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"No house should ever be on a hill or on anything. It should be of the hill. Belonging to it. Hill and house should live together each the happier for the other."
Designer of Marin Civic Center
By Emily Ginn
Interview with Bill Schwarz - Emily Ginn
00:00 / 00:00
Frank Lloyd Wright was a famous, often heralded visionary American architect who was influential in creating what we now call American Architecture. Wright was commissioned on various private projects across the nation and the first public building that was commissioned to him was the Marin Civic Center in 1957. It would also end up as his last commission project, as he passed shortly after his drawings for the project were completed.
Frank Lloyd Wright
Photograph taken from Pixabay
The Lagoon
By Alex Nold
The 33-acre lagoon is situated in the southwestern section of the fairgrounds and is home to many different species.Before the lagoon and the Santa Venetia Island made its mark on the landscape, the area was a vast marshland. It was inhabited first by Native Americans who lived in the area and used the marshland for resources. The government bought the land for 412,621.30 US dollars. After the land was bought by the county they needed a vision. They brought in Frank Lloyd Wright to design the civic center. In the original vision, Wright wanted there to be a lagoon that could be used as an aquatic amphitheater. He also envisioned this lagoon to have the ability to connect to the bay.
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Photographs taken by Emily Ginn
Before the Marin Fairgrounds
By Benji Harrington
Photographs taken by Benji Harrington
An indigenous people, known today as the Coastal Miwok, lived in small tribes the spanned the entire area of what is now Marin County. For thousands of years, the Miwoks thrived off of the land, managing it and passing their history down through the generations through oral tradition. The site of the Marin Civic center was built on is one of the many sites in Marin that the Miwok inhabited. The Miwok were displaced from their land during the time of Spanish Colonization, and their population as well as culture suffered. Today their tradition and culture is continued on in museums such as the American Indian Museum and in oral histories.
Marin For All
By Darian Ramos Lopez
Frank Lloyd Wright envisioned a grand image for a Marin County commons, a place where all people could gather in an open undeveloped to partake in all occupations. How have his ideas of inclusion for all been lived up to in the county -- specifically examining Frank Lloyd Wright's philosophy, the Marin Civic Center, and planning and events regarding the Fairground.
Photograph taken by Emily Ginn
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