Mall opens atrium designed by noted architect

South Coast Plaza unveiled architect Helmut Jahn’s latest design

masterpiece Thursday with the opening of the new Imperial Bank Tower

Atrium.

The new 3,000-square-foot vaulted pavilion connects two buildings --

the 17-story tower built in 1978 and a low-rise retail building.

Because the original buildings of South Coast Plaza were designed with

the extensive use of black granite and gray glass, many of the materials

used in the newly designed structure match the dark colors.

Jahn recently designed the new Sony Center in Berlin. This was his

first design in Southern California, said a spokesperson from C.J.

Segerstrom & Sons, which built South Coast Plaza in 1967.

The entire process took Jahn five years to complete.