Ever since I saw Chinatown,
I have been fascinated with Los Angeles history, particularly in regards to its relationship with water.
When I discovered the Department of Water and Power was headquartered in this gorgeous, international-style building in downtown Los Angeles, I had to spend a day exploring the John Ferraro Building with my camera.
Sitting directly across from the landmark Los Angeles City Hall, and designed by architects A.C. Martin and Associates and completed in 1965, the office building is very midcentury and features a cantilevered concrete slab between each floor that looks to provide relief from the bright Los Angeles sun to the people working within.
The building sits on a massive plinth with huge reflecting pools completely surrounding it. The original Julius Schulman photographs show multiple fountains in the reflecting pools on either side of the building but they haven’t been running for a number of years.
Photo by Julius Shulman
It was a fun building to photograph. The front of the building was a bit of a challenge because there was a taco truck parked directly in front of the building all day and I would have liked to shoot it with my 24mm lens from across the street for a bit more of a natural perspective. I was able to get the full front with my 17mm lens though.
I kept shooting through the evening to capture when the building glows from within. It did not disappoint! Next time I visit, I’ll have to see if I can get inside to see (and hopefully photograph) the iconic floating spiral staircase.
