We consider this to be the pinnacle of LA’s interchange system. We don’t mean that in a pejorative sense (though it is a beautiful interchange), but just in the sense that it is the northern-most interchange that we are going to look at today.

Josh: "I really should give this overpass more praise. What’s noticeable about it is the way in which its bridges are nestled among the rolling hills which surround it. This is a beautiful illustration of the organic nature of the overpass: as you drive though it you can’t help but reflect on the way in which its viaducts almost compliment the surrounding landscape. Again, the gray color and perhaps even the overly geometric forms constantly threaten to annihilate that vision… but there are moments where the suspension of disbelief is possible, and the interchange and countryside are not seen as antithetical (Hegel would be proud)."

Jaime: "I don’t think that overpasses should be considered organic but rather they should be considered reflecting. For example, Josh, the curves and angels encountered in the 5-14 interchange are not significantly different from the shapes found in the overpass tributaries which curved through the buildings near LAX. In the rolling hills landscape the overpasses did take on an organic quality but in LA they seemed just a structural as the buildings through which they intertwined."

Josh: "I can see what you are saying, but to me, in the case of the Century freeway, what was so striking is not so much how similar the interchange is compared to the surrounding buildings, but how different it is. The building’s box-like qualities seem awkward and even dead compared to the overpass's smooth biotic curves."

Jaime: "Certainly I’m not saying that the Century overpass was so similar to the buildings which it surrounded that the two are indistinguishable. My claim is only that the dissimilarity between the LA buildings and the adjacent overpass is analogous to the dissimilarity between the hills and the 14-5. However, in each case the presence of the overpass seems appropriate and even complementing. Therefore the overpass seems to have a quality of neutrality rather than that of an organic structure."