Architect Thom Mayne had this to say in today's Times Calendar about some of the adverse reaction to his design for the new Caltrans headquarters downtown:

"Some people have told me it scares them, that it's a really tough building, and I'm going, 'Great!' What I wanted was something that was really strong and really tough and had a huge amount of energy, and I don't care whether people like it or not; that's irrelevant. I think what's important in architecture is that it's not neutral."

It's especially not neutral to city officials who complain in the California section that the building did not obtain an easement to overhang 35 feet of public sidewalk and traffic lanes on First Street. No one expects the building will be torn down, but the city council has scheduled a public hearing for Oct. 12. The reporter of that story, Bob Pool, also has the day's Column One on a mystery swirling around the missing Venice High School statue possibly (and possibly not) modeled for by the late actress Myrna Loy.

Back to Mayne: If you're curious about the building, the print paper has a detailed graphic of its architectural features inside Calendar.