Citigroup Center and KPMG Tower, two landmark skyscrapers that have been fixtures on the Los Angeles skyline for more than 30 years, are part of an online retrospective celebrating the 50th anniversary of SOLARBAN glass by PPG Industries.

Designed by A.C. Martin and opened in 1979 as the Wells Fargo Bank Building, Citigroup Center gained prominence as the television home of the 1980s hit series “L.A. Law.” Together with KPMG Tower, designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill and erected four years later, the two buildings epitomized the classic modernist glass-and-steel aesthetic that defined the era.

Constructed on the heels of the oil crises of the 1970s, Citigroup Center and KPMG Tower were among the earliest skyscrapers to feature Solarban glass, a brand name that has come to signify leadership in environmentally-advanced architectural glass. Today, the Solarban glass brand name encompasses a broad range of high-performance solar control, low-emissivity (low-e) glasses – including many formulated with PPG’s proprietary triple-silver coating technology – that help architects design and construct more sustainable buildings through their ability to transmit daylight, block solar heat and thereby reduce heating, cooling and lighting demands.

Solarban 60 glass also is showcased in downtown Los Angeles by the futuristic California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) District 7 Headquarters, opened in 2004 and designed by Hans Hollein, the 2005 winner of the Pritzker Prize.