Imagine the scene. There you are, driving through a canyon in Southern California, just outside that state’s most noted metropolis. The road winds up into the hills, and for a short while it runs parallel to the coast, high above the beach, with a wonderful view across the Pacific. The sky is blue, the sun is bright, the air is warm, and the aircon in your convertible sports coupé is keeping you comfortable. Your associate is organising a heist, but for today, you have plenty of cash in your pocket, and nothing to do. Then you notice, in the bottom right corner of your windscreen where your current location is displayed, that the road you are driving along is called Banham Canyon Drive.
You are, of course, playing Grand Theft Auto V. Rockstar Games have never publicly commented on the inspiration for the naming of Banham Canyon and the road that runs through it, but it seems pretty plausible that it is named for Reyner Banham. The game’s satirical version of Los Angeles seems sufficiently grounded in reality that Banham’s book on the city could well have been among their research materials. The sensual and ludic pleasure evident in their representation of its storied freeway system seems to support this possibility.
It was certainly impossible for Banham’s grandson, Oliver Arditi, to ignore the parallels, when he wrote an account of his encounter with the game.