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Huntington Beach Main Library by Richard & Dion Neutra (1972). Photo ©Darren Bradley The name Richard Neutra conjures up a lot of images... spider leg posts and beams, ribbon windows, silver paint... But chances are, brutalism isn't really one of them. So it's not really surprising that many people are completely unaware that Richard Neutra designed this brutalist building in Huntington Beach (along with his son, Dion, who completed the design and saw it through construction, after his father passed away before it was done).  This spiral concrete ramp and fountain were once outside the building, protected by a canopy. They were enclosed as part of the interior of the building in 1994, when a new children's wing was added. Photo ©Darren Bradley Like in Santa Rosa , the city of Huntington Beach once possessed a Carnegie Library. But also like Santa Rosa , that library was damaged in an earthquake.  The Carnegie Library was built in 1913, damaged in an earthquake in 1933, ...

Suspended garden terrace off cafeteria. Photo ©Darren Bradley When driving north over the Golden Gate Bridge, leaving San Francisco, one is quickly greeted with the charming seaside town of Sausalito, the dramatic scenery of Muir Woods, and quaint little towns like Mill Valley and Fairfax. So arriving at the small city of San Rafael, it may seem a bit incongruous to find the Gattaca Aerospace Corporation (from the film " Gattaca ") perched on the hillside.  View from the western side of the complex.  In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, Gattaca was a film by director Andrew Niccol, starring Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman.  Scene from the film "Gattaca" with Uma Thurman in the corridors of the Marin County Civic Center. It was a science fiction film, set in the "near future". It was about how corporations and society at large had come to discriminate against people who inferior genetic profiles.  Ethan Hawke training to become a space cadet in...

Photo ©Darren Bradley While driving through the small city of Santa Rosa in Sonoma County's vaunted wine country recently, I decided that the only logical thing to do was to stop for a beer. As is often the case with these things, this little impromptu stop led to an amazing architectural discovery - the Sonoma County Public Library and the legacy of architect Francis Joseph McCarthy.  Photo ©Darren Bradley This past February during the raging El Niño storms, I spent a few weeks driving up the West Coast researching architecture and photographing buildings for upcoming book (yes, my timing was impeccable... more on that in another post eventually). When I hit Sonoma County, north of San Francisco, the one spot on my list that I didn't want to miss was Santa Rosa. Now, there was no architectural reason to stop in that city, as far as I knew. I was there for the beer. It may seem a bit incongruous to seek out breweries in California's wine country. But that region is actua...