"Beautiful downtown Burbank" is a phrase that was popularised by the late American television
personality Johnny Carson. He frequently used the phrase as the punchline of a joke on his talk show,
"The Tonight Show," when discussing the fictional location of his show's production studio. Gary
Owens, however, is credited with the origin of the phrase from the show where he was announcer,
Rowans and Martin's Laugh-In. The phrase was intended to be humorous, poking fun at the idea that
Burbank, California, a small city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, could have a downtown that is
considered "beautiful." It is a catchphrase that has been used in pop culture and media as an ironic
reference to small towns and cities. Today the phrase is used less ironically and more as a sense of
pride by people of Burbank.
The theme of the project is to look at the “beauty” of Downtown Burbank through vintage
postcards from the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. The project is centred around San Fernando Blvd, in an area
once known as “The Golden Mall”, a failed urban project that lasted from 1967- 1989. The AR
experience allows users to go to specific sites in Downtown Burbank and line up these vintage
postcards to their corresponding views in the present day in an attempt to generate appreciation of
today's contemporary conditions.
