Los Angeles International Airport

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is the primary airport of Southern California and one of the busiest in the world, the main U.S. gateway for air travel across the Pacific to Asia and Oceania. Set right on the coast in the southwest of the city, it handles a vast mix of international, domestic, and connecting traffic for the sprawling Los Angeles region.

Its mid-century "Theme Building," a flying-saucer-like structure on splayed arches, is a landmark of Space Age architecture, and the ring of pylons that light up in changing colors greets arrivals on the road in. Hemmed in by dense city on all sides, LAX cannot easily expand, so it has rebuilt upward and inward with new terminals and an automated people-mover, while remaining a symbol of car-bound Los Angeles and its connection to the wider Pacific world.