Kaiser Center, Modernist skyscraper in Downtown Oakland, United States
Kaiser Center is a 28-story office tower on Lakeside Drive in Oakland, California, built in a postmodern style. The building has a curved glass facade supported by large aluminum columns, and it sits at the edge of Lake Merritt in the downtown area.
The tower was completed in 1960 and was at the time the tallest building in Oakland. It was built as part of the city's postwar growth and for many years stood as the largest office complex west of the Rocky Mountains.
The building displays postwar modern design through its curved glass envelope and aluminum panels that reflect the lake and sky in different ways. Visitors notice how the facade changes in appearance depending on the time of day, which makes each visit feel a little different.
The building has a five-story parking structure inside, which makes it easy to arrive by car. There is also a rooftop garden that visitors can access and that offers views over the surrounding neighborhood.
The exterior cladding of the building was finished with dolomitic stone quarried from sites run by the Kaiser industrial company itself. This material gives the facade a rough surface that most visitors do not expect when they first see the tower from a distance.
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