Richfield Tower , also known as the Richfield Oil Company Building , was an office tower constructed between 1928 and 1929 and served as the headquarters of Richfield Oil in Los Angeles , California.
5-462: It was designed by Stiles O. Clements and featured a black and gold Art Deco façade. The unusual color scheme was meant to symbolize the "black gold" that was Richfield's business. Haig Patigian did the exterior sculptures. The building was covered with architectural terra cotta manufactured by Gladding, McBean , as was typical of many west coast buildings from this era. In an unusual move, all four sides were covered since they were all visible in
10-577: A small illustrated volume on the building before demolition: The Richfield Building 1928–1968 (Atlantic Richfield Co., Santa Barbara, 1970). After languishing in university storage for over a decade, three of the four figures were mounted outside the UCSB Student Health Center in 1982. The fourth figure was incomplete and remains in storage. Richfield Tower was starkly featured in a few scenes of Michelangelo Antonioni 's 1970 film Zabriskie Point , shot shortly before its demolition. It
15-488: The downtown location. The 12-floor building was 372 feet (113 m) tall, including a 130-foot (40 m) tower atop the building, emblazoned vertically with the name "Richfield". Lighting on the tower was made to simulate an oilwell gusher and the motif was reused at some Richfield service stations. The company outgrew the building, and it was demolished in 1969, much to the dismay of Los Angeles residents and those interested in architectural preservation, to make way for
20-683: The present ARCO Plaza skyscraper complex. The elaborate black-and-gold elevator doors were salvaged from the building and now reside in the lobby of the new ARCO building (now City National Tower ). The central figures of the Tympanum (Navigation, Aviation, Postal Service and Industry) over the main entry were donated by the Atlantic Richfield Company to the UC Santa Barbara Art & Design Museum, negotiated by Professor David Gebhard , noted UCSB architectural historian. He published
25-660: Was also the Nitro Chemicals building in This Gun For Hire (1942). Stiles O. Clements Stiles Oliver Clements (March 2, 1883 – January 15, 1966) was an architect practicing in Los Angeles and Southern California . Clements trained at the École des Beaux-Arts , Paris. He was a key figure in the 1920s Art Deco architectural movement, and 1930s Streamline Moderne style, in Los Angeles. He also designed in historicist motifs and revivalism styles, such as
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