A Rare Glimpse Into The Bradbury Building's Basement

Psst! Anyone else around? Just you? Okay, come with us and we'll show you something you don't see every day!

Gentle reader,

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For our latest post that’s hidden from the rest of the internet, we thought we’d show you a space that’s hidden from the architecture lovers and Blade Runner fans that come to pay their respects in the lobby of the landmark Bradbury Building at 3rd and Broadway.

In this photo taken from the stairs on one of our Lowdown on Downtown tours, Richard’s foot is on the patterned section in the center of the tiled floor.

Those circular things are vault lights or prisms, a 19th century technological innovation that allowed daylight to penetrate below deck on ships and into urban basements.

There is a particularly lovely set of round vault lights inset in the sidewalk surrounding the 1896 Barclay Hotel at 4th and Main Streets, around the corner from the Bradbury. The glass is the old formula that contained manganese, which reacts with sunlight over time to turn clear glass violet. But from underneath, the light that illuminates the hotel’s basement tunnels looks white. You can see the effect for yourself in this 3D explorable tour created by Craig Sauer.

Remember the vault lights. You’ll see them again.

Now follow us, under the steps where Kim took the photo above, and through a door that is rarely opened. We’re going down into the basement with building management and curator friends, to follow up on a rumor that there are additional architectural drafting plans and blueprints, newer than the collection that was salvaged by Paul McKelvey in 1986, and that we recently helped accession to the Huntington Library.