What’s up with Los Angeles architects and their sun problems? First, there was Frank Gehry; the polished stainless steel that clads part of his Walt Disney Concert Hall has produced so much heat and glare that it’s having to get sandblasted as we speak. And now Thom Mayne’s much-praised Caltrans District 7 Headquarters in downtown L.A. is also proving to be solar-challenged. As reported in The Los Angeles Times, some Caltrans employees are complaining that the new 13-story building not only has too few water fountains and toilets (oops), but that the perforated and louvered metal screens that shield much of the glass structure, and that are among its most distinctive design elements, aren’t always doing their job. Apparently, the sunlight still gets so bothersome inside that a source now tells us up to 900 new MechoShade blinds, joining an existing 200 to 300, will need to be installed at a likely cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars. (Mayne’s rep tells us that only a few areas of the building have glare issues, and only at certain times of the day and year. However, extra shades are being installed for visual continuity.) In any case, this seems to make Mayne’s secondary metal skin somewhat redundant. At least it still looks cool.

This was the guy that just won the Pritzker?
- tom moody 4-27-2005 9:22 pm [add a comment]

So what do you think of this guy, Bill? He's being discussed as lead architect on some potential New Orleans projects.
- jimlouis 6-04-2006 4:33 pm [add a comment]

I think the Caltrans building is very cool. Too bad to hear about the technical problems. Definitely worth a look if you're in L.A. The Disney concert hall, the Caltrans building, and the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels are all a short walk from each other, and all are pretty spectacular buildings I think.
- jim 6-05-2006 10:47 pm [add a comment]

Hopefully this isn't a dupe, but I just noticed that Thom Mayne is also responsible for the new Cooper Union project.
- jim 6-10-2006 7:42 pm [add a comment]