Triforium (Los Angeles) facts for kids

The Triforium is a huge, 60-foot tall concrete sculpture. It's located in downtown Los Angeles at Fletcher Bowron Square. This amazing artwork has 1,494 colorful glass prisms and light bulbs. It also has a special musical instrument inside called a carillon with 79 bells.

About the Triforium Sculpture

The architect for the Los Angeles Mall, Robert Stockwell, asked artist Joseph Young to create the Triforium. It was put in place in 1975. Joseph Young first imagined the sculpture as a "kinetic sculpture." This means it would move or change. His idea was for it to use motion sensors and a computer. These would sense people walking by. Then, they would turn those movements into patterns of light and sound. These patterns would show up on the glass prisms and play through the carillon bells.

Young believed his artwork would become very famous. He called it the world's first "polyphonoptic" tower. This means it combined many sounds and lights. He also said the Triforium showed how Los Angeles was always changing. Young even wanted the sculpture to shoot laser beams into space! This would have made it the first "astronomical beacon." But, there wasn't enough money for that part of the design. The sculpture cost $925,000 to build. It was officially opened on December 12, 1975. However, there was a small electrical problem. So, the music part couldn't start playing right away.

The Triforium has three concrete pillars, each with two legs. These pillars hold up the many colorful glass prisms. There are 1,494 prisms in total. The sculpture also had a special electronic carillon. This carillon had 79 glass bells. It was made to play all kinds of music. The lights and music were supposed to work together. But, the computer that controlled them had many problems.

The Triforium's Journey

The Triforium stands where the old Bella Union Hotel used to be. Some people think this spot might also be where the Native American village of Yaanga once stood.

When the Triforium was first shown, there was a lot of excitement. But over time, the sculpture started to break down. It even became a bit of a joke to some people. One story says a judge nearby complained about the noise. He said it bothered his court trials. So, city officials were asked to turn it off. For many years, the sculpture had problems. Water leaked from a pool at its base. Also, pigeons often made their homes inside it. People used to say it was "too expensive to fix, but too expensive to tear down."

The Los Angeles Times newspaper wrote about the Triforium in 2006. They mentioned some funny nicknames it had received. These included The Psychedelic Nickelodeon and Three Wishbones in Search of a Turkey. In 2002, Joseph Young, the artist, talked about his sculpture being in disrepair. He said, "At times it was very lonely." He also knew that public art can get strong reactions from people.

Finally, after many years of not working, the lights were fixed. They were turned back on on December 13, 2006. This repair cost $7,500. The original sound system was not fixed. Now, the music you hear from the Triforium comes from a different source. The original carillon is no longer connected. In 2016, the sculpture got another upgrade. This was paid for with $100,000 from a grant. This latest upgrade did not fix the leaking pool. That's because the water leaks into the Los Angeles Mall below.

After two years of these upgrades, a group of engineers started "The Triforium Project." They now put on live music shows at the sculpture. The latest shows were in October and November 2018.

Images for kids

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  The Triforium during the second Triforium Fridays night

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  A closeup of the sculpture's prisms during the second Triforium Fridays show