One of the most unique modern buildings buildings in Los Angeles is the California NanoSystems Institute located on the UCLA campus.
I walked by the exterior of this building for years - having no idea what the interior courtyard (pictured) looked like.
Taking a shortcut earlier this year while on campus - I discovered the CNSI's interior courtyard with it's six different bridges connecting different random floors and parts of the building to each other.
Here's a arial view from google earth, where you can see the six different bridges. To the right is the UCLA south campus "court of the sciences."
The interior courtyard isn't really a courtyard.
This being Los Angeles, it's a parking lot.
You can see how the entire western side of the building cantilevers over the parking lot area - a pretty impressive feat of engineering.
Another shot of the bridges. It felt like a movie set.
From up above, you get another perspective. As this is a working research facility, access to several of the bridges was limited. I think it was OK walking around and taking pictures, but I didn't want to walk across a bridge only to find the door on the other side locked.
Thinking about it, I don't think I saw anyone walking on any of them the entire time I was there. That doesn't mean they're never used - but they did seem under used.
A final shot.
A final shot.
Apparently, the CSNI building is a "secure facility" (their words) but offers tours by appointment: cnsi411@ucla.edu.
While maybe not worth a special trip, the California NanoSystems Institute is worth stopping by and seeing if you're any where near UCLA.
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