How to Visit
Hackett Mill Gallery is open to the public
Location
145 Natoma StreetSan Francisco, CA, 94105
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145 Natoma Street, San Francisco, CA, Thomas Lile.
Jack McCarthy
145 Natoma Street, San Francisco
Jack McCarthy
Hackett Mill Gallery is open to the public
1971
The curved brick balconies and ground floor window openings are a great example of the playfulness of 1970s architecture—moving away from strict principles of “structural honesty” espoused by orthodox Modernism. When first built, 145 Natoma Street was surrounded by surface parking lots, but this fantastic building is now tucked away and might go unnoticed except for the great view of it from the rear lobby of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art . Architect Thomas Lile (b. 1934) received a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering from California State Polytechnic College in 1958 and formed Lile & Associates in 1962. Although relatively little is currently known about Lile, his other projects around the Bay Area include the United California Bank on West Portal Avenue in San Francisco, the United California Bank in Salinas, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Redwood City, and a medical facility building on San Miguel Drive in Walnut Creek. The building at 145 Natoma Street is a cult favorite among critics and architecture-lovers alike, as noted in Jeremiah Budin’s article for Curbed, “Here Is the One Building That Architecture Critics Unanimously Agree On.”