The Umbrella was originally designed as an outdoor performance balcony for the “Green Umbrella,” an experimental concert series put on by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. The fundamental design intention was to provide an outdoor venue for a small number of muscians who would perform on the balcony for an audience seated below. The interior was designed to accommodate numerous different performance arrangements from multiple small venues to a 30 to 40-person orchestra.

PERFORMANCE SPACE

The Umbrella itself is a cascading series of laminated glass panels mounted on a steel structure over the open-air platform and stairs. The glass was arranged to both shelter the musicians and enhance them acoustically. A large portion of the project site adjacent to the building was to provide space for moveable stages, and flexible seating arrangements for audiences, performers, or additional musicians. The Umbrella has served as both a stage and a backdrop for many affairs, such as the American Heart Association meeting and the American Planning Awards ceremony.

OFFICE SPACE

The Los Angeles Philharmonic left the project when the Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles was revived. The building is now the headquarters of a major internet and graphics design company. The building program was substantially revised, eliminating the interior performance space to accommodate the new tenant. Because of how the company functions, the interior programmatic requirements included a wide range of uses from open production areas, private offices, conference areas, exhibition areas, and kitchens to the highly technical avid bays for film editing. Avid bays are typically small rooms with low ceilings. The three avid bays in the Umbrella are large open rooms with high ceilings that provided an enjoyable work environment as well as providing a more versatile room for future uses.

INNOVATION

The making of the laminated glass necessitated the hiring of a special glass subcontractor - California Glass Bending - to work with the architects and engineers during the design process. This insured that all the design, engineering, budget and installation objectives - intentionally separated from the more conventional design and construction concerns of the project - were met. This form of glass fabrication and installation had never been accomplished before. Working together with engineers and sub-contractors, a sophisticated system was perfected and installed. The results have been published widely and acknowledged as a unique and successful experiment in glass design and construction.

“Moss and the developers have achieved, with the commercial buildings on Hayden Street and the Green Umbrella, a social and cultural turnaround in the derelect, post-industrial cityscape."

-Micheal Speaks, DOMUS




Program: Office, performance
Square Footage: 16,000 sf

Selected Awards:

2001 Saflex Glass Design Award
2000 LA Urban Beautification Award
2000 DuPont Beneditus Award
1999 AIA/LA Design Honor Award

Selected Publications:

L’architecture d’aujourd’hui, (France) “Umbrella,” September/October 2002
Architecture, “Eric in Wonderland,” by Joseph Giovannini, March, 2001
Structure, “Structural Sculpture: The Umbrella,” by Thomas A. Sabol & Lawrence Y. Ho, Summer, 2000
Domus (Italy), “Two Recent Architectures” by Michael Speaks, Umbrella, May, 2000
Los Angeles Times, “Packing Up and Heading West” by Leon Whiteson. Green Umbrella, January, 1996







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