Okay, so, how I found this place.
I was doing a project for MUA 515 (Modern Urban Architecture). I drove around to different parts of the city and took pictures of some of the buildings there. I hit downtown and Hollywood and Little Tokyo and Hancock Park and Koreatown and Silverlake and all of the older sections of Los Angeles.
That's when I first noticed the Kavach Building. I'd gone to that area to photograph some of the old movie star mansions that had been cut up into apartments. Kavach stood out like a sore thumb. At least, it did to me. I bet most people don't even notice that it's a good thirty or forty years older than everything else in that section of town. It's probably the kind of thing that only people who've studied architecture would notice.
It was enough to make me want a closer look, and my lease was running out anyway. So I figured I could move in for six months or a year or something. It might make a really interesting chapter in my book.
I tried to talk to the manager. Nothing. No number on the call box. The two times I managed to get through the gate I couldn't find a manager's apartment or anything.
I ran into this guy on the street once while I was taking pictures. His name was Oscar. I think he was German or something. Definite accent. He said he was the building manager, but he also said they didn't have any apartments they could rent. I remember he worded it that way. Any apartments they could rent. Like there were empty rooms, but they couldn't rent them for some reason. I asked him to give me a card but he didn't have one. I asked if he could give me a rental application and he went into the building and left me standing on the sidewalk.
I looked it up on Westside Rentals. Nothing.
It was like the more I looked for the place the less it existed. I don't know how they get new tenants because it never advertises or anything. But I saw one guy moving in back in March (a big surfer-looking guy, kind of like Danny from frisbee golf with more hair and less beard) so I know they are renting them.
That's kind of funny. I just looked back and realized I typed "it never advertises." I did that once on the last blog. Like the building is choosing who lives in it.
I was doing a project for MUA 515 (Modern Urban Architecture). I drove around to different parts of the city and took pictures of some of the buildings there. I hit downtown and Hollywood and Little Tokyo and Hancock Park and Koreatown and Silverlake and all of the older sections of Los Angeles.
That's when I first noticed the Kavach Building. I'd gone to that area to photograph some of the old movie star mansions that had been cut up into apartments. Kavach stood out like a sore thumb. At least, it did to me. I bet most people don't even notice that it's a good thirty or forty years older than everything else in that section of town. It's probably the kind of thing that only people who've studied architecture would notice.
It was enough to make me want a closer look, and my lease was running out anyway. So I figured I could move in for six months or a year or something. It might make a really interesting chapter in my book.
I tried to talk to the manager. Nothing. No number on the call box. The two times I managed to get through the gate I couldn't find a manager's apartment or anything.
I ran into this guy on the street once while I was taking pictures. His name was Oscar. I think he was German or something. Definite accent. He said he was the building manager, but he also said they didn't have any apartments they could rent. I remember he worded it that way. Any apartments they could rent. Like there were empty rooms, but they couldn't rent them for some reason. I asked him to give me a card but he didn't have one. I asked if he could give me a rental application and he went into the building and left me standing on the sidewalk.
I looked it up on Westside Rentals. Nothing.
It was like the more I looked for the place the less it existed. I don't know how they get new tenants because it never advertises or anything. But I saw one guy moving in back in March (a big surfer-looking guy, kind of like Danny from frisbee golf with more hair and less beard) so I know they are renting them.
That's kind of funny. I just looked back and realized I typed "it never advertises." I did that once on the last blog. Like the building is choosing who lives in it.
Your lease was up? Did you find somewhere nice?
ReplyDeleteYou are probably lucky you didn't get a flat there. I had some really nasty officious building managers. The worst was in Coogee. It looked similar to your Kavach building actually. The guy cut down a mulberry tree next to our windows that was three stories tall and I couldn't bet my arms around. What a dick. I hope he ends badly.
Anyway love your blog.
It sounds like a weird place.