Century Plaza Towers

Century Plaza Towers are two 44-story, twin towers in the Century City neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. They are the tallest buildings in California outside Downtown Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Commissioned by Alcoa, the towers were designed by Minoru Yamasaki and completed in 1975. The towers resemble Yamasaki's iconic work, the original World Trade Center in New York City, with their twin configuration, vertical black and gray lines, and aluminum exteriors. The towers have an unusual triangular footprint and are landmarks that are clearly seen around the Los Angeles Westside. Their prominence in the Century City skyline has been reduced in recent years with the addition of new skyscrapers that partially block their view. Nevertheless, the Century Plaza Towers remain the tallest buildings in Century City and the tallest skyscrapers in Southern California outside of downtown Los Angeles. The towers sit atop one of the world's largest underground parking garages with a capacity of roughly 5,000 cars.

The ''Los Angeles Times'' reported that in February 2020, the signature twin office skyscrapers were fully occupied for the first time.

In popular culture

In television, the towers were the headquarters of the fictional private detective Remington Steele, the main character of the eponymous NBC series, which ran from 1982 to 1987. Nearly every episode included an exterior establishing shot of the towers.

The towers have also served as the backdrop for several television commercials, including adverts for Samsung, Buick, Volvo, and Kia Motors. In film, the towers were featured in 1988's ''Die Hard'' (shown at the end credits), 1990's ''Death Warrant'', and 2011's ''The Green Hornet''.
They were also used as opening and establishing shots for the CBS series ''Family Law'' starring Oscar-nominated actress Kathleen Quinlan.

The base of the towers stood in for the Yamasaki-designed World Trade Center in the 1981 film ''Escape from New York'' starring Kurt Russell

The buildings were also used in ''Melrose Place'' as the office of Lexi Sterling's business, Sterling Advertising. They were also seen in '' Burke's Law''.

The buildings were used for the album cover of Yes’s 1977 album ''Going for the One''. In 1979, Olivia Newton-John filmed the music video for the title track of her album ''Totally Hot'' here.
In 1981, the buildings were used in a bumper of the silver ball logo for Nickelodeon. The buildings were shown under construction in a 1974 episode of ''Barnaby Jones'' entitled "Dark Legacy".

In the 1990 TV movie, ''The Great Los Angeles Earthquake'', during 8.0 and 7.2 magnitude earthquakes both buildings sway violently, afterwards both buildings remain standing but are severely damaged.

See also

* List of tallest buildings in Los Angeles

References

External links

Century Plaza Towers official site as of 2020

{{Minoru Yamasaki

Skyscraper office buildings in Los Angeles
Century City, Los Angeles
Twin towers
Office buildings completed in 1975
1975 establishments in California
20th century in Los Angeles
Minoru Yamasaki buildings
Modernist architecture in California
Triangular buildings