Follow this tag to curate your own personalized Activity Stream and email alerts.
A unique piece of architectural history is headed to America following the purchase of a remaining Nakagin Capsule Tower pod by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA). The LA Times’ Carolina A. Miranda was first to report on the museum’s acquisition last week, which she said will join... View full entry
Famous historic sites, low-income apartments and Twitter's headquarters all appear on a previously unpublished draft list of 3,407 concrete buildings in San Francisco that may be at high risk of collapse in a major earthquake, according to a copy of a city government document obtained by NBC News through a public records request. — NBC News
The city says the list is still a “preliminary draft inventory” of at-risk concrete structures, some of which were built after 2000, according to NBC. Who will actually pay for the mass retrofits still hasn’t been hammered out yet, leaving many to speculate as to its near-term feasibility... View full entry
Another international head of state will follow last year’s A’22 keynote speaker Barack Obama in headlining the upcoming AIA Conference on Architecture in San Francisco after the Institute announced that former Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern will be in attendance at the event... View full entry
A proposed new high-rise development in San Francisco’s Outer Sunset district is standing out over its disputed manipulation of statewide density laws. The LA Times is reporting on CH Planning‘s unlikely new proposal, which could add a Solomon Cordwell Buenz-designed 50-story... View full entry
A city official in San Francisco is calling for extensive reports into the integrity of facades in the city’s downtown after a recent storm caused windows from multiple high-rises to be damaged. According to the San Francisco Department of Buildings and Inspections, four buildings in downtown... View full entry
That simple recipe for pandemic lemonade—offices people no longer use, combining with central urban locations where people want to live—is blissfully ignorant of a wide range of architectural and economic factors that make the vast majority of office buildings simply unsuitable as housing. — Fast Company
Labeled by Fast Company as “Goldilocks” zones, the sweet spot for office buildings with the potential to become residential are ones that are mid-rise, built pre-WWII, with at least two sides facing open areas or streets near, but not within, a city’s financial core. According to San... View full entry
The drama over the project provides a window into just how hard it is for the city to scale up its housing and shelter system, even as a recent report from the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) estimated it would take more than 6,000 extra temporary and permanent beds to solve the crisis on the streets. It also puts into sharp relief how easily neighborhood opposition can derail a project, even when the funding and space is available — and the need is clear. — San Francisco Chronicle
The Mission district parking lot is scheduled to become an affordable housing development with construction beginning in 2025 and the tiny homes program was expected to fill the gap. “It's always the same hand wringing,” housing advocate Sam Moss told the Chronicle. “It’s... View full entry
Mayors across a variety of American towns and cities have used the U.S. Conference of Mayors to voice concerns about their ability to address the dual crises of housing affordability and homelessness. As reported by Politico, specific struggles shared by mayors include attracting investors... View full entry
Following last week’s visit to Los Angeles-based Walker Workshop, we are keeping our Meet Your Next Employer series in California this week, where we find San Francisco-based Mork-Ulnes Architects. Founded in 2005 by Casper Mork-Ulnes, the nimble 10-person practice operates in both San Francisco... View full entry
The Bay Area may be home to Silicon Valley, notable sports teams, and the Golden Gate Bridge, but it's also home to amazing architecture firms. Whether you're looking to live within San Francisco's bustling downtown scene or be a part of Oakland's developmental... View full entry
California-based housing startup Samara has unveiled further details of their factory-produced studio and one-bedroom units. The company, led by Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia and former Flex chief executive Mike McNamara, will now roll out a selection of customizable ADU units, collectively known... View full entry
A single-toilet public restroom planned for San Francisco’s Noe Valley Town Square is expected to take two years to build, but it’s already causing a stink. The reason: its $1.7 million price tag. — Los Angeles Times
The proposed restroom would sit within a 150-square-foot enclosure within the town square, located in central San Francisco. While there are no designs for the project available, it is expected to be delivered by 2025. According to the city, the high price tag is meant to account for unexpected... View full entry
The effort to engineer new train tunnels across the San Francisco Bay is gaining traction after the planning body responsible for overseeing the massive proposed Link21 infrastructure project unveiled conceptual maps detailing a key segment of the rail network on September 21. The maps offer... View full entry
By any count, Presidio Tunnel Tops had an unusual number of women in construction and project leadership. They say there are good reasons for that. — Landscape Architecture Magazine
Led by Kerry Huang of James Corner Field Operations, the recently-opened new addition to San Francisco’s public parks portfolio was in the works for the better part of 30 years before being completed in July. As Landscape Architecture Magazine highlights, the number of women employed in... View full entry
The January 2021 issue of Architectural Digest featured a remodeled $42 million San Francisco residence described as a Spanish Renaissance Revival palacio. [...] ...shows ancient Khmer sculptures resting on the same pedestals.
The Cambodian government says those stone relics, depicting the heads of gods and demons, match a set that was looted years ago from one of the nation’s sacred sites.
— The Washington Post
The tony $42 million Peter Marino-designed San Francisco manse was the subject of a multi-page spread in the January 2021 edition of the magazine. A spokesperson for Architectural Digest said that photoshopping was required by “unresolved publication rights around select artworks,” but an... View full entry
