It's kind of weird when an ugly architectural style becomes iconic, but that's the story of dingbats, an apartment style that just screams Southern California. Thousands of them were built in Los Angeles in the 1950s in order to cram more living units into a lot and to accommodate a car for each one. When you hear their story and see so many with their original names and decorations, you start to see them as iconic, or maybe even charming. Even though the exact dingbat plan is illegal to build in the 21st century, the existing buildings were grandfathered in and won't be torn down for economic reasons. However, they might fall down if an earthquake shakes them just right. Is this a style that will one day be deemed historical? It's possible, but until then they are quite in demand as a living space. Yes, this video does explain where the name came from. -via Digg