Last Minute Detour

So we were in love with a house that we didn't know if we could buy, and in like with another that probably met our needs.  To make things more complicated I decided to throw a wrench into the works- what if we moved to San Francisco instead?  I figured if we were going to move from the house we had lived in for 17 years, we might as well look at all the options.  So while J held down the fort, I headed west to Marin County.

The San Francisco area has a few things going for it, like the Pacific Ocean, charming towns, great views from everywhere, friendly culture, Silicon Valley and on and on, but my favorite place turned out to be Wright's Marin County Civic Center.

You can't do this building justice in photos.  It looks something like a bridge or aquaduct spanning two hills.  From a distance the blue roof shimmers like a river, as you get closer the rhythm of arches recalls the Pont du Gard in France.  Like all Wright buildings, it's impressive in both form and detail. He invents a completely new vocabulary of details that make perfect sense in the larger context of the building, as opposed to the gratuitous doodads that "adorn" so many buildings.  The spire is breathtaking- designed to hide an antenna, it references a church spire to elevate government offices to an almost religious level (hard to image today).

What Gropius did for modern residential architecture, Wright did for modern commercial buildings, by creating a new functional vocabulary of forms and details.  He created an atrium by cutting away the center of each floor so light from the skylights could reach down to offices on every floor.  Every hotel, shopping center, or office building with an atrium owes a debt to Wright's ingenuity.  In addition, he designed a beautiful public cafeteria with a reflecting pool- by inviting the public into the seat of government, he expressed his belief in government accessibility and accountability.

civic center pics