An interactive map has been created to visualize the architectural growth of Los Angeles by showing every building currently standing in the city, organized by the year it was built.
According to the project, the visualization uses building outlines from LARIAC 2020 and data from the LA County Assessor’s roll to map each structure. The map displays buildings as individual boxes, with each one appearing in the year it was constructed, allowing viewers to watch the city’s development unfold from 1880 through 2026.
The map includes details for each building, including its construction date, height, footprint, and type. Heights are exaggerated when viewing the map zoomed out, which helps make smaller structures visible across the broader cityscape.
A key limitation of the visualization is that it shows only the “surviving city”—buildings that still stand today—rather than the complete historical development. Structures that were demolished over the decades do not appear on the map, meaning the visualization captures Los Angeles’s current architectural landscape rather than a comprehensive record of everything that was ever built.
The interactive tool allows users to pan across the city and adjust the view by dragging or tilting (using right-drag or control-drag), making it possible to explore different neighborhoods and observe how development patterns varied across different areas of Los Angeles over time.
This type of visualization can reveal patterns in urban expansion, showing how certain areas developed earlier while others were built up more recently, and how building density and types have changed across different historical periods. It provides a visual record of which neighborhoods formed the city’s earliest core and how Los Angeles grew outward from those initial areas.
Key facts
- The map displays every building currently standing in Los Angeles, from 1880 to 2026
- Data comes from LARIAC 2020 building outlines and LA County Assessor records
- The visualization only shows surviving buildings, not structures that have been demolished
- Each building can be examined for construction date, height, footprint, and type
- Heights are exaggerated when zoomed out to improve visibility of smaller structures