Triforium (Los Angeles)
Encyclopedia
The Triforium is the name of a six story 60 ton public sculpture in the Los Angeles Mall Civic Center complex
, located at the intersection of Temple
and Main
Streets in Downtown Los Angeles
.
to create the sculpture and it was installed in 1975. Young's original plans called for the piece to be a Kinetic sculpture, which would use motion sensors and a computer controlled system to detect and translate the motions of passersby into patterns of light and sound displayed by the prism
s and carillon
. Young predicted that his artwork would eventually become known as "the Rosetta Stone
of art and technology" and bragged that it was the world's first "polyphonoptic" tower. He also said that the Triforium was a tribute to the unfinished, kaleidoscopic nature of Los Angeles. In the original concept, Young intended for the sculpture to project laser beams into space, which would have made it the world's first astronomical beacon. Budgetary restrictions, however, curtailed this design element. The initial cost of the sculpture was $925,000, and it was dedicated on December 12, 1975, although an electrical snafu delayed the musical portion's debut.
The Triforium incorporates three two-legged concrete pillars, each supporting a bank of multicolored glass
prisms (1,494 in all), as well as a Gerhard Finkenbeiner electronic 79 note glass bell carillon
with two octave
s of English bells, and two octaves of Flemish bells, which were synchronized to lighting effects contained within the glass prisms.
Meant to play "everything from Beethoven to the Bee Gees
", the carillon was operated manually, or by computer.
The primitive computer originally installed in the structure to synchronize the lights and music was plagued with problems.
Unveiled with much fanfare at the opening of the Los Angeles Mall, the Triforium subsequently fell into disrepair and became the object of ridicule.
Legend has it that a judge in the federal courthouse across the street claimed that the noise from the sculpture's sound system interfered with his trials and asked city officials to shut it down. Over the years, the sculpture suffered from a leaking reflection pool located at its base and pigeons often roosted in the structure.
Reputed to be "too expensive to fix, but too expensive to tear down", the sculpture still stands.
In 2002, Joseph Young reflected on the state of disrepair that the sculpture had fallen into:
Finally, after decades of inoperation, the lighting effects were restored and reactivated on December 13, 2006 following a $7,500 refurbishing. The sound synchronization computer was still due to be replaced when the lights and sound were turned back on. The sound currently heard from the Triforium speakers now originates from an external playback source and not the Finkenbeiner Triforium Carillon, which is now privately owned.
A December 14, 2006 Los Angeles Times article mentioned several nicknames that the sculpture has acquired over its lifetime:
Civic Center, Los Angeles, California
The Civic Center neighborhood of Los Angeles, California is the administrative core of the City of Los Angeles and a complex of city, state, and federal government offices, buildings, and courthouses.-Location:...
, located at the intersection of Temple
Temple Street (Los Angeles)
Temple Street is a street in the City of Los Angeles, California. The street is an east-west thoroughfare that runs through Downtown Los Angeles parallel to the Hollywood Freeway between Virgil Avenue past Alameda Street to the banks of the Los Angeles River...
and Main
Main Street (Los Angeles)
Main Street is a major north-south thoroughfare in Los Angeles, California, and is the east-west postal divider for that city. It begins as a continuation of Valley Boulevard west of Mission Road in Lincoln Heights and ends at the Port of Los Angeles. At 9th Street, it merges with Spring Street in...
Streets in Downtown Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
History
The Mall's architect, Robert Stockwell commissioned artist Joseph YoungJoseph Young
Young was born in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, the eighth child born to John Young and Abigail Howe.In 1830, while he was a preacher for the Methodist Church in Upper Canada, Young was introduced to the Book of Mormon by his younger brother Brigham...
to create the sculpture and it was installed in 1975. Young's original plans called for the piece to be a Kinetic sculpture, which would use motion sensors and a computer controlled system to detect and translate the motions of passersby into patterns of light and sound displayed by the prism
Prism (optics)
In optics, a prism is a transparent optical element with flat, polished surfaces that refract light. The exact angles between the surfaces depend on the application. The traditional geometrical shape is that of a triangular prism with a triangular base and rectangular sides, and in colloquial use...
s and carillon
Carillon
A carillon is a musical instrument that is typically housed in a free-standing bell tower, or the belfry of a church or other municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze, cup-shaped bells, which are played serially to play a melody, or sounded together to play a chord...
. Young predicted that his artwork would eventually become known as "the Rosetta Stone
Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone is an ancient Egyptian granodiorite stele inscribed with a decree issued at Memphis in 196 BC on behalf of King Ptolemy V. The decree appears in three scripts: the upper text is Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the middle portion Demotic script, and the lowest Ancient Greek...
of art and technology" and bragged that it was the world's first "polyphonoptic" tower. He also said that the Triforium was a tribute to the unfinished, kaleidoscopic nature of Los Angeles. In the original concept, Young intended for the sculpture to project laser beams into space, which would have made it the world's first astronomical beacon. Budgetary restrictions, however, curtailed this design element. The initial cost of the sculpture was $925,000, and it was dedicated on December 12, 1975, although an electrical snafu delayed the musical portion's debut.
The Triforium incorporates three two-legged concrete pillars, each supporting a bank of multicolored glass
Glass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
prisms (1,494 in all), as well as a Gerhard Finkenbeiner electronic 79 note glass bell carillon
Carillon
A carillon is a musical instrument that is typically housed in a free-standing bell tower, or the belfry of a church or other municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze, cup-shaped bells, which are played serially to play a melody, or sounded together to play a chord...
with two octave
Octave
In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...
s of English bells, and two octaves of Flemish bells, which were synchronized to lighting effects contained within the glass prisms.
Meant to play "everything from Beethoven to the Bee Gees
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
", the carillon was operated manually, or by computer.
The primitive computer originally installed in the structure to synchronize the lights and music was plagued with problems.
Unveiled with much fanfare at the opening of the Los Angeles Mall, the Triforium subsequently fell into disrepair and became the object of ridicule.
Legend has it that a judge in the federal courthouse across the street claimed that the noise from the sculpture's sound system interfered with his trials and asked city officials to shut it down. Over the years, the sculpture suffered from a leaking reflection pool located at its base and pigeons often roosted in the structure.
Reputed to be "too expensive to fix, but too expensive to tear down", the sculpture still stands.
In 2002, Joseph Young reflected on the state of disrepair that the sculpture had fallen into:
Finally, after decades of inoperation, the lighting effects were restored and reactivated on December 13, 2006 following a $7,500 refurbishing. The sound synchronization computer was still due to be replaced when the lights and sound were turned back on. The sound currently heard from the Triforium speakers now originates from an external playback source and not the Finkenbeiner Triforium Carillon, which is now privately owned.
A December 14, 2006 Los Angeles Times article mentioned several nicknames that the sculpture has acquired over its lifetime:
- The Psychedelic Nickelodeon
- Trifoolery
- Three Wishbones in Search of a Turkey
- Kitsch-22 of Kinetic Sculpture
- Joe's L.A. Space Launch