Encyclopedia > Artist District, Los Angeles, California
Street level in the Artist District
The Artist District, previously known as the Warehouse District, occupies the eastern side of Downtown Los Angeles. Its borders are roughly Alameda Street on the west, Temple Street on the north, the LA River on the east, and 4th Street on the south. Image File history File links ArtDistLA=042901. ... Image File history File links ArtDistLA=042901. ... Skyline of downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the geographic center of metropolitan Los Angeles, California. ... The Los Angeles River, highlighted in red (on the left). ...
The Artist District is filled with older, industrial and former railroad buildings. In the 1990s, these buildings became popular with the LA Art Community, and artists began buying and renting the buildings for their potential as art lofts. By turn of the 21st Century, the popularity of the neighborhood started attracting more wealthy residents looking for the "artist lifestyle." A loft, in the sense of the word meaning attic. ...
The neighborhood gained a cultural anchor tenant when the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-ARC) moved in, occupying a historic railroad building. The Southern California Institute of Architecture, founded in 1972 by Ray Kappe, is an independent institute granting undergraduate and graduate degrees in Architecture. ...