Capitol Records Building

The House That Nat Built

Description

The Capitol Records Building is one of the most iconic buildings in Los Angeles. It was built in 1956, and designed by Louis Naidorf of the firm Welton Becket & Associates. The building resembles a stack of records, although Naidorf denies that records were the inspiration for the look of the building. The spire on top of the building blinks "Hollywood" in morse code at night. The iconic building is an LA landmark, and an example of Googie architectural style.

Constructed, 1956

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Nat King Cole,The building is known as "The House That Nat Built" due to the vast numbers of records and amounts of merchandise Nat King Cole sold for the company.

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Construction began soon after British music company EMI acquired Capitol Records in 1955

Located just north of the Hollywood and Vine intersection, the Capitol Records Tower houses the consolidation of Capitol Records' West Coast operations

The building is home to the recording studios and echo chambers of Capitol Studios

It has been described as the "world's first circular office building" by the Los Angeles Times

The building's design is on the graduate school drawings of Lou Naidorf who, as the primary architect, designed the first circular office building when he was 24 years old

The wide curved awnings over windows on each story and the tall spike emerging from the top of the building resembles a stack of records on a turntable with the spindle pointing skyward

The iconic building also advanced a new corporate identity for Capitol Records, the first major record label on the West Coast

The Capitol Studios feature echo chambers that were designed by legendary guitarist and recording innovator Les Paul

The 13-story conforms to the 150-foot zoning height limit in place at the time of its construction. Height restrictions were lifted in 1956

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The Capitol Records Building is the site of the historic Capitol Studios, where Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, Nat “King” Cole, Sir Paul McCartney, and many more music legends recorded some of the most treasured music in history

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