 1920s, you will see often these double sided billboards that are sort of wedge shaped so that a driver coming either direction can see the billboard and what it's advertising.

And then you start to see buildings develop that are also designed to catch the eye of a motorist.

Most famous example probably is Randy's Donuts, where you have a small donut shop that is topped by a huge donut, which is bigger than the building itself.

This is still a city that we understand through horizontal movement across space, whether in your car or on a bus that really begins to shape all kinds of symbols, architecturally and otherwise, of the city.

The Hollywood sign, of course, is probably the quintessential example of that.