A Brief History

For my road trip I decided to go to the Marin County Civic Center. I've always loved Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural style and I saw this project as a great opportunity explore and learn more about it. The Civic Center is located in San Rafael, California. It's composed of two main structures the Administrative Building which was completed in 1962 and the Hall of Justice which was later completed in 1969. It is most well known for being a Frank Lloyd Wright building and Vera Schultz the County Supervisor at the time was the one responsible for commissioning Frank Lloyd Wright. He was a very controversial choice and the board of supervisors actually proposed to stop the project early on in 1960. Due to pressure from Schultz as well as the community that proposal failed and the civic center was completed in 1969. It was the last building Frank Lloyd Wright designed before his death in 1959. His design elements can be seen prominently throughout the buildings in the architecture as well as the color schemes and furniture. Since construction didn't begin until a year after Frank Lloyd passed away the project was supervised by his protege Aaron Green who finished it exactly as Frank would have wanted it.

My Trip

The docent led tours at the Civic Center are every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. So I woke up early on Wednesday and headed to the Walnut Creek Bart.

8:20-8:54 Walnut Creek Bart to Embarcadero Bart
Got to Bart just in time to get my ticket and catch the train. It was on time and packed with business people going to San Francisco. I was tired so I got quick nap in on the way over.

8:55-9:05 Walk from Embarcadero to Ferry Building
It's only a few blocks walk from the Bart station to the Ferry Building. There was some kind of outdoor REI demonstration with a ropes course going on at the Embarcadero but i didn't want to miss the ferry so I just kept walking.

9:10-9:45 Ferry from SF to Larkspur
I haven't taken a ferry in a long time and I was really surprised at how nice it was. It was definitely a big step up from Bart. It was also a lot faster then I remember the ferry being and the views were amazing. Here is a picture I took of The City as we cruised by.

9:50-10:05 Cab from Larkspur to Civic Center
The cab ride was short it's only five miles from the ferry terminal to the civic center. I got there early enough to grab a quick bite to eat at the cafeteria which is where the tour started from.

10:30-12:00 the tour
I was one of the first people waiting for the tour so I signed into their log book and waited for the tour to begin. The tour was five dollars and the group I was with was about ten or twelve people. The group was led by a very knowledgeable docent named Noel Rain. One of the best parts about the tour was that we got to go places the average visitor doesn't get to see. Of course we started of with the library, the conservatory and the main halls, but then shortly after that we were able to go into one of the court rooms while it was in session. This was pretty amazing because I've never seen a court room like this in my life. The judge was at the same height as everyone one else in the small circular room and she didn't use a microphone because of the great acoustics of the room. The court room had beautiful wood all the way around with circular designs throughout the ceilings. Another place we were able to see was room where the county supervisors meet at. It was as stunning as the court room. There was a lot of similarities with the intricate ceilings and the wood work throughout. You can see a picture below of the circular lights and raised ceilings.

There is also an observation deck outside of this room that had some great views of the top of the buildings and the golden tower. The golden tower was one of my favorite pieces and was really a shock to see because everything is circular and symmetrical and then all of the sudden here is this tall,skinny, sharp edged, golden tower. It is sometimes referred to as Frank Lloyd Wright's "exclamation point."

Here is a picture of the view from the top of the observation deck and the building below is the Hall of Justice. The weather was perfect up there.

12:00-12:30 Interview
After the tour wrapped up I started my interview with the docent. Every time I asked her a question she would tell me an entirely different story that didn't have anything to do with my question. Although she did tell me a lot of interesting story.

1:15-3:30 headed back home

Interview

After the tour I interviewed one of the docents named Noel Rain. She has lived in Marin County for over forty years and has been a docent at the civic center for over ten years. This is what she had to say

What is your favorite part of the Civic Center?
"Well personally I like the conservatory and the library too because it's really for the community."

I feel like the only thing people hear about the Civic Center is that it's a Frank Lloyd Wright building.If you could let people know one thing about Civic Center besides that what would it be?
"That it is timeless and futuristic Frank was way ahead of his time and he created something that is very calm and relaxed while still being functional"

What is your favorite piece of History about the Civic Center?
"Well probably the distance from one place to another many decisions and deals have been made right here on these walkways

What is the craziest thing that you have ever seen happen here?
"Once about seven years ago while I was leading a tour and a man down on the first level had a heart attack. That was probably the craziest thing I've ever seen here."

The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright

" ... We know that the good building is not the one that hurts the landscape, but is one that makes the landscape more beautiful than it was before the building was built. In Marin County you have one of the most beautiful landscapes I have seen, and I am proud to make the buildings of this county characteristic of the beauty of the County." - Frank Lloyd Wright

The main reason I wanted to do this road trip is so that I could get an in depth look at some of Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture. I wasn't at all disappointed and to see a building of this magnitude that was based on his vision was really amazing.

One of the first things I noticed was the idea of bringing the outdoors indoors. Both of the main buildings are filled with big plants and flowers down the middle of the the walkways. Above these plants are completely open pieces in the roof. The sunlight shines down through the whole structure and it really gives you that natural feeling that makes you almost forget that you are indoors.

My favorite part of the architecture at the Civic Center were the shapes Frank Lloyd Wright used. He used circles, semi-circles and ovals. When I say those are the shapes he used I mean those are the only shapes that are used. Every single piece of the building is represented by one of those three shapes. Everything from door handles to phone booths to the chairs were all circles or semi-circles. When I looked around it really caught me of guard because I have never seen anything like that before. But it's the little things and the attention to detail that really make it spectacular. Here are some photos of the many shapes seen at the civic center.

With all of these new and different architectural styles there is a thin line between looks and functionality. The Civic Center has had some problems with leaks in the roof and has had to undergo some new remodeling. One thing that was changed almost immediately where the open roofs. It was to impractical so the covered them with Plexiglas. Although in some spots there is sliding glass that opens automatically when it reaches a certain temperature inside. In other places beams were placed across the main openings to give the buildings more stability in case of an earthquake. Some of these beams as you can see were put in less then appealing places. I don't think Frank whould have approved

Looking Back on the Trip

Looking back on trip the set of expectations I had were definitely exceeded. I'm glad I picked a place that I really was interested in and wanted to visit because I actually enjoyed exploring and learning about it. I think this road trip project really worked out because I've been telling people about where I went and I've been checking out other people's road trip's to see where they went and trying to figure out where I want to go next. Overall, it was a really good experience and I'm glad I did it.