Administration
The most prominent municipal structure designed by the architectural firm of Schwager, Henderson, and Desatoff for the City of Costa Mesa is the city’s civic center built in 1967. It is designed in the severe Modernist aesthetic of the International style with archetypal external structural supports and overhanging roofs. The designers designated the buildings with terms describing the buildings’ function and nothing more. The five-story building that houses the primary city administrative offices, Administration, is adjoined by the Council Chambers, a Police facility, Communications building and Fire Station No. 5. Yet despite its stark visual statement of function, when viewed from the end, the support beams create an unintentional tree shape, further solidifying the notion that even the most modernist articulations can be artistic too.
Costa Mesa, Orange County
Photographer: Andrew SchmidtAdministration, Costa Mesa