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International Tower’s history and architectural style are related in
many ways. In fact, its style and structure are itself part of
history.
It’s
about WOW!
The building is the end
result of visionary developer Henry Sassoon and his enduring
testament to what was quite literally ‘out of the box thinking’ even
by today’s standards. Designed by local architects, Carl B.
Troedsson and Charles Boldon, Sassoon’s original concept included a
rotating restaurant on top among other whimsical amenities, but not
all of these were realized in the finished product.
Nonetheless, International Tower is recognized as an authentic
Mid-Century Modern icon and has been identified as a historic
architectural structure through the California Environmental Quality
Act. By virtue of its eligibility for inclusion in the California
Register of Historic Resources, International Tower is pending
designation as a landmark of the City of Long Beach.
An Engineering Marvel…
International Tower is one of the most significant buildings in the
city and demonstrates architectural and design significance through
technological innovation. The building’s structural engineer, T. Y.
Lin who died in 2003, was world renown for his advances in
reinforced formed concrete structures and was referred to as the
“father of pre-stressed concrete” because of his achievements in
furthering it’s applications in tall buildings, bridges, and other
structures. International Tower was one of T. Y. Lin’s hallmark
designs and was the tallest pre-stressed concrete building in the
world at the time of its completion in early 1966.
 The
character-defining features of International Tower include its Ocean
Boulevard at Shoreline Drive location on a bluff overlooking the
Shoreline Marina area and the Pacific Ocean; a 32-story height;
circular massing; floor to ceiling aluminum frame glass curtain
walls and sliding doors; continuous metal-railed balconies; and flat
roof with penthouse.
The primary physical strength of the building comes from two
interior core structural systems. The first of which is the center
reinforced concrete elevator and stairwell shaft, a massive column
about 30 feet in diameter rising more than 280’ above Ocean
Boulevard, slip-formed during the earlier stages of construction.
The second is a specifically designed cross-member steel beamed,
reinforced circular wall, encased in concrete, about six feet out
and away from the center core. These two circular (or tubular)
structures, one inside the other, create a ring-like hallway on each
floor providing access to each residential unit, as well as access
to elevators and interior stairwell doors. The building has twelve,
evenly spaced 2’ foot steel box girders, each placed about ten feet
in from the outside edge of each 125 foot diameter pre-stressed
concrete floor plate. It is this absence of visible support that,
while gazing up at the building, that creates the illusion of the
floors being suspended, one above the other. This design gives the
building its Mid-Century Modern signature appearance, not easily
achieved in a high-rise structure. 
The
combined resourceful strength of this integrally engineered design
also provides a degree of ductility not typical of most concrete
structures of the period or before. This ductility, a prescribed
level of strength combined with flexibility, also provides a
synergistically heightened degree of structural integrity during
strong earthquakes.
International Tower is a true Engineering Trophy that Long Beach is
proud to have residing on its shores. It can also be argued that
there may be no other high-rise structure, other than International
Tower, that better exemplifies the characteristics associated with
Mid-Century Modern design criteria, including form and principle,
not only in California but nationally.
But yet,
... it’s all about Style!
While many architectural
styles are faux remakes, International Tower is truly authentic and
quite unique. Mid-Century Modern as a style is not easily manifested
in high-rise structures. Most only think of the style more typically
associated with the flat rooflines, open floor spaces and abundant
glass found in Palm Springs homes of the Rat Pack era. However
International Tower may be the best example of a Mid-Century Modern
high-rise not only done right, but also taken to a new height.
A Place
in Time...
 This
mid 19th century 50’s –60’s style is a unique American architecture
style enlivened by the exuberance reflected in our nation’s
victories in WWII. America had a new leadership status on the world
stage. Our belief in the future and our national focus on winning
the space race, had our hearts and spirits focused on the moon and
beyond, tempered only by cold war realities including air raid
sirens and bomb shelters, which played lateral roles in this style.
(Both of which, on or adjacent to the property)
Yet
many would say this was a time when America was at its best. The
architectural style reflected what it meant to be an American during
that period, totally optimistic with a new energy and the sky was
the limit. Jet travel across the Atlantic was finally a reality, and
the newly formed space program was going to put a man on the moon.
OK, This
Place is way COOL!
In terms of pop-culture,
International Tower opened during the first season of the original
TV show ‘Star Trek’. Other television shows popular at the time,
such as ‘My Favorite Martian’, ‘Outer Limits’, and ‘Lost in Space’
are, in a way, encapsulated in the International Tower design,
preserving a special place in the hearts and memories of many.
International Tower has two nicknames, one of which is appropriate
for the period. Its admirers lovingly refer to it as “the George
Jetson building”, after the early 1960’s Hanna Barbera television
cartoon series, “The Jetson’s”. This weekly prime animated sitcom
featured a space age family whose futuristic residence resembled
that of International Tower, where residents would take off and land
private space ship type flying vehicles from their own balconies.
The second is that of the buildings detractors, who refer to it
simply as “the beer can.”
 When
the tower first opened at 660 Ocean Boulevard, it was more than a
year before the Art Deco styled Queen Mary arrived in Long Beach to
make the city her final home. The main entrance of the tower at that
time had a large circular driveway, and a grand lobby with
glistening brass elevator doors, overlooking the swimming pool and
recreational patio to the west of the building. Each residential
unit was much larger than most for the time. Views from each floor,
of the city and ocean, continue to be just as did then, both
breathtaking and unparalleled. While hard to imagine today, when the
building’s first residents moved in, there was actually a beach and
the sound of waves south of Seaside Way, with the fabulous and once
marveled Rainbow Pier still gracing the Long Beach shores.
In
the late 1980’s the building was renovated and converted to
condominiums. At that time the entrance and lobby were relocated
around to the east side of the tower toward Shoreline Drive. The
circular driveway on Ocean Boulevard was eliminated and the former
lobby eventually made into a fitness center. The property was then
officially named International Tower after the city’s growing world
influence from its expanding global shipping port. And, with the
relocation of the entrance and lobby, International Tower was given
the new address of 700 East Ocean.
I didn’t know that…
A rare, if not unique,
non-architectural and yet historic feature is a city street named
Marine Way, now a tunnel running east to west underneath the
building. This last existing stretch of Marine Way from a location
South of Linden to near Shoreline is all that remains of the street,
which for decades before ran parallel to, and north of, Seaside Way
(also known in the 1930’s through the 1950’s, as the ’Walk of a
Thousand Lights’) below the bluff.
The Tower
in the limelight…
Through the years International Tower
has become synonymous with the Long Beach Grand Prix, which attracts
world-class drivers and huge crowds of fans each year. From the very
beginning of the famous race’s history, the tower became known for
elaborate parties for friends and neighbors, and the rich and
famous, during grand prix weekend. After all, there is no better
view of the grand prix action than from a balcony at International
Tower. Many Hollywood celebrities, members of the Los Angeles
Lakers, and even members of the British rock band ‘The Rolling
Stones’, have been among the many elite who have been guests at
tower race parties. The tower is featured in background photos and
video of the grand prix and used in advertizing posters and website
photos promoting the race weekend, as well as other Long Beach
events throughout the year
The tower also has a place in Hollywood history, itself serving as a
location set for numerous movies and TV shows. The opening scenes of
the 1989 ‘Lethal Weapon’, staring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, were
shot in a penthouse with subsequent scenes outside along Ocean
Boulevard. Other shows made for television including numerous
episodes of CSI Miami were filmed in the lobby and other locations
throughout the building between 2005 and 2009. Movie, television and
commercials location shoots occur routinely throughout the year at
the tower and provide a source of revenue available to the tower
association which is applied toward building restoration and
historical preservation.
International Tower’s architectural and historical elements are a
testament to the unique visual, structural, and attractive character
that continue to build on its endearing legacy, with a special sense
of place and time, in the City of Long Beach. |
