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Architecture 2009: Christopher Hawthorne’s Top 10

By Christopher Hawthorne

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Not every year is a great one for individual buildings. But in Los Angeles, as in other still-developing or densifying cities, other kinds of design excellence are arguably more meaningful to the life and future of the metropolis. This list, then, includes a few terrific buildings, yes, but also an elevated park, a movie and a couple of museum installations. Here’s a photo gallery of my top 10 of 2009.

-- Christopher Hawthorne

Also:

Music 2009: Mark Swed’s Top 10

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Theater 2009: Charles McNulty’s Top 10

Culture Monster Blog
Christopher Hawthorne

Christopher Hawthorne was the architecture critic for the Los Angeles Times from 2004 to March 2018. Before coming to The Times, he was architecture critic for Slate and a frequent contributor to the New York Times. He is the author, with Alanna Stang, of “The Green House: New Directions in Sustainable Architecture.” Hawthorne grew up in Berkeley and has a bachelor’s degree from Yale, where he readied himself for a career in criticism by obsessing over the design flaws in his dormitory, designed by Eero Saarinen.

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