Brace yourself, Eugene.

Byline: The Register-Guard

On the opposite page, architect Michael Fifield describes how Morphosis, an avant-garde firm, was chosen to design the new federal courthouse in Eugene. The General Services Administration will unveil the design Thursday. Those who read Fifield's column for hints of what the building will look like will find reason to expect something novel.

Morphosis and its founder, Thom Mayne, use a "synthesis of forms and materials that challenges the status quo," Fifield says. In other words, the new courthouse won't feature a square brick clock tower or marble columns. People carry in their minds an image of a typical courthouse. That's the status quo, and Mayne's design will challenge it.

"It is not a neutral building," Fifield says. That means it will provoke strong reactions, positive and negative. The design will make an architecture critic of everyone in Lane County as they contemplate the placement of a large, daring building in one of Eugene's most visible locations.

People would be well-advised to avoid snap judgments, good or bad, and give themselves time to fully absorb Mayne's design. Fifield describes how U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan, who initially expected more traditional architecture, became a convert to the concepts in the Morphosis design. The same might happen to others as they move beyond initial reactions to think about whether the new building fits the site and balances the conflicting requirements of security and accessibility.

In the early stages of the site selection process, a GSA official attempted to calm concerns that the federal government wanted to build a concrete monolith in Eugene. The GSA, he said, is in a "golden age" of design, approving architecturally significant courthouses and other public buildings in cities across the country. That was before the Sept. 11 attacks raised security concerns. Still, the new federal courthouse promises to be a work of architecture of a different order than the existing federal building at 7th Avenue and Pearl Street.

Fifield hopes that the scale of the courthouse - it will be nearly twice the size of the new Eugene Library - and its unconventional design will set a new standard for architecture in Eugene. That would be the best possible result: a building that challenges others to imagine what architecture can be. On Thursday, people will begin to decide for themselves whether Morphosis has designed a building that can stir such ambitions.