A blue-steel shard slammed into an old brick power station—sharp enough to cut daylight into meaning.
Museum in San Francisco, California.
Featured in Daniel Libeskind's definitive monograph, Breaking Ground: An Immigrant's Journey.
Visitor Guide
Right now the best move is to treat it as an exterior study: circle the building slowly and watch the blue steel shift tone as you change angle; you’ll ‘get’ it faster than staring head-on.
From Yerba Buena Lane (near Mission St), photograph in late afternoon when the stainless-blue skin deepens and the brick reads warm, not muddy.
The museum is temporarily closed to the public (closure began December 15, 2024). A practical alternative: exterior viewing anytime; check whether the museum shop or occasional programs are operating before you come.
Libeskind bases the geometry on Hebrew letters (a ‘chet’ and ‘yud’) forming ‘L’Chaim’—and the ‘yud’ cube is punctured by a precise count of windows that’s part symbolism, part light-control.
15–30 minutes (exterior); 1–2 hours when galleries reopen
Design & Structure
A collision-detailing exercise: stitch a contemporary steel-clad addition into a historic masonry shell while preserving the old building’s heft. The angular volumes are driven by narrative geometry (letters) and by daylight choreography—windows as calibrated cuts, not decoration.
Blue stainless-steel cladding with a cross-hatched finish to soften reflections; retained brick power-station fabric as the ‘ground truth’ the new form argues with.
The tricky part is the old/new interface—transferring loads cleanly while letting the addition read as a distinct object rather than a polite extension.
More by Daniel Libeskind
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Denver Art Museum
Royal Ontario Museum
Bundeswehr Military History Museum
Felix Nussbaum Haus
Jewish Museum Berlin
London Metropolitan University
Nearby in San Francisco
California Academy of Sciences
De Young Museum
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Wild Civility
JPMorgan Chase Building (San Francisco)
Salesforce Tower
Frequently Asked Questions
Who designed Contemporary Jewish Museum?+
Contemporary Jewish Museum was designed by Daniel Libeskind and completed in 1984. It is located in San Francisco, United States.
Where is Contemporary Jewish Museum located?+
Contemporary Jewish Museum is located in San Francisco, United States. Its coordinates are 37.7858°, -122.4040°.
When was Contemporary Jewish Museum built?+
Contemporary Jewish Museum was completed in 1984. It was designed by Daniel Libeskind.
Can I visit Contemporary Jewish Museum?+
Contemporary Jewish Museum is a real building in San Francisco that can be viewed from the outside. Check local information for interior access and visiting hours. Use the Parametric Atlas walking tour feature to plan a route that includes this building.