Journeys in Suburbia: Downtown San Jose--Part 3: City Hall

Downtown San Jose
The R2-D2 building, the last hanging ground in California, and a statue that looks like feces.

Scale: ***** Must Visit
          ****   Worth Detouring
          ***     If in the Area
          **       May be Worth Visiting-Once
          *         Interest only

3. City Hall****
Built in 2005 by Richard Meier to be environmentally friendly and energy efficient, utilizing natural light and shading, City Hall was made up of an open 18-story building with a large rotunda as an entrance.  It opened to mixed reviews, with some negatively comparing the rotunda to R2-D2.  Still, most seem to have accepted the unique building as part of the cityscape.

San Jose does not have a good history with its city halls.  From 1889 to 1958, the gaudy red Victorian stood in Cesar Chavez Plaza.  After 1958, the old building was demolished and City Hall moved to some colorless office spaces.  That evidently is gone too.

A pair of peregrine falcons, Clara and Esteban Colbert (named after a character in the Colbert Report), resided in the complex starting in 2009, until Estaban was driven off in a dramatic fight with upstart rival Fernando El Cohete (the Rocket).  Fernando took over the nest and Clara, while Estaban apparently reestablished himself on a perch in San Jose State.
Falconcam blog: http://sanjose.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=91