Continuing our theme of alternate histories, here's yet another never-gonna-happen set of renderings for the Downtown federal courthouse at First and Broadway. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill won the commission to design the building and yesterday we saw renderings from fellow shortlisted team HMC Architects/Brooks + Scarpa; today we have the plan from shortlisters Yazdani Studio/Gruen Associates (with landscaping by Rios Clementi Hale Studios, which designed the adjacent Grand Park). Press materials say the design "continues the tradition of providing a sense of place and continuity within the fabric of urban open spaces at the Civic Center. The proposed Courthouse is triangular in plan, with two courtrooms and three judges chambers on each floor ... The triangle also serves as a symbolic representation of the three essential constituents of the American judicial process – judge, jury and litigants. This translates to a bold exterior form, easily comprehended, and unique in the city's skyline. The crest of the tower slopes diagonally skyward, evoking in modern terms the classical pediment of the traditional courthouse. It also engages an aesthetic dialogue with the stepped pyramidal peak of City Hall." It would've been just a little shorter than City Hall as well, in deference to old school height limits.
Design Proposal for the New U.S. Courthouse Los Angeles from Yazdani Studio on Vimeo.
· SOM Will Design the Civic Center's New Federal Courthouse [Curbed LA]
· Here's What the DTLA Federal Courthouse Could've Looked Like [Curbed LA]
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