Mork-Ulnes Architects and Alison Damonte reimagine San Francisco home destroyed by fire

2023-09-13T11:58:00-04:00

Mork-Ulnes Architects has unveiled their completed residential project in Bernal Heights, San Francisco. Named ‘The Silver Lining House,’ the home was commissioned by architectural photographer Bruce Damonte and interior designer Alison Damonte, who sought a “container for the couple’s art and furniture collection, and a laboratory for their work.”

Image credit: Bruce Damonte

The new scheme replaces an original 1908 wood house, which was damaged by a fire on Christmas Eve, 2017, when the project had already commenced. While the fire caused a reevaluation of the scope and scale of the redesign, the brief remained to “create a home that acted as a capsule for art and inspiration.” A new structure was proposed whose proportions, scale, and exterior massing took cues from the site’s gabled Edwardian neighbors, with an exterior black cedar cladding echoing the local vernacular and subtly referencing the fire that spurred the home’s regeneration.

Image credit: Br...

Op-Ed: Architect Magazine Finally Found its Voice

2012-11-28T03:04:00-05:00

I recently received my November Issue of Architect and for the first time since the blogs caused us all to begin devouring images at warp speed and sent print media into a battle for survival, I actually "read" an architecture magazine. It was truly satisfying.

From its inception, the idea behind Architect was clear; its title was the proof. Architectural Record had lost touch. It had become a glossy product placement catalog, serving its advertisers but increasingly bereft of intellectual rigor. Architect promised to peel back the facade of idealized pre-occupancy images and to share the stories of the people who make architecture: to deliver us process and ideas. The bar was high and so were many of our expectations. Perhaps that is why I have been so underwhelmed as Architect has struggled for nearly 7 years to find a voice. The magazine has taken us on a journey from in-depth interviews of firms producing irrelevant projects, to garnish cartoony graphics that distracted from...

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Mork-Ulnes Architects and Alison Damonte reimagine San Francisco home destroyed by fire

Op-Ed: Architect Magazine Finally Found its Voice