Skyline Graffiti

From our Los Feliz apartment this morning, we could see helicopters hovering over the Library Tow-- um, I mean the U.S. Bank Tower, adding the U.S. Bank logo to the building's crown.

According to the L.A. Times,the helicopters began installing the monstrous signs at 8 a.m this morning:

Bank and building representatives said they took care to make the signs visually pleasing to a postmodern structure "well-regarded for its architectural significance," according to Seibly.

The signs' design consists of the company's name in white and blue lettering, illuminated with energy-efficient lights. Designers in San Diego worked on the project for two months.

In fact, representatives said they want the signs to look so good that they have yet to decide on the permanent background color. For a month, red will adorn one sign, and gold the other. Then a decision will be made.

"It's like choosing a paint color for the house," said Steve Dale, a US Bank spokesman. "You have to put it up for a while to see if it looks good."

U.S. Bank paid building owners Maguire Properties $53 million over 15 years to become the tower's chief tenant — and to put up the signs.

Read my rant here about how, despite the tower dominating and defining the L.A. skyline -- and despite the fact that it's the tallest building west of the Mississippi -- no one knows what the hell the building is named.

Of course, until recently it was known as the Library Tower. But that's simply its default-no-corporate-sponsorship name. For much of the 1990s, it was known as the First Interstate World Center -- until that bank disappeared in a fit of corporate consolidation.