Community Corner

No. 50: The Library's World-Class Architecture

Editor's note: In honor of San Juan Capistrano's upcoming 50th birthday as a city, today we launch "50 Reasons to Love San Juan," a countdown of the many ways that it's special. 

The city of San Juan Capistrano was incorporated April 19, 1961. Each day on San Juan Capistrano Patch until April 19, 2011, you'll see one reason to love this town. Of course, we want your suggestions, too! E-mail them to jenna.chandler@patch.com

No. 50: The Library's World-Class Architecture

The San Juan Capistrano branch of the Orange County Libraries was designed by Michael Graves, who Paul Goldberger, a critic for the New York Times, once wrote "is the most truly original voice that American architecture has produced in some time."

Find out what's happening in San Juan Capistranowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Rider University reports that since the early 1980s, Grave's work "has directly influenced the transformation of urban architecture from the abstraction of commercial modernism toward an interest in context."

Graves clearly left his mark on our town when the library was completed in 1983. He captured the feel of the Spanish architecture that's so prevalent here, simultaneously evoking the neo-eclectic elements that emerged in the latter half of the 20th century. Newsweek named it the first "authentic postmodern masterpiece."

Find out what's happening in San Juan Capistranowith free, real-time updates from Patch.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here