in Los Angeles, 200 soft-story residential buildings collapsed. The solution to this vulnerability is to reinforce the overhanging sections with stronger support materials, such as steel I-beams or thick wooden columns. Many cities, including Los Angeles, have required owners of soft-story buildings to retrofit them with additional reinforcement. Dingbats in popular culture Photographer Lesley Marlene Siegel has been documenting the Southern California dingbat in photos since the 1990s. Her catalog now comprises over 2,300 images and culminated in a 2003 solo show called "Apartment Living Is Great". Another Los Angeles artist, Clive Piercy, published a 480-image photography book the same year, entitled Pretty Vacant: The Los Angeles Dingbat Observed. In the 1998 film The Slums of Beverly Hills, teenager Viv (Natasha Lyonne) laments that her family is constantly moving from one dingbat to another. "Casa Bella", she says, surveying the stucco facade of a building the family is moving into, "another dingbat. Dingbats—that's what they're called. Two-story apartment buildings featuring cheap rents and fancy names that promise the good life, but never deliver." Gallery See also International style (architecture) Villa Savoye Vancouver Special Chicago Four-Plus-One References Additional sources Books Grant, Thurman, and Joshua G. Stein, Editors (2016). Dingbat 2.0: The Iconic Los Angeles Apartment as Projection of a Metropolis. Los Angeles: DoppelHouse Press. Web Frost, Garrison, Dingbat Living, The Aesthetic, date unknown, last modified April 2, 2005 (Accessed December 28, 2005). Noll, Udo, Peter Scupelli and gruppo A12, parole dynamic dictionary: dingbat, date unknown (Accessed December 28, 2005). Office of Historic Resources, City of Los Angeles, Dingbats, Preservation Plan Workbook, June 12, 2003 (Accessed September 7, 2009). External links Outré Gallery - Artists - Lesley Marlene Siegel: Apartment Living Is Great - art exhibition The Dingbat Project: Photographs and commentary on Los Angeles dingbats - blog The Lower Modernisms: Introducing the Dingbat – May 30, 2011 by James Black. Architectural styles History of Los Angeles House types