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Oakland Museum

None
Good
  • Brutalist
  • Identity of Building/Site
  • History of Building/Site
  • Evaluation

Oakland Museum

Site overview

The Oakland Museum occupies a four-block site with much of the building's three gallery levels underground and each gallery's roof forming a terrace for the level above. The landscaping counterpoints the sparest of palettes in the actual building: exterior of concrete with sandblasted finish and plate glass in oak frames, the interior of sandblasted concrete and oak paneled walls. Its three levels are arranged symbolically in ascending order from Natural Sciences to History to Art. Part of a cluster of civic and cultural buildings, the museum is a primary symbol of Oakland and the city's only designated modern landmark.

Primary classification

Recreation (REC)

Terms of protection

Oakland City Landmark

Designations

Oakland Landmark #119, designated on February 7, 1995

Author(s)

| | 2/1997
| | 7/1998

How to Visit

Open to the public

Location

1000 Oak Street
Oakland, CA, 94607

Country

US
More visitation information

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Designer(s)

John Dinkeloo

Architect

Nationality

American

Kevin Roche

Architect

Nationality

American

Other designers

Kevin Roche, Roche Dinkeloo & Associates, architectDan Kiley & Geraldine Knight-Scott, landscape architects

Related chapter

Northern California

Commission

1961

Completion

1968

Commission / Completion details

Commission 1961(c), completion 1968(e)

Current Use

Museum.

Current Condition

Excellent overall, minor changes to plant material.

General Assessment

The Oakland Museum has been called the the most brilliant concept of an urban museum in America (Arthur Drexler) and one of the most thoughtfully revolutionary structures in the world (Ada Louise Huxtable), noted above all for its integration of landscape with structure. The multi-level, multi-volume structure is a fine, early, and rare example of a New Brutalist civic building. It occupies a four-block site treated as a park, with much of the building√.s three gallery levels underground and each gallery√s roof forming a terrace for the level above. The landscaping counterpoints the sparest of palettes in the actual building: exterior of concrete with sandblasted finish and plate glass in oak frames, the interior of sandblasted concrete and oak paneled walls. Its three levels are arranged symbolically in ascending order from Natural Sciences to History to Art. Part of a cluster of civic and cultural buildings, the museum is a primary symbol of Oakland and the city√s only designated modern landmark
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