A Thom Mayne Creation

SAN FRANCISCO — The new 18-story federal building here, designed by Thom Mayne and the Santa Monica firm Morphosis, is hardly short on symbolism or story lines.

It is a hulking, aggressive tower in the heart of a city that has seemed wary of bold architectural statements in recent decades. And it is perhaps the most ambitious of the federal government's effort, through the General Services Administration's "design excellence" program, to make new courthouses and office buildings models of forward-looking design.

But the tower is most fascinating, by far, as a measuring stick for green architecture. It shows what happens when a celebrated American architect is compelled — by his client, by the younger designers in his own office and, maybe, by his conscience — to embrace sustainability. And it dramatizes a clash between the prerogatives of architectural creativity and the basics of sustainable design — a clash that promises to be repeated as other architects of Mayne's generation and sensibility begin to build in a more efficient way.

Elevators stop every three floors and open onto tall sky lobbies. The idea is to make people walk and talk a bit.
(Nic Lehoux / Morphosis)
The new building is across the street from the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, a 1905 Beaux Arts design.
(Nic Lehoux / Morphosis)