At first glance, the new de Young Museum rises like a rusty Star Destroyer on the forest moon of Endor. A hulking mass, all angles and high-tech edges, it's crowned by a twisting periscope of a tower to the north. Celebrity architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron intend the building's custom-designed copper cladding to oxidize, eventually fading to a soft green that will blend into the surrounding foliage. It's a nice gesture, but it's hard to imagine such a huge, striking form ever... More >>>