The Backlot City
Century City is a 176-acre portion of West Los Angeles. It is a budding skyscraper region with offices, hotels, malls, and theaters. All linked via pedestrian malls and the largest underground parking structure in the world. Construction on the land began in 1961 and all original buildings were designed by Weldon Becker with ALCOA being Century City's developer. Other buildings were added on, including the Century Plaza Towers in 1975, designed by architect Minoru Yamasaki, of World Trade Center fame.
The most interesting aspect of Century City is its past. During the post-war years of World War II when the television industry exploded, many studios were caught in a daze. Unprepared for the new medium they saw their profits plummet before adjusting to the times. One of the hardest hit was 20th Century Fox, 20 million in debt due to the dismal failure of Cleopatra, it sold most of its backlot which is today's Century City.
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