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Architects: Mark Cavagnero Associates
- Area: 170000 ft²
- Year: 2021
San Francisco: The Latest Architecture and News
San Francisco Conservatory of Music Ute and William K. Bowes, Jr. Center / Mark Cavagnero Associates
603 Tennessee Apartments / Stanley Saitowitz | Natoma Architects
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Architects: Stanley Saitowitz | Natoma Architects
- Area: 24000 m²
- Year: 2022
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Manufacturers: AutoDesk, Cembrit, McNeel, Qtrans
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Professionals: Strandberg
Fourth Wall House / SAW // Spiegel Aihara Workshop
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Architects: SAW // Spiegel Aihara Workshop
- Area: 2432 ft²
- Year: 2021
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Professionals: GFDS, JG Universal Landscapes
How Do the Critics of Yesteryear Think About Urban Density?
This article was originally published on Common Edge.
In the 1960s and 1970s, a series of critiques of the modern city appeared. Jane Jacobs’s attack on those intent on redeveloping New York City was the most immediately impactful, loosening the grip of Robert Moses and his followers, but others had a broader influence on practicing architects and planners. As an observer of San Francisco Bay Region’s cities, I wondered if their books from this period would shed light on current issues of adding density in urban contexts.
In San Francisco, the 5M Development Envisions Public and Private Space for the Future
The chance to reimagine a four-and-a-half-acre site containing both historic buildings to be preserved and lots slated for development in a major American city is rare. For the team behind 5M, a project on a nodal site in downtown San Francisco, this prospect came with exciting potential to engage with all aspects of community building and place making. Completed by SITELAB, KPF, and a host of other firms, 5M reveals a transformed, multi-use downtown site following a decade-long process.
San Francisco's Newest National Park Topping a Highway to Open This Summer
Presidio Tunnel Tops is San Francisco’s upcoming national park destination, set to welcome visitors starting July 17th. The project reconnects the park formerly split in two by the Doyle Drive by creating new landscaped land over the highway now moved underground. Designed by James Corner Field Operations, the firm behind New York’s High Line, the project brings 5.6 hectares (14 acres) of new parkland to the Bay Area, featuring trails, picnic areas, and scenic views over the city as well as a nature play area for kids.
Miter House on Kansas Street / Levy Art + Architecture
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Architects: Levy Art + Architecture
- Area: 3707 ft²
- Year: 2020
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Professionals: Stronghold Construction, Daedalus Engineering
Foster + Partners Begins Work on San Francisco's Iconic Transamerica Pyramid Renovation
The Transamerica Pyramid, a landmark in the skyline of San Francisco, is undergoing a revitalization project led by Foster + Partners and luxury real estate developers SHVO. Built in 1972, the 48-story Brutalist-style project was designed by American architect William Pereira, and was the tallest building in San Francisco for nearly half a century. The renovation will be the largest in the building’s 50-year history, will also see the expansion and upgrade of the adjacent Three Transamerica (545 Sansome).
Adulation and Demonisation: Materiality vs. Morality
For centuries and centuries we’ve built – and the diversity in our global built environment is a testament to that. The many different cultures around the globe have had different ways of building throughout history, adapting locally found materials to construct their structures. Today, in our globalized present, building materials are transported across the globe far from their origins, a situation that means two buildings on completely opposites sides of the world can be more or less identical.
Sea-Level Rise: Could The Netherlands’ Polder System Work in the U.S.?
This article was originally published on Common Edge.
In April 1782, just six years after the Declaration of Independence was signed, John Adams arrived in Amsterdam as the first U.S. Ambassador to The Netherlands. Three months later, a consortium of Dutch bankers provided a 5 million guilder loan (equivalent to $150 billion today) to the new republic, a clear sign of my country’s confidence in the U.S. While I can’t provide a loan, as a Dutch water engineer I can offer something else to Americans: my country’s five centuries of experience living, working, and thriving below sea level. This is surely knowledge and knowhow that the U.S. will desperately need as water levels continue to rise and countless coastal communities are threatened.
8 Stories of Architects Embracing Refurbishment and Adaptive Reuse
Over the past year, established practices have continued to champion the transformation of existing structures, with adaptive reuse and renovations increasingly becoming a defining aspect of contemporary architecture From the renovation of landmark structures to the adaptive reuse of obsolete facilities, the idea of giving new life to existing buildings has been embraced as the premise for a more sustainable practice, but also as a means of reinforcing the urban and cultural identity of cities. Discover 8 designs and recently completed projects that showcase a new common practice of reusing existing building stock.
Terrace House / Aidlin Darling Design
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Architects: Aidlin Darling Design
- Area: 2820 ft²
- Year: 2019
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Professionals: Fine European Construction
Skyhaus / Aidlin Darling Design
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Architects: Aidlin Darling Design
- Area: 4250 ft²
- Year: 2014
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Professionals: Matarozzi Pelsinger Builders, Gemmill Design
2177 3rd Street Apartments / Woods Bagot
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Architects: Woods Bagot
- Area: 14300 m²
- Year: 2020
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Professionals: Marina Design Group and Surface, BKF Engineers, Meyers + Engineers, SJ Engineers, Rollo and Ridley, +2
Textures House / Roberto Benito Arquitecto
Pandemic-era Street Spaces: Parklets, Patios, and the Future of the Public Realm
On a clear fall day in 2005, a group of friends and collaborators from the art collective Rebar commandeered an 8-foot-wide by 20-foot-long metered parking space in downtown San Francisco. This two-hour guerilla art installation evolved into Park(ing) Day, a global public art and design activism event that has been celebrated every year since. In 2009, Rebar and other design studios were approached by the City of San Francisco to prototype a more permanent version of Park(ing) Day. In response, we created one of the world’s first parklets in San Francisco (we called our version walklet), and through the diligent efforts of Andres Power in the Mayor’s Office and City Planning, San Francisco’s pioneering parklet program was born.
Twin Peaks Residences / Michael Hennessey Architecture
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Architects: Michael Hennessey Architecture
- Area: 5095 ft²
- Year: 2021
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Manufacturers: Fleetwood, Italia Ceramics, SkLo