The building on Mission Street is a 1907 brick PG&E power substation by Willis Polk, fused with a tilted blue steel cube added by architect Daniel Libeskind in 2008. The cube’s shape is based on the Hebrew letters spelling l’chaim, “to life.” The exterior is one of the more distinctive architectural pairings in the city and can be seen from the sidewalk and Yerba Buena Lane.
The Contemporary Jewish Museum operated here from 2008 until December 2024, when it closed indefinitely, citing financial shortfalls. In March 2026 the museum announced it would sell the building and continue as an organization without a permanent home, planning traveling exhibitions and collaborations with other institutions.
This stop is about the architecture: the 1907 industrial shell, the 2008 cube, and the question of what fills it next. Check the news before promising anyone what’s inside.
