National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet

NPS Form 10-900 OUB No. 102+0018 <R»v. M6) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK NOMINATION This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations of eligibility for individual properties or districts. See instructions in Guidelines for Completing National Register Forms (National Register Bulletin 16). Complete each item by marking "x" in the appropriate box or by entering the requested information. If an item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, styles, materials, and areas of significance, enter only the categories and subcategories listed in the instructions. For additional space use continuation sheets (Form 10-900a). Type all entries. 1. Name of Property historic name Marin County Civic Center other names/site number none 2. Location street & number Marin County Civic Center T I not for publication city, town San Rafael T I vicinity state _CA_ code county Marin code 041 zip code 3. Classification Ownership of Property Category of Property Number of Resources within Property I I private D building(s) Contributing Noncontributing [Hi public-local [X] district _.3 __ buildings F1 public-State I I site ____ sites I I public-Federal I | structure ____ structures D object ____ objects _3__Total Name of related multiple property listing: Number of contributing resources previously N/A 4. State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this HH nomination Ll request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property Ll meets LI does not meet the National Register criteria. LI See continuation sheet. Signature of certifying official Date State or Federal agency and bureau In my opinion, the property Ll meets LI does not meet the National Register criteria. LI See continuation sheet. Signature of commenting or other official Date State or Federal agency and bureau 5. National Park Service Certification I, hereby, certify that this property is: | | entered in the National Register. | | See continuation sheet. I | determined eligible for the National Register. | | See continuation sheet. I | determined not eligible for the National Register. | | removed from the National Register. Ll other, (explain:) ___________ Signature of the Keeper Date of Action 6. Function or Use Historic Functions (enter categories from instructions) Current Functions (enter categories from instructions) Government: government office___ same Government: courthouse Government:___post office Education: library 7. Description Architectural Classification Materials (enter categories from instructions) (enter categories from instructions) foundation concrete Modern Movement walls ___ concrete roof __ concrete other gold anodized aluminum Describe present and historic physical appearance. The Marin County Civic Center is composed of two buildings, the 580-foot long Administration Building and the 880-foot long Hall of Justice, which are set at a slight angle to each other and joined together by a central rotunda 80 feet in diameter. The rounded ends of the buildings are built into the sides of two low hills. The main entrance drive passes through an archway on the ground level of the Administration Building; the Hall of Justice has two archways, one over the road leading to a back parking lot and one providing access to the county jail. The separation of access is primarily for security reasons. The roadways follow the contours of the site and provide access to parking lots as well as circulation around the whole site and to the fairgrounds. The U.S. Post Office is located near the main entrance to the grounds on San Pedro Road. Both the three-story Administration Building and the four-story Hall of Justice were constructed of a combination of steel with poured concrete and precast/prestressed concrete elements. (1) The assemblage of the floors used a system of precast, prestressed double-tee floor members. Vertical supports are primarily small-diameter, extra-strength steel columns with precast, eliptically shaped, concrete covers. The roof system is composed of a series of precast concrete trusses supporting a thin, barrel-arched shell of reinforced concrete. Precast units of ornament were placed on the roof over the barrel shell in order to mask any unevenness in the workmanship which would be evident without this visual distraction. Simi larly, the golden balls on the roof fascias disguise variations in the long straight line of the roof edges. According to Green, "These simple decora tive construction devices achieved economy (because the amount of labor was reduced) in addition to giving the assemblage an intrinsic, integrated beauty, which Frank Lloyd Wright referred to as organic decoration." (2) The "pendant crescents", as Wright called the round arches attached by pinlike connections of gold anodized aluminum to the solid railings outside the offices on the first and second levels, screen the daylight but have no structural function. Above, on the third level are circular openings infilled in the lower sections with ornamental grills of gold anodized aluminum that have the same non-structural function as the pendant crescents. Semi-circular openings in the roof overhang also assist in the function of daylighting the interior. i continuation sheet 8. Statement of Significance Certifying official has considered the significance of this property in relation to other properties: EH nationally I I statewide I I locally Applicable National Register Criteria C3A CUB [X]C CUD NHL Criteria #4 Criteria Considerations (Exceptions) | |A | IB I Ic I ID I IE I IF K~|G Areas of Significance (enter categories from instructions) Period of Significance Significant Dates Architecture__________________ 1960-1970__________ 1960. 1962 Nationa 1 Historic_ Landmark______ __________________ 1970____ Theme XVI: Architecture__________ __________________ _________ Subtheme S: Wriqhtian_____________ _________________________________ Cultural Affiliation Significant Person Architect/Builder ___________ ____ Frank Lloyd Wright State significance of property, and justify criteria, criteria considerations, and areas and periods of significance noted above. The Administration Building/Hall of Justice complex of the Marin County Civic Center is the last major work of Frank Lloyd Wright, the greatest 20th century American Architect. The civic center complex is the largest constructed public project of Wright's career and the only one for a governmental jurisdiction. Also located on the grounds of the civic center is a U.S. Post Office, which is the only federal commission ever executed by Wright, who, ironically, was the first architect to be represented on a postage stamp. The civic center is one of the finest expressions of "organic architecture", a concept that Wright labeled as his own. The history of the Marin County Civic Center also contributes importantly to the broad pattern of the evolution of the form of govern ment buildings in the United States. The Marin County Civic Center complex is composed of two long wings set at a 120 degree angle to each other and hinged together by a rotunda with a shallow dome backed by a 172-foot, triangular tower. The form of this complex embodies Wright's belief in democratic values that place human services above the regulatory instruments of government. This belief is expressed by the visual dominance of the Administration wing, which, although shorter than the Hall of Justice wing faces the main access road so that most of the cars pass through its single broad arch on the way to the main parking lot and other parts of the grounds. Beneath the dome, which is the pivotal element of the plan, is the county library; the adjacent tower was originally meant to transmit radio programs. Thus, the two branches of government meet at the place of dissemination of knowledge and information. Since this central node is also backed by a terrace with a pool outside the cafeteria where employees may relax or eat, "the power and authority of the state ... find their raison d'etre in the wisdom of the citizenry from which, architecturally at least, their expressions emanate."(l) > continuation sheet 9. Major Bibliographical References BOOKS By Frank Lloyd Wright An Autobiography. New York: Horizon Press, 1977. B WRIGHT. Frank Lloyd Wright In the Realm of Ideas. Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, Ed., Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1988. Frank Lloyd Wright; The Crowning Decade, 11949-1959. Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, Ed., Fresno: California State University Press, 1989. |Xj See continuation sheet Previous documentation on file (NFS): O preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) Primary location of additional data: has been requested I State historic preservation office I I previously listed in the National Register HI Other State agency O previously determined eligible by the National Register I Federal agency O designated a National Historic Landmark "H Local government n recorded by Historic American Buildings I University Survey # ____________________________ D Other I I recorded by Historic American Engineering Specify repository: Record #______________________ ___ 10. Geographical Data Acreage of property 81. 5 DIM References A I L 01 I5l 4ill 3,8,81 14 i 21 0, 6| 0,4 , 81 B 11,01 1514,115,6,61 14,210,514 .2,31 Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing C I LOl 1514,11 3,3,21 |4,2| 0,5|2, 1, 8| Dll, 01 1514,018,6,71 |4,2|0,5|6 ,8,6| I I See continuation sheet Verbal Boundary Description All of that certain real property located in the County of Marin, State of California, and more particularly described as: All of that real property described and set forth on that certain Record of Survey entitled, "Record of Survey, County of Marin Civic Center Boundary", dated April 8, 1975 and |X|See continuation sheet Boundary Justification > continuation sheet 11.

Load more