Agfa Ansco Building
The Agfa Ansco Corporation, a producer of photographic film, paper and cameras, built a new office, warehouse and film storage facility in 1937 on Santa Monica Blvd in Hollywood. Also known as the Film Exchange Building, it was designed by architect T. H. Pettit in an remarkable blend of Art Deco and Streamline Moderne styles. It was constructed of brick, concrete blocks and reinforced concrete floors in an effort to make the building as fireproof as possible due to the highly flammable nature of film at the time. After Agfa Ansco’s departure in the late 1950s, the Birns and Sawyer Cine Equipment Company, which allowed filmmakers to buy or rent filmmaking equipment, moved in. It is designated as a Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument.
Hollywood, Los Angeles County
Photographer: Andrew Schmidt