SAN FRANCISCO | Projects: Under Construction, Approved, and Proposed

[BTinSF]

Top planner picks favorite buildings
John King, Chronicle Urban Design Writer
Monday, February 16, 2009

John Rahaim values texture in a building, the tactile qualities that reward close inspection and make a structure come alive.

And he's been studying San Francisco buildings intensely in the 13 months since leaving a high-level post in Seattle to become this city's planning director.

Prior directors have used the post to shape the skyline and protect residential neighborhoods in ways that still are debated. Rahaim so far has kept a low profile - steering several long-delayed plans to final approval and now wrestling with the budget realities of a department where income from fees has fallen 25 percent in the past year.

But a low profile doesn't mean a lack of attention. As Rahaim settles into his job, he's showing an increased confidence in mapping out where the department's resources should be aimed: toward plans focused on individual streets or small districts rather than sprawling swaths of the map, for instance.

Rahaim also has doubts about the recent spate of all-glass towers, and the planning notion that tall, thin towers automatically are preferable to midsize blocks.

This doesn't mean he's opposed to extra height in the Transbay area (he favors it) or growth in general. The question is how to evolve while enhancing the city that exists.

"We're entering an interesting phase in San Francisco's history," Rahaim says. "The challenge in the next round of growth is, how can we allow the city to grow with grace and texture?"

To illustrate how new buildings can enrich the civic landscape, Rahaim took a Chronicle writer on a tour last week of recent changes that, in his eyes, offer examples that others might follow.

Millennium tower handel partners, 2009 --



Though wary of the current vogue for glass towers, Rahaim makes an exception for the skyline presence of Millennium Tower at Fremont and Mission streets. Architect Glenn Rescalvo of Handel Partners strove for a crystalline presence, narrowing the shaft at two corners and adding thin metal fins that form diagonal stripes from certain angles.

"The treatment of the skin creates a complexity you wouldn't get from glass alone," Rahaim says. "The proportions keep shifting, and the skin keeps changing in the light."

He's also taken by the crown of the 645-foot tower, which slopes up and in with origami-like folds: "I'm a big fan of tops on buildings, and here, asymmetrical works."

555 mission st. plaza, hargreaves associates, 2008 --



When it comes to meeting the city's requirement that office buildings provide public open space, Rahaim likes the plaza included with the new tower at 555 Mission St.

For starters, he appreciates the variety of "rooms" that include a raised area along a landscaped wall and a clearing where ginkgo trees rise from decomposed granite: "Within a small area you've got different things going on, different possibilities of occupation."

The icing on the cake? Ugo Rondinone's trio of abstract aluminum heads and Jonathan Borofsky's "Human Structures," a colorful pyramid of metal figures perched on each other's shoulders.

"What gives this life is the artwork. It doesn't feel corporate, and it doesn't feel 'safe,' " Rahaim says. "It's assertive and bold."

185 post st. brand + allen architects, 2008 --



The oddest "restoration" in town is this six-story jewel box one block from Union Square: A much-altered brick structure from 1908 was gutted, painted white and then wrapped in a taut skin of glass, clear at the windows and fritted against the brick. Set amid regal neighbors of ornate stone, 185 Post is enigmatic and sleek - and to Rahaim, irresistible. "It's an appropriate building for the retail district - a shiny cube," he says. "The fascination with glass works at that scale. You can break the rules when you're small."

Fulton grove daniel solomon, 1992 --



Rahaim came upon this collection of 22 wood-shingled, three-story townhouses by chance: He almost signed a lease for one. And while he didn't close the deal, he left with an appreciation for the compact allure of the complex and, in particular, the narrow through-block "alley" with its cobbled pavement and tall eucalyptus trees that manage to make a terrain lined with garage doors feel urbane.

"The auto court is more than just a driveway because of the paving and the trees ... it's a semipublic space" offering a visual landmark and a pedestrian path, Rahaim explains. "This is a great model for South of Market."

Broderick place levy design partners, 2006 --



Rahaim is the first to admit there's no glamour to this big-boned, four-story homage to rustic bungalows that fills half a block near the Golden Gate Park Panhandle: "Look at it in strict architectural terms, and the details are odd."

What wins the planner over is something else: The success of the storefronts along Fell and Broderick streets, with their inviting windows that fold back and the festive jostle from one shop to the next. "It's not overly controlled and precious. Falletti Foods is brightly painted, the awnings all are different colors. ... I like that it's messy."

1532 cole st. fougeron architecture 2005 --



It's easy to miss this subdued two-story home on the slopes of Parnassus Heights, but to Rahaim it's one of the city's best buildings - setting a tone of balanced poise with such elegant touches as a single steel-framed square window projecting from a screened wall of wooden slats.

"It's simple, but it works on the street really well. The lattice on the upper floor has a great texture; wood can be an excellent way to provide warmth without a lot of detail."

As for the subdued contrast of solids and voids, Rahaim would love to see this sort of imaginative care from other architects: "You need to understand the scale of abstract expressionism to compose something good in the city."

201 guerrero st. kennerly strong architecture, 2004 --



One of the city's most provocative residential buildings is a three-unit complex at 14th and Guerrero streets in the Mission - in particular, the unit along Valencia that looks like a ribbed copper wedge that fell from the heavens and landed on a glass storefront. Jarring? Not to Rahaim, who lives nearby.

"There's a very interesting sophistication about this building," he says, pointing out such elements as the contrast between long thin horizontal windows and one broad vertical one. He also likes the contrast of materials, copper above aluminum, and how the units along 14th are delicate, while the side facing Guerrero has an almost iconic force: "In my mind, the composition works."

E-mail John King at jking@sfchronicle.com.

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