Objective

One Wilshire is an office building located at the junction of Wilshire Boulevard and South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles. Designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill and completed in 1966, the thirty-story high-rise initially served as space for law firms. The building's purpose shifted dramatically in the early 1990s, transitioning to house telecommunications companies. Following a 1992 renovation for network upgrades, a large meet-me room was constructed on the fourth floor. By 2008, Wired called this location "the world's most densely populated Meet-Me room," interconnecting around 260 ISPs. As of 2013, it was one of the top three global telecommunications centers, comparable to 60 Hudson Street in New York City and Telehouse in London. Its significance was further emphasized when GI Partners purchased the building in 2013 for a record-setting price for a downtown Los Angeles office property. By 2015, submarine communications cables funneled an estimated one-third of Internet traffic from the U.S. to Asia through the building, confirming its role as vital infrastructure.

Subjective

Contexts

• #internet-infrastructure