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2121 Avenue of the Stars
2121 Avenue of the Stars
	September 2024
Alternative names	20th Century Studios Plaza
General information
Type	Commercial offices
Architectural style	Postmodern
Location	2121 Avenue of the Stars, Century City, California
Coordinates	34°03′19″N 118°24′46″W / 34.055282°N 118.412804°W
Construction started	1985
Completed	1987
Owner	Irvine Company LLC
Height
Roof	150 m (490 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	34
Floor area	90,115 m2 (969,990 sq ft)
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Scott Johnson
Developer	Marvin Davis
Structural engineer	John A. Martin & Associates
Main contractor	Al Cohen Construction
References

2121 Avenue of the Stars, formerly known as Fox Plaza, is a 34-story, 493-foot (150 m) skyscraper in Century City, Los Angeles, California.^[5] It is owned by the Orange County–based Irvine Company.^[6]

History

Fox Plaza was developed by billionaire Marvin Davis, on land he had retained after selling the adjacent 20th Century Fox Studio to Rupert Murdoch in 1985. The tower was completed in 1987.^[7] Its principal design architect was Scott Johnson, Founding Design Partner of Johnson Fain.

Former President Ronald Reagan had his offices on the 34th floor of the building for several years after leaving public office.^[8]

In 1988, Davis sold his 50% stake in Fox Plaza to 20th Century Fox, which was one of the building's primary occupants.^[9] It resold it that same year to La Salle Partners for $320 million.^[10]

In 1997, Davis bought the building back from La Salle, for $253 million.^[11]

In 2000, Davis sold the building again, to billionaire Donald Bren's Irvine Company, for $350 million.^[12]

As of 2019, the 34th floor was occupied by 20th Century Studios.^[13]

In 2024, Chicago-based law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP moved into two floors on the property.

Design

The outer exterior of the building contains rust-red granite and glass panels.

Fox Plaza features a unique HVAC system where a large vertical air shaft is located in the core of the building. The air shaft begins below the building as an outdoor, cooler air intake pushing air to each floor's fan room, and on the roof is located an exhaust for stale air. Such system design utilizes stack effect.^[14]^[15]

Filming location

In a 2018 tour for Variety, the chief engineer of the building noted how the Fox Plaza has a large number of redundancies in its design, and he speculates that it's because it was intended to be used as a filming location.^[16]

The building has been featured in at least four major motion pictures released by Fox. Its most famous appearance was in the 1988 action film Die Hard, where, while still under construction, it portrayed the fictional Nakatomi Plaza (also known as Nakatomi Tower), a building owned by a fictional Japanese conglomerate.^[16] The damaged version of the tower was made via a scale model special effect. In 2018, to celebrate the film's 30th anniversary, a screening was held outside with the building in the background.^[17]

The plaza and a neighboring building are the main setting for the 1994 comedy Airheads where fictional radio station KPPX is located.^[18]^[19] Fox Plaza was also one of the buildings brought down at the end of Fight Club.^[20] The building plays an important role in the Brooklyn Nine-Nine episode "99", in which detective Jake Peralta insists on visiting the building due to its role in Die Hard and causes his squad to miss their return flight to New York City.^[21]

The building can also be seen from the InterContinental hotel pool across the street in the "Sunblock 5000" TV ad in Robocop 2 (1990).

The building as the Nakatomi Plaza from Die Hard appears in the 2024 film Deadpool & Wolverine, where it was pruned and sent to the Void by the Time Variance Authority and can be seen during the battle between Deadpool and Wolverine.^[22]

References

^ "2121 Avenue of the Stars". CTBUH Skyscraper Center.
^ "Emporis building ID 116576". Emporis. Archived from the original on February 14, 2016.
^ "2121 Avenue of the Stars". SkyscraperPage.
^ 2121 Avenue of the Stars at Structurae
^ "Fox Plaza - Office Building for Rent - Los Angeles, CA". Irvine Company. Archived from the original on 2018-07-30. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
^ "Irvine Company's Fox Plaza Captures Prestigious Regional Industry Award" (Press release). Irvine Company. Archived from the original on 2018-07-30. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
^ De Wolfe, Evelyn (1987-02-01). "Fox Plaza Adds Color to Westside's Skyline". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2022-06-27. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
^ Lewis, Andy (26 September 2013). "Inside Ronald Reagan's 'Die Hard' Office in Century City". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
^ Petrikin, Chris (1997-11-13). "Davis re-buys Fox Plaza". Variety. Retrieved 2024-12-19.
^ Keppel, Bruce (1988-08-04). "Price Reportedly $320 Million : Fox Plaza Acquired by Partnership in Chicago". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-12-19.
^ Fulmer, Melinda (1997-11-13). "Marvin Davis Buys Back Fox Plaza for $253 Million; Area Growth Is Cited". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-12-19.
^ "Irvine Co. to Pay $350 Million for High-Rise in L.A." Los Angeles Times. 2000-07-20. Retrieved 2024-12-19.
^ "Fox Plaza". Los Angeles Conservancy. Archived from the original on 2016-07-29. Retrieved 2019-03-21.
^ "Large-Building HVAC Systems". Industrial-Electronics.com. Retrieved 2021-01-16. An unusual example of vertical air distribution at the core is shown in Fig. 10. The Fox Plaza, Los Angeles, office building's unique features include both fan rooms on each floor and a large central vertical air shaft. This air shaft begins at the bottom as a fresh air intake to each floor and tapers to become, at the top, an exhaust (heated) air outlet from each floor. Thus, the stack effect is utilized to help supply fresh and exhaust stale air from a large building, with help from small supply fans at each floor.
^ Grondzik, Walter T.; Kwok, Alison G. (2014). Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Buildings (12th ed.). Wiley. pp. 507–509. ISBN 978-1118615904.
^ ^a ^b Tapley, Kristopher (2018-07-29). "'Die Hard' Celebrates 30th Anniversary with Outdoor 'Nakatomi Tower' Screening". Variety. Archived from the original on 2018-07-29. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
^ Tapley, Kristopher (29 July 2018). "'Die Hard' Celebrates 30th Anniversary With Outdoor 'Nakatomi Tower' Screening". Variety. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
^ "Airheads (1994) - IMDb". Retrieved 2021-04-08.
^ "Airheads". Retrieved 2021-04-08.
^ "The 'Where Is My Mind' Ending Scene in Fight Club (1999)". YouTube. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
^ Ferguson, LaToya (6 December 2017). "In Brooklyn Nine-Nine's "99," teamwork makes the dream work". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
^ "Deadpool & Wolverine director debunks Master and Commander Easter egg, says they almost had the Titanic". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2024-11-07.