Papers documenting the Richfield Building, 1928-1967

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Summary

Title:
Papers documenting the Richfield Building (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Dates:
1928-1967
Creators:
Atlantic Richfield Oil Company.
Extent:
8.0 Linear feet (2 record storage boxes and 1 flat file drawer (1 flat file folder)
Language:
Preferred citation:

Papers documenting the Richfield Building (Los Angeles, Calif.), Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.

Background

Scope and content:

The papers documenting the Richfield Building span 8 linear feet and date from 1928 to 1967. This collection documents the Richfield Building on the corner of 6th and Flower Street in downtown Los Angeles primarily through photographs, correspondence concerning the maintenance and construction of the structure, newspaper clippings, printed ephemera and copies of blueprints. Photographs in the collection document the construction of the building, the completed structure, decorative elements on the façade of the building, the interior, as well the ground floor window displays.

Terracotta caryatid figures designed by Haig Patigan, from the Richfield Building also donated to the Museum. Several figures are part of the UCSB public sculpture program. One figure remains in the Museum as part of Architecture and Design Collection.

Biographical / historical:

The Richfield Building was designed by Morgan, Walls and Clements. Construction which was overseen and conducted by P.J. Walker Company builders was started in 1928 and completed in 1930. Located on the corner of 6th Street and Flower in downtown Los Angeles, the building was the headquarters of the Atlantic Richfield Oil Company. The structure had fifteen floors, three basements in 152,000 square feet. The figures decorating the 13th floor level parapet as well as the four figures over the entrance were done by the American sculptor Haig Patigian. The Richfield Building was demolished in 1968. The ARCO Plaza complex now stands in its place.

Physical location:
Boxes 1-2/ADC - regular 1 Flat File Drawer/ADC -flat files 3-D object/Devereux - Haig Patigian designed Caryatid Figure from building (2000.5) terra cotta metal base ( 57 x 35 x 29 in). Other Caryatid figures part of UCSB public sculpture program.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Chris Marino
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection was made possible through generous funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources “Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives” Project.
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2018-06-28T10:39-0700

Access and use

Restrictions:

Partially processed collection, open for use by qualified researchers.

Preferred citation:

Papers documenting the Richfield Building (Los Angeles, Calif.), Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.

Location of this collection:
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-7130, US
Contact:
(805) 893-2724
adc@museum.ucsb.edu
Website