Richfield Tower

{{short description|Los Angeles headquarters of Richfield Oil (1929–1969)}}

{{Infobox building

| name = Richfield Tower

| alternate_names =

| status = Demolished

| image =

| alt =

| caption = The building's top (image from a 1970 book)

| map_type =

| map_alt =

| map_caption =

| altitude =

| building_type =

| architectural_style = Art Deco

| structural_system = Steel skeleton

| cost = $1,750,000

| client = Richfield Oil Co.{{cite web |url=http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.ca0250 |title=Richfield Oil Building, 555 South Flower Street, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, CA |website=Historic American Buildings Survey |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=December 10, 2017}}

| owner =

| current_tenants =

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| location =

| address = 555 South Flower Street

| location_town = Los Angeles, California

| location_country = United States of America

| coordinates = {{coord|34.050799|-118.256966|display=inline,title}}

| start_date = 1928

| completion_date = 1929

| inauguration_date =

| renovation_date =

| demolition_date = November 12, 1968{{cite web |url=http://pcad.lib.washington.edu/building/332/ |title=Richfield Oil Company Building |website=Pacific Coast Architecture Database |publisher=University of Washington |access-date=December 10, 2017}} – spring 1969

| destruction_date =

| height = {{convert|372|ft|m}}

| diameter =

| floor_count = 12

| floor_area =

| main_contractor =

| architect = Stiles O. Clements

| architecture_firm =

| structural_engineer =

| services_engineer =

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}}

Richfield Tower, also known as the Richfield Oil Company Building, was an office tower constructed between 1928 and 1929 and served as the headquarters of Richfield Oil in Los Angeles, California.

History

It was designed by Stiles O. Clements and featured a black and gold Art Deco façade. The unusual color scheme was meant to symbolize the "black gold" that was Richfield's business. Haig Patigian did the exterior sculptures. The building was covered with architectural terra cotta manufactured by Gladding, McBean, as was typical of many west coast buildings from this era. In an unusual move, all four sides were covered since they were all visible in the downtown location.{{Cn|date=November 2023}}

The 12-floor building was {{convert|372|ft|m}} tall, including a {{convert|130|ft|m|adj=on}} tower atop the building, emblazoned vertically with the name "Richfield". Lighting on the tower was made to simulate an oilwell gusher and the motif was reused at some Richfield service stations.

The company outgrew the building, and it was demolished in 1969, much to the dismay of Los Angeles residents and those interested in architectural preservation, to make way for the ARCO Plaza skyscraper complex. The elaborate black-and-gold elevator doors were salvaged from the building and reside in the lobby of the new ARCO building (City National Tower).{{cite news|title=A beloved L.A. tower — and the winged 'army' that stood guard — is gone but not forgotten|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|first=Scott |last=Harrison|date=June 13, 2016|access-date=March 21, 2017|url=http://www.latimes.com/la-me-la-california-retrospective-richfield-20160613-snap-story.html}}

The central figures of the Tympanum (Navigation, Aviation, Postal Service and Industry) over the main entry were donated by the Atlantic Richfield Company to the UC Santa Barbara Art & Design Museum, negotiated by Professor David Gebhard, a UCSB architectural historian. He published a small illustrated volume on the building before its demolition: The Richfield Building 1928–1968

(Atlantic Richfield Co., Santa Barbara, 1970).{{Cn|date=November 2023}} After languishing in university storage for over a decade, three of the four figures were mounted outside the UCSB Student Health Center in 1982. The fourth figure was incomplete and remains in storage.{{Cn|date=November 2023}}

Richfield Tower was starkly featured in a few scenes of Michelangelo Antonioni's 1970 film Zabriskie Point, shot shortly before its demolition.{{Cn|date=November 2023}} It was also the Nitro Chemicals building in This Gun For Hire (1942).

Gallery

File:EXTERIOR, NORTH SIDE DETAIL OF UPPER FLOORS - Richfield Oil Building, 555 South Flower Street, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, CA HABS CAL,19-LOSAN,67-8.tif|Front detail

File:EXTERIOR, DETAIL OF UPPER FLOORS WITH TERRA COTTA FIGURES - Richfield Oil Building, 555 South Flower Street, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, CA HABS CAL,19-LOSAN,67-19.tif|Terracotta figures at the side

File:EXTERIOR, DETAIL OF SCULPTURED FIGURES ON UPPER FLOORS - Richfield Oil Building, 555 South Flower Street, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, CA HABS CAL,19-LOSAN,67-20.tif|Terracotta angel, closeup

File:EXTERIOR, DETAIL OF HEAD OF FIGURE, SIDE VIEW, UPPER FLOORS - Richfield Oil Building, 555 South Flower Street, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, CA HABS CAL,19-LOSAN,67-21.tif|View from upper floors

File:EXTERIOR, EAST ENTRANCE, FROM OUTSIDE LOOKING IN TOWARD LOBBY - Richfield Oil Building, 555 South Flower Street, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, CA HABS CAL,19-LOSAN,67-16.tif|East entrance

File:Richfield Oil Building, 555 South Flower Street, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, CA HABS CAL,19-LOSAN,67- (sheet 7 of 17).png|Layout

File:Richfield Building, Los Angeles, California (65013).jpg|alt=Colored postcard, before 1945|Colorized postcard, (between circa 1930 and circa 1945)

File:LOCRichfield19-LOSAN67-2.jpg|North side and east front of building, 1968

File:LOCRichfield19-LOSAN67-57.jpg|West side of building during demolition, April 1969