Among the lesser-celebrated architectural highlights of any city or town are the lampposts. Hidden in plain sight, they are essential for much more than illumination—setting a tone, establishing a presence, defining the time of the place. These “modern totems,” as India Mandelken calls them in Electric Moons: A Social History of Street Lighting in Los Angeles (Hat & Beard Editions), are monuments as well as place markers, and in sprawling Los Angeles, place is important to mark with signs and light.
“Aside from their practical functions, streetlights broadcast the social status of developments,” writes Mandelkern, “and often became emblems of their neighborhoods.” Developers were not required by code to plant streetlights. But in L.A. they “were a surefire way to boost property values.”
From a design point of view, many of the poles were crafted with classical or beaux arts details. “If developers liked to portray Los Angeles as a new American Greece of Rome, streetlight manufacturers helped build the backdrop.” The lighting columns shared similar plinths, shafts and capitals with ancient architectural forms. As Mandelkern notes, “Unlike the towering electrical masts, which looked like objects out of an H.G. Wells novel, the familiar ornaments studding the ca[s]t-iron lamp posts seemed to normalize the still new technology.” Outdoor lighting became a lucrative business in L.A., and lighting emerged as a popular—and practical—art.
Mandelkern’s book is a deep dive into the social, cultural and artistic importance of these urban gems (which are, incidentally, often covered with official street signs and illegal stickers). Included is design history in concert with contemporary urban exploration. Vintage lampposts are often removed and replaced by uniformly unadorned columns with more energy efficient LEDs, but there is a movement of urban preservationists trying to retain L.A.’s heritage.
In addition to preservation, Mandelkern covers the art: the LACMA installation Ubran Light (below) pays homage to and becomes an icon of the city with a “gothic forest” of light. While most outdoor lamps and lighting are matter of fact, I, for one, am always unnerved when one goes out. It is similar to when a tree loses its leaves before its time, and all that’s left is a memory of light and life.