The Marin County Civic Center was Frank Lloyd Wright's last major commission and his only realized government building, designed in the final months of his life for a rolling site of three hills he chose to bridge rather than build on top of, spanning the valleys between them with long arched wings rather than leveling the land. He died in April 1959, ten months before ground was broken, and his former associate Aaron Green supervised construction of the Administration Building, completed in 1962, and the Hall of Justice, completed in 1969, largely to Wright's own drawings. Its arcaded blue-roofed silhouette later became familiar to audiences worldwide as a filming location for George Lucas science fiction pictures, and it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1991, the only Wright building ever given that status for a public government seat.
Facts
LocationSan Rafael, Marin County, California, United States 1 Architectural StyleLate Wright civic Modernism: barrel-vaulted, arcaded wings under a bright blue arched roofline, meant to bridge and celebrate the site rather than dominate it. 1 Structural SystemA four-story, 580-foot Administration Building and a three-story, 880-foot Hall of Justice, each spanning between hilltops on repeated arches, joined by a central domed rotunda; open interior atria, which Wright called malls, bring daylight to every office. 1 Primary MaterialPink-tinted stucco over structural concrete and steel, with a bright blue roof and gold-anodized metal trim. 1 Building TypeCivic building (county administration, courthouse, library and cultural venues) 1 Commissioned ByThe government of Marin County, California 1 ConstructionGroundbreaking February 15, 1960, ten months after Wrights April 1959 death; his associate Aaron Green oversaw construction through the Administration Building (1962), Hall of Justice (1969), and later Veterans Memorial Auditorium (1971) and Exhibit Hall (1976). Current UseActive Marin County government offices, courthouse, library and cultural venues 1 Visitor AccessPublic building, open during government business hours; guided architectural tours are also offered 1 Connections
Created By
In Form
Source Gardner's Art Through the AgesFred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner)
In Genre
Entity-backed identity for the genre enum value this work already carries, resolved to an arts art-form by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The genre fact itself, with its own citation, stays on the work unchanged.
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia
Wikimedia Foundation- Marin County Civic Center
Genre reference
The Marin County Civic Center was Frank Lloyd Wright's last major commission and his only realized government building, designed in the final months of his life for a rolling site of three hills he chose to bridge rather than build on top of, spanning the valleys between them with long arched wings rather than leveling the land.
View the Source Gardner's Art Through the Ages
Fred S. Kleiner (after Helen Gardner), Cengage LearningIn Form: Architecture, chapters on architectural history across periods
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