Anthology of critical essays on the architecture of Los Angeles and its influence on the socio-political mood of the city. "In an age dominated by nationalism and ethnic conflict, Charles Jencks argues that these reactionary tendencies can be countered by an equally powerful drive - heterophilia : the love of difference, the desire to seek out new experience and curiosity. All of these are essential to the creation of a new form of city, the heteropolis, epitomized by Los Angeles. [...] The hetero-architecture of Los Angeles suggests a way beyond the present impasse between the fundamentalists and the multiculturalists, a third position which diffuses confrontation with creative displacement and inclusive eclecticism. The strange beauty of hetero-architecture embraces variety, its informality allows marginalized groups to feel at home and its unusual metaphors suggest our connection to the natural world." -- from interior flap. Includes footnotes, appendix, and index. Printed in color and black-and-white.