Celebrate The Subtle

I am one who marvels in the mundane. I hope you can join me, and look at my world through my lens.

On a recent Wednesday, I rode the bus down my street snapping photos out the window with my new camera. I passed by the Korean church near my house, one that boasts of a location that is not commonly referred to as such: "North Los Angeles" It makes sense seeing as how there is a West Los Angeles, an East Los Angeles and a South [Central] Los Angeles. The San Fernando Valley, being the northern part of LA could be rendered in such terms.
I continued on and observed the Armenian flag lazily fluttering in the meager wind above a business. I passed many examples of Mid-Century Modern architecture, as this area was developed hastily in the 1950s and 1960s when hundreds of thousands staked their claim under the Southern California sun. Today they still do, but they come not as often from Iowa, New Jersey, and Oklahoma, but from Mexico, El Salvador, Armenia, Iran, Korea, and a host of other lands.

Mini-mall signs excite me. Words declaring the variety available within one urban lot. Vietnamese pho noodles, sushi, boba, LA Federal Credit Union, Latino tax specialists, Mexican chicken chain, and more. The ever watchful inhuman eyes of the traffic cameras at the intersection.
Now the bus glides into what is arguably the very heart of the San Fernando Valley, near the Civic Center off of Van Nuys Boulevard. Here is one of my favorite Salvadoran restaurants, specializing in Central American seafood. The aging sign so humble amid the commercial bustle.
I exit the bus, and continue on foot. I wander among the vitality. Shoes, adult products, Spanish-language books on metaphysics, tropical fruit ice drinks, tacos, pupusas, 24-hour health clinics for the uninsured, Latino music emporiums, swap meets selling pungent leather goods, envios de dinero, carretas with raspados and elote and churritos and paletas and chips. Perisan lawyers specializing in immigration services for Hispanic families. The cross-cultural intertwining befits a crossroads city. These very sidewalks pulsate with the beat of feet.

The Valley Municipal Building rises majestically to the south. Erected in 1932, a sleek subtle example of Art Deco, it is one third the size of Los Angeles City Hall, and is home to Valley branches of municipal departments as well as the location of monthly LA City Council meetings. It is part of the San Fernando Valley Civic Center, featuring a collection of government buildings in various styles, in a public landscaped space.

I walk into the center. Here is "Fernando", a statue representing the original inhabitants of the Valley. Nearby is the Van Nuys branch of Los Angeles Public Library, housed in a stunning 1964 example of Mid Century Modern, stark and sparse and zen-inflected. The Autumn leaves are all manner of fire and gold and falling. The library and municipal building, separated by over 30 years, are visual counterpoints to different aesthetics, one of ornamentation and awe, the other of subdued form following function.
Beside this is the Valley headquarters for  the Los Angeles Police Department. This structure follows neither the library nor the municipal building, and instead is of the Brutalist variety, with harsh concrete skeleton exposure as a central dominant design element.
Across from all of these is the courthouse, an example of restrained Post-modernist architecture. The form is a large cube with an entire glass curtain wall the full length of this multi-storey high-rise, but the building features soft polished granite and other smooth stonework in a warm palette. I enjoy looking into the exposed halls. The Autumnal foliage wraps the building lovingly.
Reclining on a grassy hill nearby, a down and out fellow enjoys the shade. 
Lastly, I examine the Constituent Services Center, a collection of meeting rooms for community organizations, neighborhood councils, public workshops, and offices for municipal agencies. This building is another form of Post-modernist architecture, incorporating hints of wit, ornament, and reference. A woman strolls by in red heels. The LA City Seal hangs above us. An abstract map of the San Fernando Valley is underneath.
Surprisingly, next to this government center is a medical Marijuana shop. Perhaps more surprising, is a member of a dying breed: a bookstore. The street is alive with color and variety. Is the cart of ice cream and chips not the most vibrant sight?

I board the bus home, but not without admiring palms rise above Spanish roof tiles.