New Otani Hotel, Los Angeles, Calif., 1977
1977
Kajima Associates
Built in the bustling cultural hub of Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo, the New Otani Hotel was a harbinger of Pacific Rim investment in Southern California. The hotel was designed to especially appeal to Japanese clients visiting the West Coast and, as a result, included many traditional Japanese amenities in the hotel rooms, support facilities such as a tea house, and a Japense garden on the roof that was designed as a half-acre replica of the historic 400 year-old garden in the Hotel New Otani in Tokyo.
Thom’s photographs reveal a hotel that successfully integrated multiple personalities: the simple grace of a private tea room lined with tatami mats contrasts with the glamorous restaurant illuminated by a pattern of abstracted, diaphanous lanterns that coalesce in a massive chandelier. Elsewhere, kimono-clas women perform a tea ceremony. But Thom also understands the hotel as a sign of the area’s urbanization. He emphasizes its verticality in a part of the city that was still characterized by low-rise buildings and parking lots. The only competitor is City Hall, which peeks out from behind the New Otani in many of Thom’s photographs.
References:
Joshua Glick, Los Angeles Documentary and the Production of Public History, 1958-1977, Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 2018.
Little Tokyo Historical Society, Los Angeles Little Tokyo, Charleston, SC: Arcadia Pub., 2010.
Built in the then bustling cultural hub of Little Tokyo in 1977, the N
ew Otani Hotel was one of many towers
photographed by Wayne Thom for promotional use. The hotel was designed to be
especially appealing to Japanese
clients visiting the West coast and as a result, had many interiors and
detailing designed with a Japanese flair,
much of this owing to the Japanese American design firm in charge of
the project.
Wayne Thom captured many photos of the building
’
s relationship with its urban surroundings but also many of its
highly japanese interiors, such as the restaurant. gardens, and tea rooms.