Encounter at the Theme Building
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Eddie: The white soaring arches and sleek forms were optimistic and symbolized this "Jet Age' of 1961.

Promotional flyer for the "Jetage " project

Marc: That optimism is one of the things I like about the building. In reading about it, it was often described by the people involved in it's construction as a message that LAX was ready for the future. The future was so cool in 1961...

Eddie: Yeah, It is the last glimpse of a culture before people started shooting presidents. You go there to drink the Martinis without fear. There was less of it then. Especially at the bar.

Marc: I think the building's rich, mutating multi-color exterior lighting is great. A few years ago I saw very similar lighting being tried out on the then white Space Mountain at Disneyland. Were you involved with that?

Eddie: No.. I noticed that too.

The outside (of the Theme Building) needed color and a heartbeat. Michael Valentino, our lighting designer did a great job of creating a gradient light show giving the whole project an otherworldly appeal.

Marc: The first night I saw the lighting it caught me off guard. I looked up at the building and it was blue, and when I looked back a couple of minutes later it was red. Even though the building was basically right in front of me the the entire time, the change was so gradual that I didn't notice it until I looked up. It's intriguing.

Eddie: It is subtle yet dramatic. It accents the shapes without making it a big deal.

Marc: What do you think of the LAX Gateway towers? (a a ring of fifteen 100 foot internally lit, color changing towers located adjacent to the Theme Building/Encounter)

LAX Gateway towers and the 1961 control tower

Eddie: I like anything that makes coming to my hometown the big event its cracked up to be. I dig it. Having said that, it kind of steals the originality of what we did and lessens the impact. They could have thought harder or at least visited the airport at night.

Marc: The James Bond theme that's part of the restaurant's music loop is appropriate. The Bond movies are an obvious inspiration. What were some your other influences at Encounter?

 
1959 concept rendering

Eddie: The inspiration of the whole thing is to recall a more optimistic time when jet travel was new and fresh and a "jet set" culture grew up around it. The skies were full of playboys, spies and elegant Martini sipping travelers. I used to watch those Bond films and the Peter Sellers movies with all those cool people at these awesome parties with motorized floors and go-go dancing and wish I could go to one. Forget the Italian Alps with Claudia Cardinale, I was in grade school in suburbia. It was all so surreal. So, when we had this chance to do something romantic at the Airport, it seemed the exotic place to recreate the notion.

Despite the negatives, the airport itself is a romantic notion and people still like to watch the planes take off. No one knows who you are and where you're bound. It is no shock that the restaurant has 60 percent local destination audience!

The unexpected plus came when John Travolta rented the place for his birthday party, hired Sergio Mendes to play and invited everyone he knew for the nite. It was the swank party I dreamed of but still never got to attend! How frustrating! It started a wave of movie openings and parties that included Shaquille O'Neil, the Beastie Boys, the Austin Powers' wrap party and more.

Marc:  I heard about the John Travolta party, but I didn't know Sergio Mendes provided the music... What a scene! I wish I'd been there too, but you really *should* have.

I found that the employees there are pretty thrilled about all the celebrity attention.

Eddie: Who would have thought you could get Quentin Tarantino to head to the airport for dinner?

A very special thank you to Ethel at Los Angeles International Airport Public Relations for providing many of the photo and documents which appear in this article.