Extinctions
Caltech
The lost sculptural programme of Throop Hall, its reflecting pool and the High Volts building at the California Institute of Technology.
Archive article
Caltech
California Institute of Technology · Pasadena, California
Throop Hall served as the Caltech Auditorium. In fairness, the 1989 Northridge Earthquake damaged the building beyond repair. Its bronze fountain head belonged to a reflecting pool that was also damaged.
The fountain head has appeared in fine-arts auctions over the last couple of decades, a surviving fragment of the lost ensemble.
The High Volts building was an Art Deco masterpiece: two titanic male figures flanked an electrical dynamo. During a 1960s modernisation, the building’s art was scraped away.
Pasadena, California