Sketching Together AIA Silicon Valley Chapter

the architects Aidlin Darling Design; Andrea Cochran Landscape; and the construction management team from SC Builders.
Set within an existing oak woodland on the site of a former parking lot, the Windhover Contemplative Center is comprised of a 4,000-square-foot art gallery and a series of tranquil outdoor spaces dedicated to exhibiting Nathan Oliveira’s work as a vehicle for personal renewal. While the artist and Stanford professor passed away in 2011, the center realizes his dream that his paintings, inspired by poetry and the landscapes around Stanford, be displayed in a dedicated, contemplative space immersed in nature.
The long, narrow building, on a one-acre site, is bounded by a major campus thoroughfare, a heavily used bike path, and a large dormitory. The carefully choreographed entry sequence provides an experientially rich transition between the bustling campus and the chapel-like gallery: a crushed stone path leads visitors through a grove of ginkgo trees and past a tall wall of bamboo, allowing them to shed the outside world before entering the center. Within the building, the interior spaces merge with a series of outdoor rooms intended for quiet contemplation. Wide panes of glass and vertical fins frame views back out to the woodland and courtyards. At the rear of the building, a still reflecting pool defined by a rammed earth wall, a weathered steel screen, and a stand of bamboo are designed to quiet surrounding distractions and turn visitors’ focus on the ephemera around them. At the core of the building, a Zen-inspired courtyard opens to both the sky above and the adjacent oak woodland, offering views of a meditative labyrinth nestled among the trees beyond.

Since it officially opened in 1985, The B. Gerald Cantor Sculpture Garden has been open to the public twenty-four hours a day, three hundred and sixty-five days a year. Within a single acre lushly landscaped with cypress trees and gravel paths modeled after the Bagatelle Gardens in Paris, it comprises twenty monumental bronzes that include many of Rodin’s most famous sculptures including The Walking Man, two heads of the Burghers of Calais (the life size versions of which can be seen in Memorial Court in front of the Main Quad), Adam, Eve, and The Three Shades. Visually anchoring the garden at its eastern end is The Gates of Hell, a massive work cast by the Coubertin Foundry in 1981 using the lost-wax process favored by Rodin.

Federal architect Willoughby J. Edbrooke originally designed the museum's 33,000-square-foot historic wing.[5] Built from local Greystone Quarry sandstone in 1892, the structure was designed to serve as the main post office for the city of San Jose.[9][4] It is an example of the Richardsonian Romanesque architecture style.[10] The original steeple and clock tower were damaged in the 1906 earthquake.[9] From 1937 to 1969, the historic wing served as the city of San Jose's library. The building was then converted by the Fine Arts Gallery Association,[11] a group of community members and San Jose State University art professors, who then reopened it as the Civic Art Gallery. In 1972 the building was named a California Historical Landmark (#854),[12] and in 1973, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

A 45,000-square-foot modern addition known as the "New Wing", designed by architects Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill to house most of the exhibition space, was opened to the public in 1991.[10][13][5] Robinson, Mills & Williams oversaw the interior design of the new addition.[14][13]

The San Jose Museum of Art underwent major seismic retrofitting in the late 1990s. At that time, the building interiors were further modified and reintegrated to serve as a contemporary art gallery and exhibition space.[5] In 1997, the museum reopened after the historic wing of the building had undergone a remodel for two and half years.[15]

1912
The first Cupertino Library opens in the Cupertino Store. Miss Fanny Jollyman attends to a collection of 50-75 books on 4 shelves in the store.
1945
Miss Fanny Jollyman retires after more than 30 years of service to the Cupertino Library and the Santa Clara County Free Library.
1945-1951
Cupertino loses its branch library after the Cupertino Store is remodeled.
1951
Library service resumes in Cupertino thanks to regular visits by the County Library's Bookmobile.
1960
The new 2500-square-foot Cupertino Library opens in the Allario Shopping Center. More than 300 library cards are issued on opening day.
1962-1965
Cupertino outgrows its physical space with a collection of 50,000 volumes and annual circulation of over 300,000 items.
1967
Voters approve a library bond for the construction of a new facility in Cupertino.
1971
April 10th: The new 24,000-square-foot Cupertino Library opens at 10400 Torre Avenue.
1988
Due to growing demand, the library is renovated and expanded to 37,000 square feet.
1992
Cupertino Library has more than 200,000 volumes in its collection and more than 1 million items are circulated.
2004
The completely redesigned and rebuilt, 54,000-square-foot library facility opens in Cupertino.
A defining feature of the new facility is a sixteen-foot-long 3,240-gallon saltwater aquarium, donated by Fred and Annie Chan in memory of Fred's father, Mr. Pak Chung Chan.
2010
With the assistance of the Cupertino Library Foundation, the Friends of the Cupertino Library, the City of Cupertino, and the Cupertino Rotary, the library opens a new Teen Room on the second floor.
Cupertino Library has more than 330,000 volumes in its collection, circulates more than 2.5 million items annually, and receives 850,000 visitors each year.
2018
December: The library opens the new Think-tank meeting room on the second floor.
2020
Construction begins for building expansion.
2021
The library opens the new Torre Meeting Room on the first floor.
2022
The building expansion is completed, and the library adds two large, flexible meeting rooms: Community Room 101 on the first floor and Community Room 201 on the second floor.