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UCSF has released images of their proposed Helen Diller Medical Center, designed by Herzog & de Meuron in collaboration with HDR Architecture. The 15-story hospital will be constructed on UCSF’s Parnassus Heights campus, with 336 inpatient beds, diagnostic and treatment services, clinical... View full entry
Rogers never designed any buildings in California. (The closest he came was the competition for the Transbay Transit Center in San Francisco, where his firm’s concept ultimately lost out to a proposal by César Pelli.) But California remained an influence and Los Angeles remained top of mind — though frequently as an example of what not to do. — The Los Angeles Times
The colorful architect, who passed away last week at the age of 88, looked to the city’s expansive stock of mid-century modern showcase pieces to inform his own designs, including the Wimbledon House and later in his attempts at urban planning, referencing the city’s notorious sprawl... View full entry
The AIA Los Angeles chapter has issued an open letter to the President of the University of California, voicing opposition to the proposed UCSB Munger Residence Hall. The project, which has gained an intense media spotlight both within and beyond architectural spheres, would see the... View full entry
Nabr has offered the first clues of what their homes of the future may look like. The “people-first housing company” was co-founded by Bjarke Ingels with the ambition of “putting more people on a path to owning a high-quality, environmentally friendly home in the city.” Nabr’s first... View full entry
In California’s Inland Empire, dozens of mega-warehouses for Amazon, UPS and other companies are choking the cities with traffic and air pollution. Some argue that the jobs warehouses provide aren’t worth the cost, while others say it’s online shopping that’s the real problem. — Los Angeles Times
Despite the boiler-plate promise of adding jobs to the community, warehouse-laden tracts have been dumping an increasing amount of pollutants into the atmosphere in the form of increased truck and air cargo traffic and propelled in part by a sharp rise in online shopping. Amazon opened its... View full entry
This idea was met with skepticism and didn’t move beyond the whiteboard. Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed legislation creating a right to housing, saying he worried it would be too expensive. During that time, Steinberg continued chewing on the idea, looking at places such as New York City and Scotland for ideas on how to enact legislation that would compel government to act and aid homeless people. — The Los Angeles Times
California is home to more than one quarter of the nation’s homeless population. If approved, the law would guarantee the right to housing with a dual “obligation” that requires the individual to accept whatever living situation is offered. The law would take effect beginning in 2023. ... View full entry
This post is brought to you by Architecture at Zero The American Institute of Architects, California (AIACA) announces the launch of the tenth annual Architecture at Zero competition focused on decarbonization, equity, and resilience in building design. The annual competition is open for... View full entry
The development of a huge office campus in downtown San Jose can proceed and an old bank building can be demolished, a Santa Clara County judge has decided in a new ruling on the controversial building. A proposed development that would replace downtown San Jose’s decades-old CityView Plaza with a modern tech campus that could bring 14,000 jobs to the city’s urban core is at the heart of a legal action whose goal was to preserve a bank building designed in a “brutalist” architectural style. — The Mercury News
The ruling denies a petition filed by the Preservation Action Council of San Jose filed seeking to preserve the 1973 Bank of California building and alter the construction of the new office campus being developed by real estate company Jay Paul Co. The petition by the preservationist group claimed... View full entry
The pressure to remake neighborhoods like Clairemont is due not to some sudden shift in what people want out of a home but rather to the sweeping social changes that have already played out inside them. As the Columbia University historian Kenneth Jackson wrote in “Crabgrass Frontier,” his seminal history of America’s suburbs: “No society can be fully understood apart from the residences of its members.” —
Applications for ADUs in San Diego have skyrocketed since 2018, part of a nationwide trend that is changing the way some cities are tackling the affordability crisis which has gotten out of hand as a direct result of antiquated housing policy that insisted on the type of single-family... View full entry
As with many states, California is experiencing a lack of affordable housing, with 1.8 million homes needed by 2025 to satisfy the state’s housing needs. At present, the median home price in California has risen above $800,000, while more than 100,000 residents sleeping outside or in cars every... View full entry
The movement wasn't about living in isolation. Residents of these communes didn't seek an escape from society so much as the chance to create it anew: a generous, civic-minded, highly social culture with regular potlucks and solstice blowouts. — GQ
Unfortunately, society went the other way to greed and ignorance."Constructing a home with next to no money demands feats of creative resourcefulness. Back in the 1970s, free building materials were everywhere—if you knew where to look. Jon Turner's house, a two-story, gable-roofed structure... View full entry
Jennifer Diamond, a spokeswoman for the team fighting the Caldor Fire, wasn’t sure who wrapped the Phillips Tract cabin but said she’s helped cover a historic backcountry building with foil in the past. Aside from historic buildings, firefighters might choose to wrap a remote cabin where property owners have already cut back vegetation, cut down overhanging trees and cleared roofs and gutters of debris. — The San Francisco Chronicle
The cabin was among many in the South Lake Tahoe region to adapt a temporary version of an adaptability approach that has become increasingly popular during a year that has already seen over a million acres scorched in California alone. The ongoing Caldor Fire has destroyed more than 700 homes as... View full entry
An amended plan for new student housing at the University of California, Berkeley has been announced amidst protests surrounding the development that have touched on issues related to the state’s ongoing housing crisis. Local outlets are now reporting that the planned dormitory in People’s... View full entry
California needs more affordable housing — quickly. 1.8 million homes by 2025 to be exact. What the state will actually do about is becoming clearer after a Thursday decision to advance Senate Bill 9, a measure that would allow for multi-unit development on suburban lots previously reserved... View full entry
On July 24, 2021, the AIA California Board of Directors officially declared a climate emergency to immediately accelerate the de-carbonization of the built environment. This action calls on each of us to make immediate and meaningful impacts in our profession, it enables AIA CA to move rapidly and boldly to influence public policy, and it challenges other organizations to join us in recognizing the importance of climate action and the immediacy of the issue. — AIA California
Wildfires have dominated the news cycle for three of the last four fire seasons. Architects all over the state have been proffering solutions ranging from ICFing homes to fireproof prefabricated Quonset huts. The AIA declaration comes on the heels of the UN’s devastating Climate Action... View full entry
