|
Innovative City Hall and Civic Center in Vista, California, Breaks Ground
Today
Conceived by National Strategic Design Firm, Carrier Johnson + CULTURE

Part park, part city hall, and part municipal resource, the Vista complex
will be
a community destination. The facility includes a library and community
room.
VISTA, CALIF., August 26, 2008 Carrier Johnson + CULTURE, a national
leader in
strategic design and green building, has announced the groundbreaking
for a novel
municipal building combining community and civic uses. Part city hall,
part community facility, and part park, the City of Vista Civic Center
begins construction today, and will be both a city landmark and community
destination.
Scheduled to open in 2010, the new City of Vista Civic Center will consolidate
city
offices, an emergency operations center that doubles as a community room
and event space, and the city councils chambers into a single, environmentally
innovative facility.
Using input from public forums, the project was designed to reflect the
Vista
communitys lifestyle and values, and will be a model for the many
other significant
redevelopment efforts currently underway in the city. We are creating
facilities that
make an iconic statement about Vista, explained Mayor Morris B.
Vance. We
anticipate that these spaces will quickly become integral parts of the
towns daily life,
and will be widely used by the entire community, Vance explained.
Park as building, building as park
Nestled along a hillside park and adjacent to the public library, the
complexs unique
location lends itself to a multidimensional experience for both business
and leisure
activities. Design elements such as glass walls, courtyards, and a council
chamber
defined by a two-story waterfall, lantern room, and light ring
which illuminates the
building at night and tracks the movement of the sun on the chamber walls
during the
day deliberately blur the lines between indoors and outdoors.
According to Mike Hoffman, associate principal with Carrier Johnson +
CULTURE,
the architectural character of the complex is serpentine, and seamlessly
integrates with the surrounding park, which can be accessed from both
the first and second floors. People will be able to walk outside
through openings in the building, along pathways, across bridges and not
notice the delineation between park and building, said Hoffman.
By stitching the structure into the hillside and incorporating the
architecture directly into the landscape topography, the park becomes
the building, and the building becomes the park, Hoffman continued.
With a recently revitalized downtown, which debuted in 2003, plus two
new fire
stations, a new outdoor amphitheatre stagehouse, a new sports park and
the current
Civic Center Complex, the city of Vista, located in Northern San Diego
County, has
become more defined by its architecture and commitment to its 95,000 residents
quality of life.
According to Patrick Johnson, Vistas Assistant City Manager and
Project
Manager for the Civic Center, each new element of the towns architectural
landscape
generates increased local enthusiasm. Vista has always been a great
place to live, but were coming into our own now, and literally building
a community that reflects our
collective values, Johnson notes.
Building public pride
Over the past three years, the City conducted numerous A.S.K.
Meetings, with
residents and community organizations, to generate public input and support
for the
Civic Center and other projects. Through this campaign, not only did they
inspire the
community to identify issues of priority, such as environmental sustainability,
open
space and outdoor recreation, but they created a sense of public voice.
Perhaps this unity is one of the reasons that Vista was listed seventh
in the 2008
edition of 50 Best Places to Raise Your Family. As construction begins
today on the City of Vistas Civic Center, the town marks a significant
event in its own development, and looks ahead towards a continued robust
future.
Californian building
About Carrier Johnson + CULTURE
Carrier Johnson + CULTURE reflects a new wave in the practice of architecture
and strategic design, reinventing a model for the future. As a full-service
architectural consulting practice, Carrier Johnson + CULTURE works in
partnership with clients to provide innovative building, living, and communications
solutions with a commitment to strategic and sustainable design.
City of Vista Civic Center building by Carrier Johnson + CULTURE text
from CC Sullivan Aug 2008
Frank Gehry
Los
Angeles Architecture
San
Francisco Architecture
San Francisco
Museum
World Architecture : e-architect
- a guide to key buildings across the globe
American Architects
American Architecture
Comments / photos for the City of Vista Civic Center Architecture page
welcome:
info@e-architect.co.uk
City of Vista Civic Center Building: page - adrian
welch / isabelle lomholt
Website : www.carrierjohnson.com
|