Ask Chris: Getting Biggie With L.A. Art

Q: What is that giant chair on Hill Street across from the courthouse?

A: The 40-foot Shaker ladderback—sorry, Goldilocks, you can’t sit on it—was a gift from the Chicago Merchandise Mart to its L.A. cousin in 2003. Many an oversize object dots the Southern California landscape and has become known around the world. We have a half-dozen huge doughnuts, a beer barrel in the Valley, and the Brown Derby atop a mall in Koreatown.