
first image
'LA federal courthouse' by SOM, los angeles, california, USA
image © SOM
the US general services administration (GSA) has just announced that SOM will be designing the new LA federal courthouse, begininning construction
later in 2013 and opening to the public in 2016. the sustainable state-of-the-art courthouse will contain 24 courtrooms, 32 judges' chambers and 110
parking spots. the building will be located at first and broadway, currently a 550,000 square-foot dirt recess in the middle of the city creating a small
break in the urban fabric. the GSA hopes that a new client will buy the old courthouse and update it, repurposing it for offices that may serve the new
structure in the future. scaled down considerably from the GSA's first program proposals, the project deals with a glass cube supported above the ground,
playing with several layers of transparency.

front elevation
image © SOM
Looks like the London embassy. Why is that? A floating cube is not that natural form of a courthouse or embassy so why the obsession?
Well- it looks like an exact replica of the Salt Lake City Federal courthouse that’s almost finished