Marin County Civic Center

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Marin County Civic Center Depicted as the headquarters of the sinister “Gattaca Corporation“ in the dystopian sci-fi movie “Gattaca”, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Marin County Civic Center responds perfectly to the aesthetic characteristics of a utopian civic complex. Roger Ebert stated, “This is one of the smartest and most provocative of science fiction films, a thriller with ideas. Its hero is a man who challenges the system” (Gattaca). And so Frank Lloyd Wright did with his individualistic American designs. The Marin County Civic Center, located in San Rafael, California, was Wright's largest public project and included an entire campus of civic structures. The low, blue-domed, futuristic center was the last most important commission by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1957, and it wasn’t open until 1960, after his death. On April 28, 1958 Wright preceded with detailed design documents. In March 1959 Wright was appointed to design the post office, but on April 9, 1959, Wright died, aged 92. After Wright’s death, Taliesin Senior Architect Wesley Peters and San Francisco Bay Area Taliesin Architect Aaron Green directed the completion of the center. The post office was the first building to be completed, and was the only federal government project of Wright’s career (Marin). Across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, the Martin County Civic Center is…show more content…
The ideal of glorifying nature and bring it into the rooms or spaces, was also reflected in Wright’s work (Moffett). Marin County Civic Center’s pink stucco walls, blue roof and scalloped balconies are immediately noticeable. Although, Wright’s original design envisioned a gold-colored roof, which will become part of the surrounding mountains, but the paint was not a long-lasting material. The smaller wing is the county administration building and the larger the Hall of Justice, joined by a round structure on a small hill that houses a county library
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    The exterior shots and some of the interior shots were of the Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1960 Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael, California. The same goes for the costume choices and cars. The vehicles in the film look like they came out of the 1960s or 70s, but with added colored lights and an electric engine sound effect, it appears separate from imitations

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