On Avenue of the Stars, we find a skyscraper that might look familiar to you: the Fox Plaza. You may be wondering where you have seen this office skyscraper before, the headquarters of 20th Century Fox (a company now owned by Disney).

This 35-story building, standing at 150 meters tall, “played” the role of the fictional Nakatomi Plaza in “Die Hard” (directed by John McTiernan, 1988) and has also been the setting for many other Fox movies. However, before it became the setting for that action movie masterpiece starring Bruce Willis, Fox Plaza was acclaimed as one of the most architecturally attractive buildings constructed in Los Angeles during the 1980s.

Completed in 1986, the skyscraper was designed by Johnson Fain Architects, a firm that emerged following the death of legendary architect William Pereira (who was involved in the design of Fox Plaza). Architects Scott Johnson and Bill Fain aimed for a modern, contemporary late-style look, focusing on creating complex exterior textures that break the facade of the tower and create multiple planes to reflect light. The facade reaches its most complex point at the top of the tower, featuring a series of staggered volumes.

The exterior of the building is clad in gray glass and pink-tinted granite, adding an extra layer of modernity.

Fox Plaza is an excellent example of late modern design that reinvents the character of an earlier style without becoming a parody of it. You can admire it, along with other imposing skyscrapers, in the Century City area, very close to Beverly Hills.