3rd Street Promenade

Hahn Company, The Rous Company, remodeled in 1980 by Frank Ghery, remodled again in 1989 by Roma design group

3rd Street Promenade

1965, remodeled in 1980, remodeled again in 1989

City Plan

The 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica is a significant location in the city as it is the central hub for commerce in the city. It is one of the most visited spots in the city and has become a major landmark. What was once a an old trend of street malls has evolved into the cultural hot spot that it is today. It's design reflects back to ancient Greek and Roman commerce towns with its plan. People living in or visiting Santa Monica always make sure to make a stop by the Promenade either to get consumer goods or admire its beauty.

The 3rd Street Promenade spans around 203,000 square feet, covering two blocks of street. The promenade begins at Broadway and ends at Wilshire Boulevard. The roads are pedestrian only and the whole promenade is full of consumer goods and restaurants. Shops and restaurants are lined up on either the left or the right and are side right next to each other. A large road is in the middle for people to walk around. Near Broadway are the iconic dinosaurs covered in foliage which in this case are a triceratops and a stegosaurus. Later on down the Promenade, two brontosaurs can be found facing one another. The two dinosaurs near Broadway also serve as fountains with water streaming out of the dinosaurs' mouths. In addition to the plant dinosaurs, large palm trees are planted on both sides of the sidewalks parallel to one another and continue all the way to the end of the promenade. Street performers usually take the center stage on the main road at the Promenade, with most likely a large crowd surrounding them.

Brandon Lopez

Vincente Counts

Taylor Sammis

Lorraine Ferrera

Quetzalli Ramirez

Kevin Alonso

Omar Pablo

Samantha Reed

Celso Robles

Zhenhua Xu

Ana Rodriguez Vela

Aaron Cromwell

The 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica is a location with a variety of options that visitors can do while there which include shopping in three story building or outdoor shopping, enjoy live entertainment, eating, simply hanging out with friends and a farmers market held Wednesday and Saturdays. The 3rd Street Promenade and Santa Monica Pier are tourist attractions which brings in more diversity into one community. This place always seems to be crowded because of the beautiful whether, but also how many things that one place can offer. When you think about 3rd Street Promenade the vibes are always great either morning with a nice coffee cup from Starbucks or an afternoon Margarita. While walking down 3rd Street you will mostly encounter with millennial. Millennials are a big part of 3rd Street Promenade because of the fashion that is tied down to this place. When we talk about fashion it’s not about what’s right or wrong rather what’s in and what works. You will encounter Hypebeast’s down on main street in Undefeated shopping for the latest shoe drop. Fashion is a lifestyle choice but also what influences us. Walking down 3rd Street is a way to express yourself. A lifestyle that is influenced by bloggers that go to events like Revolve which was held in the Santa Monica Pier earlier on in the summer. The promenade takes a very large inspiration from ancient Roman and Greek merchant towns and structures. A notable structure is the Temple of Fortuna. The barrel vault structure of the Temple of Fortuna is an aspect that was brought into the promenade. The way shops are structured are similar to the barrel vaults of the temple. The way the barrel vaults allow for merchants to have gods behind the store front is ever present at the promenade, albeit with upgraded features. The formation of the shops are very much akin to the way Greek merchants aligned their shops on the side to allow visitors to view more than one shop at a time. The use of the dinosaurs is very similar to structures such as Lion Gate and Ishtar Gate with the use of animals as a decorative tool. The dinosaurs in the promenade serve no real symbolic purpose unlike the animals of the gates, but instead are there for the purpose of entertainment. The mix of designs from Greek and Roman architecture with the modern architecture of today make for what is a completely fresh experience at the 3rd Street Promenade. Throughout the third street promenade influences of Romanesque architecture and similarities to old gothic churches and buildings can be found. Most buildings while low and flat on the top are lined with semicircular arches that usually accompany a window or opening. Most of the buildings on the promenade also use columns with decorative capitals on them. One building of note is the Georgian Hotel which was built in 1931 with Romanesque Revival and Art Deco influences, its 3 largest windows at the top of the building sporting the same semicircular arches seen on many Romanesque buildings. At the top of the Georgian Hotel the walls have low relief decorative mouldings much like the pieces seen on gothic churches and temples. The 3rd Street Promenade has come a long way from how it used to be before 1965. Now the road is for people to walk through and shop, eat, spend time with friends, but it wasn’t always like that. Back in the 1940’s-50’s the road was for cars to drive through and their was sidewalks just for pedestrians. Stores weren’t as luxurious as today, no Nike, Adidas, or Coach. The best known store in those times was Sears. Thanks to the Chamber of Commerce president and J.C. Penny general manager Ernest Gulsurd we no longer have cars driving through the road. They were the ones who proposed closing 3rd street to cars in 1959. We know have the famous 3rd Street Promenade, with many stores and places to eat and a great place for a tourist and locals to spend time with family. In the 50's 3rd street shopping area was very popular and filled with cars, and commerce,but as the area became more suburban its popularity diminished. As a countermeasure studies were done to revitalize the area.This led to the creation of a mall committee and ultimately getting the states help in construction of a pedestrian mall. This draws parallels to the funding of many processional institutions that would benefit those in powers such. An example of this is the Chartres Cathedral which depended heavily on public contribution not always voluntary and always enforced by the states police. Later on the the mall suffered the same fate of low foot traffic. With the mall’s bad reputation Dennis Zane aided by business were able to gain enough attention and again the city was able to get bond for “public improvement” and have since been able attract more capital than ever before.

Bibliography:

https://www.restreets.org/case-studies/the-third-street-promenade (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/how-santa-monicas-third-street-became-a-promenadehttp://www.publicartarchive.org/work/dinosaurs-santa-monica

https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/this-is-what-third-street-promenade-looked-like-before-the-gap-even-existed/

http://oakesarchitects.com/facilities-development/3rd-street-promenade-santa-monica-ca/