Pershing Square and the Biltmore Hotel, Downtown Los Angeles, 1955. Note that Pershing Square was a lush, sprawling oasis in the middle of the city, not the concrete-covered parking structure/”park” it is now. Thank your city officials and landscape architects Ricardo Legorreta and Laurie Olin for the current grass-and-foliage-free version of the park.
(Second Note: The version of Pershing Square depicted above was opened, however, after Los Angeles decided to demolish the original tree-filled expanse to make way for the underground parking garage. Although this version is a bit janky and I greatly prefer the original, at least they left lawn. Can’t say the same about the park today.)