New Federal Courthouse and ‘The Jenga Effect’
Sunday, May 17th, 2009 at 2:53 pm 
By Ryan BrownSome of you may have seen the renderings of the new federal courthouse to be built on the block west of Republic Square Park:
The project is being designed by Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects of Atlanta, Georgia. For more details check out this page on the City of Austin Website.
Chris Bradford at Austin Contrarian has commented about on the location and design. My favorite line from Chris (comparing the Austin courthouse to pedestrian-unfriendly courthouses in other cities):
The Austin courthouse will not be any better. No, that’s not strong enough — it will be hideous according to the rendering I’ve seen. It will frighten old people and make little children cry. That’s no way to encourage foot traffic in the area.
That’s pretty harsh, but I can’t really argue. When I saw it I immediately thought of a Slate.com slideshow called ‘The Jenga Effect’:
…Buildings once strove for solidity—not merely to be stable but also to look stable, hence the optical corrections in ancient Greek architecture such as entasis, a subtle tapering of columns that makes them appear more settled to the human eye. Even the Empire State Building tapers as it rises, as if to assure us that the tall structure will not tip over. Not anymore.
Of course, federal courthouses have very specific security requirements which constrain the design. I will say it could be worse:
When I saw this new Federal building in downtown San Francisco in person, I could only think of one thing:
It’s a very cool design, but it looms over the surrounding area.
Perhaps I am being too harsh. Now it’s your turn, what do you think of the Austin courthouse design?
