CHILDREN AT PLAY - 1961
Flanking the entrance of the then-new headquarters of the California Congress of Parents and Teachers, Inc. (now the P.T.A.), Children at Play comprised two low relief sculptures carved on a freestanding terracotta brick wall. On the left side of the entry, a pair (or three) of short-haired children in pants play with a ball. On the other side, two long-haired children in skirts are depicted. One pushes the other on a swing.
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Headquarters ofCalifornia Congress of Parents and Teachers, Inc.
930 Georgia St, Los Angeles 90015
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1961
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Smith, Powell & Morgridge
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Carved terracotta brick and epoxy resin
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10 ft. x 120 ft. x 11.5 in.
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Cost of entire building, approximately $300,000
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California Congress of Parents and Teachers, Inc.
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Unknown. 930 Georgia Street is no longer occupied by the P.T.A. The site is located beside an area of intense redevelopment in
Downtown LA’s South Park and
appears to be under development itself. Google Street View shows that the carved wall was in place in June 2021, but it is currently (2024) covered by construction fencing.
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All images:
Children at Play (1961)
“New PTA Building Features Free-Standing, Brick Wall Without Mortar,” Southwest Builder and Contractor, April 27, 1962, TVS Archives
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The new CA Congress of Parents and Teachers (now P.T.A.) headquarters opened on November 1, 1961 and received an AIA California Chapter Award For Craftsmanship.
Van Sant’s third project with Smith Powell, and Morgridge, Children at Play exemplifies Van Sant’s characteristic combination of traditionalist imagery with an experimental approach to methods and materials. As described in Southwest Builder and Contractor, April 27, 1962:
“Construction without mortar of a solid, free-standing brick wall, 120 feet long and 10 feet high, introduces another building innovation to the City of Los Angeles. In planning the design of this exterior façade for the state headquarters building, California Congress of Parents and Teachers, Inc. the architects’ and artist’s chief aims were to create a bold and distinctive masonry wall with penetrations and low relief sculpture inspired by their study of 2500 year old Assyrian structures still in existence...The artwork has drawn considerable attention of both architects and artists in the Southland.
...in designing the free-standing wall, Architect Mogridge specified materials capable of being sculpted directly by the artist and at the same time to bond the masonry increments in such a way as to create the appearance of a drywall _ thus eliminating the mortar pattern which would visually compete with the sculptured imagery.
...Both Morgridge and Van Sant wanted to use materials and procedures which would create a richness and quality in surface, usually attained only by age and weathering, and at the same time to create quality results within a limited budget. (Cost of entire building was approximately $300,000).
The masonry material chosen was a sand cast, 4 by 4 by 15-inch terra cotta brick produced in Mexico and supplied by Bourget Bros. of Santa Monica. According to Van Sant it was chosen for its aged quality, bold size, and color variation.
He further pointed out that had mortar been used to bond the bricks, it would have resulted in a strongly patterned surface and consequently reduce the effectiveness of the sculpted figures.
Instead, epoxy resin supplied by ChemSeal and Furane Plastics was applied as the bonding agent blending in color with that of the brick. Application was made with a common caulking gun in two continuous beads on each course of a high bond resin of low viscosity.
...The resin was extended with silica sand and Airox pozalin to a toothpaste consistency.
According to the architect, the beads compressed under each brick as it was layered resulting in a dry-wall appearance.
Architect Morgridge stated that bond break tests were made and in every case the Mexican brick failed before the bond.
Two courses of brick were set in place forming a 11 ½ inch thick wall. A four-inch concrete core inside the masonry was poured every five courses and reinforced with vertical H-columns.
Those bricks making up the areas to be sculpted, were set projecting three inches from the general wall surface for carving by the artist. Van Sant said the speed of erection of the wall compensated for the additional cost of the bonding agent.
Upon completion of the wall, the artist carved directly into the projecting bricks to create the low-relief figures of children at play. A 6500 r.p.m. Cleco air grinder was used with nine inch carboflex masonry blades. The brick, according to Van Sant, cut easily and without fractures.” [1]
Van Sant used similar materials and technique for Body of Knowledge (1972).
[1] “New PTA Building Features Free-Standing, Brick Wall Without Mortar,” Southwest Builder and Contractor, April 27, 1962, TVS Archives
