Design forum III was a great success, thanks to the efforts of our architects, landscape architects, and a good turnout from the community. The evening focused on the streetscape experience, and started off with a preferencing exercise that involved community members placing color coded dotes on image boards to highlight shared desires, and of course things that were less palatable, on an aesthetic level.

Next, the group reviewed the streetscape from a more user-oriented perspective, writing down items and treatments that came to mind when they envisioned interacting with the site. These notes (Post Its, actually) were grouped by common themes.

One of the overarching themes that became clear through the exercises was the desire for green, enviting space. Softscapes as opposed to hardscapes. “There is plenty of grey and industrial in Soma,” and there was a strong desire to “see Yerba Buena Garden extend west,” through the use of street trees, vegetation, and potential pocket parks. Security and maintenance, family usability, and of course dog friendliness were other themes.

Thank you to all who attended. Full notes from the evening are available here. We will be incorporating this feedback into our design, and hope to share it with the community in the not too distant future.

Cities, and the built environment, have often been a muse for many of our greatest writers. Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities comes to mind, as does Ayn Rand’s epic, The Fountainhead, still inspiring today’s youth, and championing the spirit of individuality, through the lense of architecture.

SPUR recently highlighted the biography of Pier Giorgio Di Cicco, Toronto’s poet laureate, and city planning consultant. Municipal Mind: Manifestos for the Creative City provides a vastly different, and refreshing, perspective on the nature of living in a changing city. “There is a paradox in the civic nature,” says Di Ciccio. “The citizen resents densification, yet wants to be seduced to public encounter.” This is the heart of the question we face every day. Ultimately, Di Cicco hits the nail on the head. “There is one essential philosophical criteria for urban design, and it is the notion of “welcome.”  We may never be able to say it as eloquently as a poet laureate, or for that matter just a simple poet, but this notion of “welcome,” for our prospective buyers, and existing neighbors, is urban development at its most fundamental.

Design Forum II was held on July 8th, at Vehicle SF on 6th Street.   The general perception was that the overall massing and design direction of the project were fine, contingent upon successful design of a dynamic, pedestrian oriented experience at the streetscape.  A summary of the comments are available here.

Project Sponsor will be hosting an upcoming forum on August 5th, 6:00pm, at 260 5th Street (Live Nation Building).  This forum will seek to drill down on design and programming at the streetscape.  Members of the community with experience as a commercial tenant or landlord are strongly encouraged to attend.

We look forward to seeing you there.

The latest design direction has been posted to the Project tab. You can also download it here. Please let us know what you think on the Comments page as we continue on this iterative process.

A design charrette was held on May 5th to gather input from members of the community on design issues relating to the project. It was a very productive session, with a summary of the comments available here.