See L.A.’s Strangest Sculpture Shine Bright Once Again

Built in the 1970s, the Triforium was designed to sync light and music but the costly venture was ahead of its time

Chances are you’ve never heard of the Triforium, a hulking piece of retro-futuristic public art installed in Downtown Los Angeles’ Civic Center. But, as Sarah Laskow reports for Atlas Obscura, later this week, the towering work will be unmissable as it blinks and clangs for the third and final night of “Triforium Fridays.”


The “polyphonoptic” tower, created by sculptor Joseph Young in 1975, was an ambitious work of art, sound and sight ahead of the technological realities of the day. The sculpture was designed to play music on a 79-bell quartz carillon with 1,494 multi-colored lights to blink along with the music. The problem was, the weak-sauce computers of the 1970s just couldn’t keep time with the music. It often sounded weird, the lights kept breaking, and the whole project turned into a much-maligned boondoggle, especially as its budget ballooned from $250,000 to just under $1 million.

According to Bianca Barragan of Curbed LA, the three-pronged sculpture was mocked as “three wishbones in search of a turkey,” “Trifoolery,” “Schlockenspiel” and the “Psychedelic Nickelodeon.” Eventually, the carillon bells were removed, its lights allowed to burn out and the whole concept was mothballed. There’s a rumor the plug was finally pulled when a judge complained that the sculpture was interrupting proceedings in a courtroom.

Despite its technical difficulties, the 60-foot-tall work has stood its ground for the last four decades. Some locals have even developed a soft spot for the sculpture. Tom Carroll, host of an L.A. travel guide on YouTube. who was first introduced to the sculpture in 2005, even made a video about it in 2013. “I loved it, really fascinated by it,” he tells Doug Smith at the Los Angeles Times. “It was sad, this weird, strange beacon.”