LA Architecture Tours, Sightseeing & Tourism

Built in 1893 by amateur architect George Wyman, the Bradbury Building is one of Los Angeles' most historic and beloved structures. The Bradbury Building is an unassuming structure from the exterior, but the interior is a conservatory of light.

Lewis Bradbury, who made his fortune in Mexican gold mines, selected George Wyman to design his building with the intention of creating a legacy, and successfully so. Bradbury originally awarded the commission to Sumner Hunt, the architect for whom Wyman was working for, however Bradbury found Hunt's concept for the building too orthodox and then asked Wyman to be the principal architect of the building.   

An underground spring was discovered during excavation, and what might have been an obstacle for other architects, Wyman used the spring to the building's advantage to steam power the exposed elevators, demonstrating his engineering ingenuity. 

George Wyman's Bradbury Building was the epitome of modernism in Los Angeles when it was completed. A somewhat typical Romanesque Revival exterior gives way to a five-story atrium with a low-hipped ceiling of glass, allowing an extraordinary amount of light into the Bradbury Building and illuminating its intricate iron detailing. 

The Bradbury Building was immortalized in Ridley Scott's 1982 Blade Runner.  

The Bradbury Building is seen on the LA Architecture Tour and the LA Highlights Tour.