Battle of the Renderings

As the fate of sixties landmark the Century Plaza Hotel continues to be debated by developers, preservationists, and local politicians, the role that renderings created with computer software plays doesn't make it into headlines like today's Los Angeles Times story about the plans of financial titan Woodridge Capital: "Developer proposes to demolish Century Plaza hotel."

The glossy renderings of Pei Cobb Freed and Partners that reflect the greenery of ground level onto the reflective towers is clearly intended to support their rhetoric of what Jane Jacobs called the "garden city" prototype and the ideology of promoting greenspace.