Hollywood & Highland is the architectural equivalent of Rebecca Black’s “Friday”; it’s bad, to be sure, but people love to jump aboard the hate train just because everyone else is doing it.



Not everything about it is terrible: the view of the Hollywood Sign is well-framed, the property is generally well-kept and its construction put the brakes on Hollywood Boulevard’s downward spiral. But it’s also plagued with gargantuan billboards, the entire Highland Avenue side is devoid of life and pedestrian activity, its labyrinthian staircases and escalators hamper wayfinding (not that you’ll find anything appetizing to eat anyway) and its vacuous courtyard hasn’t helped to absorb the hordes of tourists that clog the sidewalks.



Like D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance—the white elephants and Babylonian gate are an homage to the 1916 film—Hollywood & Highland is an expensive mess that can only hope to live long enough for locals' opinions to flip in its favor. Until then, it’s the cobbled together pizza place salad of shopping malls.

6801 Hollywood Blvd (Hollywood)