Leo F. Cain Library, UC Dominguez Hills, Carson, Calif., 1972
1972
A. Quincy Jones Architects
The library at California State University Dominguez Hills was part of master plan for a relatively new campus, established in 1960 in response to Southern California’s postwar population boom and the region’s expanding technology and aerospace sectors. A. Quincy Jones was hired to develop the campus’ master plan in 1964 and oversaw the construction of many buildings until his death in 1979. The permanent campus opened for its first classes in 1968. Dominguez Hills was one of many campuses—both educational and corporate—Thom photographed throughout his career.
As stated in Cory Buckner’s book, A. Quincy Jones, “The physical master plan derived from a profound concern for the user and from a desire to encourage students to cross academic disciplines and the physical spaces that represent those disciplines.” The library served as a central symbolic structure within that premise, and Thom photographs it as such. In one image it is shown towering over open space, its simple white base capped by an expansive perforated black roof. Roof and walls work together to create a cohesive structure that is anchored comfortably in its surroundings. Color photos make the white structure feel like it’s trying to blend into the sky, while the heavy black roof connects it back to the land it sits on.
Cory Buckner, A. Quincy Jones, London: Phaidon, 2007.
Cal State Dominguez Hills, Campus History, web.