Civic Minded For Us All: Frank Lloyd Wright in Marin
By National Trust for Historic Preservation on August 19th, 2010Written by Christine Madrid French
The Civic Center building stretches betweeen and links a number of small hills together in Marin.
Recently, I had the honor of serving jury duty in Marin County, California. The judge made it clear, during the selection process, that this was a serious commitment expected of all Americans. He failed to mention, however, that we would be spending our judicial time in an extraordinary modern building: the Marin Civic Center, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
The county commissioned Wright two years before his death in 1959; the design proved to be the last of more than 1000 projects created during the architect’s long career. The 80-acre “cultural campus,” a former farm about 15 miles from San Francisco, contains numerous buildings, including the Administration Building/Hall of Justice, Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium, an exhibit hall, a post office and a fire house. The main building straddles a series of rolling hills covered in yellowed grasses (characteristic of the dry season in California and the origin of the “Golden State” nickname), with views of San Pablo Bay to the east and glimpses of the fog bank near the ocean to the west.
The cafeteria opens out to a rooftop patio with pool and gardens. The gold ball-details are seen throughout the building.
The Administration Building and Hall of Justice is the centerpiece of the composition, an enormous building that disguises its size through an emphasis on horizontality. Once you approach the building, the circle emerges as the predominant element, with one notable exception. From globes, to half-moons, to crescents, to arcs, the circle shape pulls all the pieces together and creates a unified character throughout the collection of structures. Above everything stands a shining gold spire “joining the earth and the sky.” The tower (actually anodized metal) rises from the rooftop garden right outside the Board of Supervisors Chambers, marking the center of the county government and a “point of focus for the community.”
The San Rafael Independent Journal remarked that Wright, upon completion of the design, said “I am happy with this plan. It is good. My country will get a good building.” Edward Durell Stone, a notable modern architect himself, hailed the building as “inspiring” and certain to “become a place of pilgrimage.” Indeed, the community has embraced the site as the heart of the county, philosophically, culturally, and legally. More than 500,000 people visit the Marin Center, as it is now known, to enjoy the symphony or ballet, buy fresh foods at the Farmer’s Market (we are there every Sunday), or watch fireworks at the annual county fair.
The interiors of the building are surprisingly intimate for such a large-scale structure.
Luckily for us all, the building remains well regarded, well maintained, and protected. In 1991, the National Park Service declared the structure a National Historic Landmark, at less than fifty years old. Inside the long hallways there are a series of exhibits that detail the history of the construction, technical aspects of material restoration, and civic concerns that inspired the architect. Tours of the building are readily available.
Yet how has this building thrived where others the same age have not? There is a certain amount of the “Frank Lloyd Wright effect” here, but there is something else as well. Steady, long-term stewardship of the site as an architectural jewel has created an icon for the county and an example for the whole country to aspire to. The effort to keep the site current and functional continues today, with the “Renaissance Partnership Project.” The mission statement for this ongoing effort is to “showcase Marin itself—its beauty, the richness of its cultural life, civic pride and the diverse interests of its citizens” at the site. Basing this effort around Wright’s masterful Civic Center is a sound idea, and sure to be a successful one.
Christine Madrid French is the director of the Modernism + Recent Past program at the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
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