SAN FRANCISCO | Projects: Under Construction, Approved, and Proposed - Page 132

peanut gallery · #**2621** Posted **Apr 29, 2010, 8:45 PM**

Just saw that BT started a thread for this in the proposals section.

BTinSF · #**2622** Posted **Apr 29, 2010, 9:40 PM**

In as much as it involves building a new 373' tower, I gave it a thread this morning.

peanut gallery · #**2623** Posted **Apr 30, 2010, 8:20 PM**

Yep, good call.

BTinSF · #**2624** Posted **May 7, 2010, 5:09 PM**

Since no one else has bothered to post this and I think it's an interested project and a plus for the city (and the performing arts center area):

Quote:

Hayes Valley's $60M Jazz Center Should Arrive in 2012
Thursday, May 6, 2010, by Andy J. Wang

As alluded to earlier this year, the 28-year-old "nomadic" SFJAZZ has just released its plans for their SFJAZZ Center, a three-story, 35,000-square-foot performance hall, office, and cafe space in Hayes Valley. This is kind of a big deal: what the SF Business Times says is "meant to serve as a West Coast answer to New York’s Lincoln Center." Designed by Mark Cavagnero, the auditorium would be 9,500 square feet and have configurable seating, allowing between 350 to 720 people. It's also envisioned as kind of a hangout spot for musicians and music lovers — there are practice rooms for the former and the cafe and restaurant will give patrons reasons to stick around longer. And, says Cavagnero, the building's glassy exterior should fully display the "energy and excitement of what's going on inside" . . . .

Source: http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2010/0...ve_in_2012.php

It is hoped the thing can be up and open in 2012.

BTinSF · #**2625** Posted **May 7, 2010, 5:15 PM**

Also, nobody posted this but it could be the biggest single addition of housing the city will see:

Quote:

Parkmerced Tells Tomorrow's Story, Gears Up For Supersizing
Thursday, May 6, 2010, by Andy J. Wang

Parkmerced's informational presentation to the Planning Commission today will just be a preview of the main event this summer, but what opposition there is remains somewhat muted, given that it'll take the suburb-style community from around 3,200 units now to almost 9,000 over the course of 20 years. The reason for that, according to district supe Sean Elsbernd: owners Stellar Management "have done their homework." By that, he could be referring to one big lesson learned from another megadevelopment: current tenants of the two-story townhouses will be housed during their demolition, and not only will their new homes within the community rent for the same amount, rent control will carry over as well. It's just like the apparently precedent-setting deal turning Trinity Plaza into the multi-building Trinity Place. The long-range Parkmerced plans calls for killing all the townhouses, and putting in about 7,200 new homes for sale and rent, building an elementary school, and rerouting the M-line through the development.

Source: http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2010/0...upersizing.php

Jerry of San Fran · #**2626** Posted **May 7, 2010, 6:31 PM**

Yes, it will be a nice addition to the Civic Center Arts. A nice clean architecture to take the place of the car garage. But I wonder where these people will park as there will be competition with the opera, ballet and symphony patrons, not the mention the Herbst Theater and Conservatory of Music. With Muni cutting back service tomorrow it will be interesting to see how we can get around San Francisco. I'm not a jazz fan but the venue is a welcome addition to my neighborhooe.

BTinSF · #**2627** Posted **May 11, 2010, 3:02 PM**

Quote:

4 finalists bring contrasts to SFMOMA expansion
John King, Chronicle Urban Design Writer
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

(05-10) 22:13 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- The San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art has narrowed the list of architects for its $250 million expansion to four firms that vary wildly in size and style - but which almost certainly guarantee the new wing will be a distinct contrast with the institution's iconic home.

The finalists include one of the world's best-known firms, Foster + Partners, which has two buildings at Stanford University and is finishing an extension to Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and cult favorite David Adjaye Associates, whose only completed building in the United States is a small museum in Denver.

The other finalists are Snøhetta, a Norwegian firm that designed the National Sept. 11 Memorial now being built in Lower Manhattan, and Diller Scofidio + Renfro, which was part of the design team behind the transformation of an old elevated train route into New York's wildly popular High Line park . . . .

Norman Foster and his London-based firm are known for a flowing high-tech style that makes technological innovations part of the visual show. The best example in the United States might be the glassy roof that drapes the courtyard of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Foster's "Great Court at the British Museum" in London

David Adjaye, by contrast, is almost defiant in crafting subdued buildings that stress the arrangement of spaces and, as seen at his Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, an exquisite use of everyday materials. The London architect also is designing an African American museum for the Smithsonian.

Adjaye's "Museum of Contemporary Art" in Denver

Snøhetta's work, though largely confined to Norway, has won attention for simultaneously emphasizing craftsmanship and an almost rhythmic use of architectural forms. The firm's most recent major work is the glacier-like Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in Oslo.

Snohetta's "Lillehammer Art Museum"

Diller Scofidio + Renfro has the least amount of built work of the four finalists. But it has all been high-profile, from the Institute of Contemporary Art on the Boston waterfront to an ongoing revitalization of Lincoln Center in New York. The firm is one of three finalists to design a new home for the Berkeley Art Museum.

Scofidio + Renfro's "Institute of Contemporary Art" in Boston

In an era when other cultural projects have been derailed by political fights or scarce financing, SFMOMA's plans have moved forward with almost startling ease. Trustees and other supporters have pledged $250 million for the expansion, and there is no sign of organized opposition . . . .

Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...MN1M1DC9PD.DTL

BTinSF · #**2628** Posted **May 12, 2010, 12:27 AM**

Quote:

. . . imagine an alternate universe, where an open competition would invite a broad range of concepts from established firms and fresh talent alike. This parallel world could be experienced a couple of weeks ago, during a final review for an architecture class at CCA. Craig Scott of IwamotoScott assigned his students the challenge of designing the new building. For inspiration, they started with two artworks from artists featured in the Fisher collection (e.g., Richard Diebenkorn, Gerhard Richter), and took it from there. The results, presented to a panel that included Joseph Becker, assistant curator of architecture and design at SFMOMA, were quite diverse and offered real insight into the puzzle.

Source: http://blog.archpaper.com/wordpress/archives/7555

I just hope the famous pros do as well.

BTinSF · #**2629** Posted **May 12, 2010, 3:08 AM**

If there is anybody else still reading this thread, here's a picture I took of the work on the new SFPUC eco-palace at Golden Gate & Polk.

Source: http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2009/0..._ecopalace.php

I frankly can't figure it out. It doesn't look like they are going to do reinforced concrete but I don't see anchorages for a structural steel framework either. I'd love some guidance from anybody who knows construction better than I do:

The foundation is now pretty much all concrete lined with the other "stuff" you can see.

Jerry of San Fran · #**2630** Posted **May 12, 2010, 3:59 AM**

BT - Thanks for the great pictures. I had not walked by the SFPUC Bldg. dig for awhile and was not aware the concrete was poured. If I remember I'll ask my neighbor about the base - he has been involved in construction for a long time. It's really happening! Seemed like they were digging forever.

The first structure pictured by the class of CCA for the SFMOMA site reminds me of a slot canyon in the border area of Utah/Arizona. Quite marvelous!

northbay · #**2631** Posted **May 12, 2010, 3:00 PM**

yea, thanx bt for the pix. im still reading, but dont have much time to post anything substantive.

those sfmoma pix are architecture porn.

keep it comin!

viewguysf · #**2632** Posted **May 13, 2010, 2:54 AM**

I'm still here too BT!

> I really long to see something very dramatic for the SFMOMA addition--nice dream pics above.

> I walked to Opera Plaza last night after Dudamel's fabulous LA Philharmonic concert and thought of you. Just to have that hideous blank pink wall gone was a great improvement, but to actually see a notable green building there will be wonderful.

BTinSF · #**2633** Posted **May 13, 2010, 7:52 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by viewguysf

Just to have that hideous blank pink wall gone was a great improvement, but to actually see a notable green building there will be wonderful.

I just hope it doesn't have another "hideous blank . . . wall" of any color on the west side. It will still face the middle of the block with the potential for a building of equal height next to it (unless the city took some action such as acquiring air rights to forestall that). None of the renderings show that side of the building which is slightly ominous. But almost anything has to be better than what was.

viewguysf · #**2634** Posted **May 14, 2010, 3:48 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BTinSF

I just hope it doesn't have another "hideous blank . . . wall" of any color on the west side. It will still face the middle of the block with the potential for a building of equal height next to it (unless the city took some action such as acquiring air rights to forestall that). None of the renderings show that side of the building which is slightly ominous. But almost anything has to be better than what was.

Good point!

gocitygo · #**2635** Posted **May 14, 2010, 4:31 AM**

Maybe they will install a living green wall... or we may end up with a wall similar to One Hawthorne.

BTinSF · #**2636** Posted **May 14, 2010, 5:25 PM**

Regarding the new SFJAZZ building (renderings above):

Quote:

. . . SFJAZZ has now raised $31 million for its new building, a sum that includes a $20 million anonymous donation and $10 million raised from board members. The $60 million will cover a $10 million endowment, land costs for the property, soft costs like engineering and architectural services, as well as hard construction costs, which will likely come in less than $35 million.

The three-story building, designed by Mark Cavagnero, will consist of exposed concrete with ample clear and frosted glass throughout. As a material, concrete “is terrific for performing arts spaces,” said Cavagnero. Concrete is not only durable and sturdy, it blocks the rattle and whiz of passing trucks while preventing the music from bothering neighbors. The sheer mass of the building absorbs the sort of low-end vibrations that steel cannot, he added.

“The client wanted a very straightforward, very rational building, the most use for their money, the most use for the site,” said Cavagnero. “They also to be expressive of jazz as a straight ahead music form that doesn’t have a lot of pretense, doesn’t have a lot layered or covered up.”

The main performance space itself will feature a mix of exposed concrete and wood.

“Where we can, we are leaving the concrete exposed on the inside for its character and its wonderful quality of being reflective,” said Cavagnero. “And where we need absorption we have a whole series of acoustic materials clad in some kind of a warm wood louver system of one sort or another that will protect them and give a nice warm counterpoint to the concrete visually.”

SFJAZZ is hoping to raise another $18 million before construction starts in summer of 2011 . . . .

Source: http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/...7/story10.html

BTinSF · #**2637** Posted **May 15, 2010, 7:54 AM**

We all frequently complain about how San Francisco's bureaucracy dumbs down architectural creativity into mediocrity. Well chalk one up for the good guys:

Quote:

Hayes Valley Mixed Use Market at 555 Fulton Goes Back In Time

Last night, after a strong neighborhood showing and a Stanley Saitowitz monologue on successful architectural design, the Planning Commission approved Hayes Valley's 555 Fulton with its original, glassy look. The five-story supermarket and 136-unit residential project started its life with a comparatively more uniform design — before changes requested by the city turned it into a thing with alternating terra cotta paneling. But as we reported back in March, the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association had already been through the public process with Saitowitz, and was not at all into the new look. In a rare display of community muscle, a bunch of residents showed up insisting on the old design and citing a John King column earlier this week that argues "nobody is fooled" by the "stage-set urbanity" on which the city planning staff's proposal is supposedly premised. One guy compared the city's "meddling" to a "nurse telling a brain surgeon how to do their work." Mmm hmm. He went there . . . .

Source: http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2010/0...n_time.php?o=1

WildCowboy · #**2638** Posted **May 15, 2010, 1:10 PM**

I sure hope this one comes off better than his UCSF parking garage that looks to be an almost identical facade design. That one looked very disappointingly unlike the renderings and of course has suffered from technical issues that have seen the glass panels removed for what, two years now?

dr_strangelove · #**2639** Posted **May 15, 2010, 5:11 PM**

Is that Saitowicz project affordable housing? I ride my bike in that neighborhood all time and it is very blighted, so I would be surprised if this wasn't meant to be some sort of housing project with a pretty face.

Just thinking about the revised design with its "terra cotta panels" covering the glass makes me shiver, good to know there are more of "us" out there.

update: I just found this out:
(There would be 32 studio + 48 one-bedroom + 45 two-bedroom = 136 total units, with 16 units [12%] affordable.)

Wow I can't believe something like this got through planning in this area, isn't this considered *gasp* *dunn dunn dunnnnnnnnn* Gentrification?????

Gordo · #**2640** Posted **May 15, 2010, 5:23 PM**

^Not sure what you mean - Hayes Valley hasn't exactly been lacking in new market-rate housing being built over the last decade.

Like the project, but I've never been a huge fan of Saitowitz. Still, I'm all for different types of buildings being built, even if I don't like every one