Los Angeles International Airport Theme Building

E219187

Googie architecture Mid-century modern architecture building landmark restaurant building

The Los Angeles International Airport Theme Building is a futuristic, space-age modernist landmark at LAX, known for its iconic flying-saucer-like design and status as a symbol of mid-20th-century Los Angeles architecture.

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All labels observed (5)

Label	Occurrences
Theme Building at Los Angeles International Airport	4
Los Angeles International Airport Theme Building canonical	2
LAX Theme Building	1
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) Theme Building – as part of a team	1
Theme Building, LAX	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1952531 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Los Angeles International Airport Theme Building
Context triple: [Welton Becket, notableWork, Los Angeles International Airport Theme Building]

A. LAX terminal complex
The LAX terminal complex is the large, multi-terminal passenger facility at Los Angeles International Airport that houses its gates, check-in areas, and passenger services.
B. Los Angeles City Hall
Los Angeles City Hall is the historic and iconic main municipal building of Los Angeles, housing the mayor’s office and the city council chambers.
C. Tower of the Americas
The Tower of the Americas is a 750-foot observation tower and restaurant in downtown San Antonio, Texas, originally built for the 1968 HemisFair and now a prominent city landmark.
D. One Wilshire building
The One Wilshire building is a major telecommunications hub and office skyscraper in downtown Los Angeles, renowned as one of the world’s most important internet exchange and data center facilities.
E. TWA Flight Center
The TWA Flight Center is an iconic mid-20th-century modernist airport terminal at New York’s JFK Airport, designed by architect Eero Saarinen and celebrated for its futuristic, winged concrete form.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Los Angeles International Airport Theme Building
Target entity description: The Los Angeles International Airport Theme Building is a futuristic, space-age modernist landmark at LAX, known for its iconic flying-saucer-like design and status as a symbol of mid-20th-century Los Angeles architecture.

A. LAX terminal complex
The LAX terminal complex is the large, multi-terminal passenger facility at Los Angeles International Airport that houses its gates, check-in areas, and passenger services.
B. Los Angeles City Hall
Los Angeles City Hall is the historic and iconic main municipal building of Los Angeles, housing the mayor’s office and the city council chambers.
C. Tower of the Americas
The Tower of the Americas is a 750-foot observation tower and restaurant in downtown San Antonio, Texas, originally built for the 1968 HemisFair and now a prominent city landmark.
D. One Wilshire building
The One Wilshire building is a major telecommunications hub and office skyscraper in downtown Los Angeles, renowned as one of the world’s most important internet exchange and data center facilities.
E. TWA Flight Center
The TWA Flight Center is an iconic mid-20th-century modernist airport terminal at New York’s JFK Airport, designed by architect Eero Saarinen and celebrated for its futuristic, winged concrete form.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Googie architecture ⓘ Mid-century modern architecture ⓘ building ⓘ landmark ⓘ restaurant building ⓘ
airportServed	Los Angeles International Airport ⓘ
architect	Charles Luckman ⓘ Paul R. Williams ⓘ Welton Becket ⓘ William Pereira ⓘ
category	Googie architecture in California ⓘ airport buildings ⓘ modernist architecture in California ⓘ
completionDate	1961 ⓘ
constructionStartDate	late 1950s ⓘ
country	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
designationDate	1993 ⓘ
feature	elevated central restaurant pod ⓘ flying-saucer-like design ⓘ observation deck ⓘ two intersecting parabolic arches ⓘ
formerTenant	Encounter Restaurant ⓘ
function	iconic symbol of Los Angeles International Airport ⓘ
hasDesignation	Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument ⓘ
hasObservationDeckStatus	periodically closed for security reasons ⓘ
height	approximately 135 feet ⓘ
inspiredBy	Space Age aesthetics ⓘ
lightingFeature	colored exterior lighting at night ⓘ
locatedIn	California ⓘ linked to: California, United States Los Angeles ⓘ United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
location	Los Angeles International Airport ⓘ
LosAngelesHistoricCulturalMonumentNumber	570 ⓘ
material	concrete ⓘ steel ⓘ
name	Theme Building ⓘ
notableFor	distinctive futuristic silhouette visible from airport approaches ⓘ
opened	1961 ⓘ
partOf	central terminal area of Los Angeles International Airport ⓘ
renovationReason	seismic retrofitting ⓘ
restaurantClosed	2014 ⓘ
roofColor	white ⓘ
structuralEngineer	Krummeck and Pratley ⓘ
style	Googie ⓘ Mid-century modern ⓘ Space Age modernism ⓘ
symbolOf	Space Age design ⓘ mid-20th-century Los Angeles architecture ⓘ
underwentRenovation	2007 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited