Tradition and convention might be abandoned during design of the new federal courthouse, which will be located in downtown Eugene. Construction should begin in spring 2002 and be completed in 2004, but blueprints and plans must be developed first.
The school of architecture hosted a symposium Tuesday night to discuss the architect selection process for the courthouse. Students, faculty and members of the community gathered in Lawrence Hall to hear topics such as the site selection, the General Services Administration (GSA) Design Excellence Program for the new building, and the project participants’ vision for the courthouse as a cultural and political icon.
Architect Thom Mayne, design winner from the Santa Monica, Calif.,-based architecture firm Morphosis, promised that the courthouse will draw attention with its unique look.
“I don’t see geometry as fundamental to our work. It’s an option,” he said.
Because his work will embody innovation and change, Mayne acknowledged that the courthouse will not please everyone. Instead he hopes the building will generate and demand discourse. People can love or hate the building, “but we have failed if we have no response,” he said.
Part of the symposium was dedicated to a discussion concerning the building’s value. Because Mayne believes that public space is a consequence of society’s values, attitudes and culture, he explained that reproducing an old style will not represent the life of the judicial institution.
“We are looking for an authenticity,” he said. “We have to have the courage, energy and the strength to struggle to find our own authenticity, and we can’t get it anywhere else. We have to do it ourselves.”
When Mayne began the three-step process of the design competition, the overseeing GSA did not have a site selected. Instead of tailoring designs to a specific location, the competing firms were asked to demonstrate the best qualities and ideas in the context, functionality and sustainability of the new courthouse.
The three-member jury chose Morphosis as the best firm to create a new, meaningful design, believing the firm would best meet the GSA’s mission: to achieve the highest quality project on time and within budget.
A $70 million project, the courthouse will visually and economically stimulate downtown, Eugene officials hope. The planners hope the new federal courthouse will signify the rebirth of downtown as it reconfigures the urban landscape and engages the community in a discussion of cultural values and progressive ideas.
Judge Michael Hogan, chief of the U.S. District Court of Oregon, said that “instead of being a fortress, the courthouse will represent a paradigm of new thinking about security.”
He said the building should be inviting and the security translucent.
Michael Fifield, head of the architecture school, hopes the new federal courthouse will engage people and “question the traditional and conservative,” as well as “deal with a vision for our culture and our future that is progressive and dynamic.”
The federal courthouse will be built on the Chiquita cannery site on the east end of downtown Eugene. With the location chosen and the competition over, Mayne will work on finalizing his design as well as finding a compromise between the requirements of the GSA and the community’s desires as communicated through such symposiums.