Caltrans District 7 Headquarters
- Architect
- Morphosis
- City
- Los Angeles, CA
The Caltrans District 7 Headquarters is a $165 million, 13-story government building that Thom Mayne of Morphosis designed for the California Department of Transportation and the LA Department of Transportation, opening on September 24, 2004. Its futuristic, high-tech design won Mayne the 2005 Pritzker Prize, the profession's highest honor, for a building type — a state office block — rarely celebrated in those terms.
the building
Motordom. Motordom is a four-story light installation built into the building, one of several large-scale art pieces here that turn a transportation department's headquarters into a public display about movement and infrastructure.
Code: Survey. 168 one-foot-square glass panels make up Code: Survey, an artwork embedded directly into the building's fabric rather than added to it afterward.
The Broad Plaza. The public plaza in front of the building is named for philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad, and anchors a 716,200-square-foot structure that also houses underground parking for 1,142 vehicles.
the style
The building's high-tech style shows in its facade systems, engineered as much as decorated, over a 13-story block bounded by First, Main, Second, and Los Angeles Streets.
More on Structuralism / High-Techthe architect
Thom Mayne founded Morphosis and won the 2005 Pritzker Prize largely on the strength of this building, one of the highest honors a working architect can receive.
significance
The building's design and construction were documented across four episodes of the History Channel series Modern Marvels, which used it to illustrate the engineering challenges of large modern buildings.
nearby
- Higgins Building
- Saint Vibiana's Cathedral
- Los Angeles City Hall
- Bradbury Building
- Million Dollar Theater Building
- Spring Street Courthouse