med mod

Last November I broke my foot (of course you'd know about that if the blog hadn't fallen into its accidental hiatus then.) The doctors office was in this nearby medical building in Manhattan Beach that I've probably driven by a hundred times and never noticed. Though fairly non-descript on the outside (except for some kinda cool sheathing panels,) it turned out to be a pretty cool modernist-ish building inside. The finishes may have been cheap, but it had some great spaces. I wondered if it was a once-great building that hadn't been kept up well, but my hunch is that it was more likely just a cheap knock-off version of good modernism from the beginning (that still hadn't exactly aged well.) Nonetheless, I couldn't help but be intrigued by the place. For some reason I would guess it to be from the early 70's. The good side of its age was that the materials and fixtures seemed to be the original ones (both in good and bad ways, and sometimes so bad they were good.) Still, it was better than some attempt at updating by adding faux stone and columns or burgundy and forest green interiors. It may not have been a prize example of modernism, but the degree to which it remained in its original state without being mucked up by "improvements" was worthy of appreciation.