John Parkinson

American architect John Parkinson, who was born in England, and his son Donald ran an architectural office and also submitted the design for the Olympic Stadium in 1932. After spending several years in North America earlier, John emigrated to the United States in 1889, where he opened an office in Seattle. In 1894, after the economic panic of 1893, he moved to Los Angeles. Donald was introduced into his father’s company in 1920. Both were responsible for designing many of Los Angeles’ finest buildings, which became some of the city’s most enduring landmarks, including LA City Hall and the Coliseum, Union Station and Bullocks Wilshire, the most complete design of Art Deco in the United States.

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum has hosted two Olympic Games, in 1932 and in 1984; the Games are to be held there again in 2028. The first Super Bowl in American Football was also played there in 1967. The stadium was built in 1921-23 in a neoclassical style for 75,000 spectators, but was expanded to seating for 100,000 spectators in 1930 for the upcoming Olympic Games. At this time the iconic bowl for the Olympic fire was placed on the portico. In 1984 it was declared a National Historic Landmark and was renovated in 1993. In 1994 the building was damaged by an earthquake and restored again. The name is said to commemorate the veterans of World War I.