Built in 1967 as 'The Beauty Pavilion' for Dr. Richard Alan Franklyn, a prominent Hollywood cosmetic surgeon and author of books like 'The Art of Staying Young' and 'Developing Bosom Beauty.' Franklyn specifically wanted a building designed for plastic surgery with natural light streaming through central skylights to illuminate the operating room. The building is attributed to legendary Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, famous for designing Brasilia's modernist buildings. Though no architect is listed on the building permit, the Oscar Niemeyer Foundation contains sketches for this 'Centro de Beleza.' Niemeyer was working from Paris at the time, having been banned from Brazil and denied U.S. entry due to his Communist activism, completing this project through California architects by mail.
This UFO-like circular building embodies Niemeyer's signature love of curves over straight lines. The low, round structure features natural lighting through central skylights originally designed to illuminate surgical procedures, complemented by elongated arched windows separated by simple concrete pilasters covering the entire circular façade. The building's most distinctive feature today is its extremely bright green exterior paint, applied after Mark Mothersbaugh took ownership. The design creates what observers describe as a building that 'looks like it should be spinning wildly at a carnival somewhere,' making it one of the most mind-boggling structures on the architecturally eclectic Sunset Strip.
