Slash and Backslash, Culver City, California

Related people

Robert Wandel (was created by)
Eric Owen Moss (architect)

Date

2000

Description

The two office buildings were originally part of an uninterrupted fabric of wood frame truss roofed warehouses that had been added to sporadically since the 1940's. The design strategy involved a'Haussmanization' of the original agglomeration of buildings. Most of the old construction was demolished, cut out and removed on existing column support lines using dimensions that allowed the required interior footages and, in addition, on-grade parking between the two buildings. Since surface parking was insufficient a 4-level steel structure was designed next to the pair. The sides of the two warehouse buildings were finished simply with plaster and provided with large, operable windows. The south elevation forms - which engendered the monikers Slash and Backslash - were entirely glazed and inclined at angles which cut precisely through the original wood frame/truss roof/post supported structure. The slice exposes the original wood structure in an unusual way - a consequence of the inclination of the cut. Where the now sliced roof was structurally inadequate a series of new steel pipe supports and braces were added within the façade. The interiors are large, open, flexible, skylit warehouse areas which have been filled with a variety of program uses. A new steel frame was introduced to deal with lateral loading and steel supported mezzanine floors designed to accommodate additional program space.

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