The $350-million, 633,000-square-foot courthouse, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, is an unusually polished work of civic architecture — especially by the standards of Los Angeles...This is a building that wants to look respectable and rational but not staid, one that is fairly conventional on the horizontal plane and takes a significant if measured chance on the vertical one. Still, it’s a chance that pays off. — Christopher Hawthorne, Los Angeles Times
Christopher Hawthorne gives a thumbs up in his review of SOM's design for the now-completed Los Angeles U.S. Courthouse, which appears to “float” in mid-air. Don't forget to check out a virtual tour of the building in the video below.
Previously on Archinect:
8 Comments
Thats pretty strange. Why does the "virtual tour" exclusively show distorted, curving panoramas? That doesn't really capture what the building is like.
@EKE The stretched panorama effect is a result of creating 360 degree footage with the intent of adding the functionality to click and drag to look around, though it seems they missed out on a few extra steps when uploading to YouTube...
@EKE @Yelo Architects
If you are viewing this page from a mobile device, the video will be distorted. If you visit this page from a desktop, it is not distorted, and you can click and drag. You can also click the YouTube link (from your mobile device) and open the video directly in the YouTube app -- this should "flatten" the video, and allow you to 3D rotate your phone to view the video in 360 degrees.
Additionally, if you have a Google Cardboard, or any other VR viewing device, you can select a VR viewing mode in the YouTube app, in which case the distorted video is un-distorted by the lenses...
You're not missing anything. It's another giant, sterile, unpleasant box.
^ Concur. Have we already come full-circle to once again praise reflective glass boxes? (Granted, the curtain wall is all foldy. Is that really enough?)
The interior views are downright dehumanizing.Horribly uncomfortable, inhumane spaces.
But since this is the US justice system we're talking about here, maybe that was intentional.
Nothing reinforces the public's belief in civic justice like a serrated glass cube hovering over a concrete plaza.
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