Binoculars Building


The Binoculars Building is the unofficial name of what was formerly known as the Chiat/Day Building, a commercial building built in 1991 for advertising agency Chiat/Day located in Venice, Los Angeles, California, designed by architect Frank Gehry. According to Public Art in Public Places, the unofficial name is the result of a conflation between the building and the building-mounted public artwork by artists Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen on its street-facing façade.
The massive Giant Binoculars sculpture covers both a car and pedestrian entrance; the entrance to the parking garage is between the lenses of the binoculars. The building was delayed for a few years after hazardous materials were found on the building site, requiring removal. The latest tenant of this building was Google in 2011, which added two neighboring buildings as part of a major expansion to establish a larger employment presence in Los Angeles.