California Science Center

California Science Center grew from the State Exposition Building, which opened in Exposition Park in 1913 as the nation marked the tenth anniversary of the Wright Brothers' powered flight and became an informal hall of fame to the principles of science and flight. Its elegant Beaux Arts design survives in the restored 1913 north wall near the Rose Garden. After World War II, the building became the California Museum of Science and Industry and was later redesigned and renamed the California Science Center. Today it presents modern science and technology through interactive displays such as Creative World, with an earthquake simulator and hands-on exhibits, and World of Life, with Tess, the 50-foot woman demonstrating homeostasis. Nearby, the Air and Space Gallery, once the Aerospace Hall, ranges from a 19th century bat-wing glider to a hands-on wind tunnel, while the 1984 Frank Gehry building itself suggests motion with a steel ball on top and an F-104 supersonic Starfighter projecting from the facade. The site had served important local purposes even before flight, first as Agricultural Park, whose 1880 opening was attended by President Rutherford B. Hayes, and as grounds for 19th century auto and horse races, agricultural displays, and innovative farm equipment. The complex now includes six buildings and an Imax theatre with the largest movie screen in Los Angeles. The historic 1914 red brick National Guard Armory housed the 160th Infantry regiment for training in civil disorders and natural disasters, later displayed aerospace artifacts in the 1960s including a replica of the first Mercury space capsule, welcomed Nelson Mandela in 1990 before entertainment, political, and business leaders such as Muhammed Ali and Gregory Peck, and after renovation in 2004 became the Wallis Annenberg Building for Science Learning and Innovation. That building now houses education programs and part of the Dr. Theodore T. Alexander, Jr. Science Center School, a 2004 partnership between the Los Angeles Unified School District and the California Science Center that teaches science, math, and technology, while retaining original Armory features such as spiral staircases and the social hall; its newer structure, designed by Thom Mayne as a low-slung "non-building," contrasts with the Gehry-designed Air and Space Gallery.

Los Angeles, California · United States