Magazine

Kenneth Caldwell is a writer and communications consultant based in San Francisco. He holds a B.A. in urban studies from San Francisco State University and a Master’s in library and information studies. A contributor to Architectural Record, The Architect’s Newspaper and other publications, he can be reached at kenneth@kennethcaldwell.com.

San Jose, Calif. and London, England find themselves in a similar historic preservation predicament: Both cities are deciding whether to save or demolish large libraries built in the Brutalist style. While London has a significant number of architects and activists united to try to save its Brutalist library, San Jose struggles to get any support to save any of its mid-century buildings, let alone a tough sell like the old Martin Luther King Library on San Carlos. The midcentury time period is very important to telling the story of San Jose from its beginnings as the state capitol to its status as the birthplace of high tech … every year we lose more and more structures. How do we make it stop?
—Dionne Early, San Jose, Calif.