In L.A.'s Koreatown, perched on a sunny corner across the street from a coin laundry, stands a wonder of modern architecture.
A large white cylinder of a building, flanked by bright red metal blades, crowned by a cockily-angled red cube adorned with Colonel Sanders' face. That's right, this architectural gem is a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise. The eye-catching Koreatown KFC has become something of a fast-food Rorschach test among Los Angeles residents since its construction was completed in 1990.
Is it a ? Is it an actual chicken? Honestly, I can see both interpretations, but bucket seems to be the consensus. Yet the design was never meant to evoke a or fowl. It was simply intended to be a structurally dynamic, constructivist building — any resemblance to a bucket and/or chicken "wasn't a self-conscious thing," Jeffrey Daniels, one of the building's architects, told in 2018.
The history of the bucket-shaped KFC Architecturally-inclined KFC franchisee Jack Wilke commissioned the firm Grinstein/Daniels Inc. to design a two-story KFC in LA's Koreatown in 1989, and construction was completed in 1990. The design draws from constructivist architecture, blending interesting shapes and modern materials to create a sense of opposition and scale.
It was also inspired by Googie-style architecture, which uses dramatic geometric shapes and eye-catching materials to draw attention to businesses. The Koreatown KFC is certainly eye-catching when viewed from the street, but the funky spa.