San Francisco Metreon Overhaul Will Better Embrace Surroundings

After purchasing the struggling center in 2006, Westfield Group and Forest City Enterprises decided that the original design made the center an island onto itself without relating to the pedestrian traffic. To address this and potentially boost profits, they have proposed a $30 million "extreme makeover" set to break ground this fall and topout by Thanksgiving 2010.

The cavernous entrance will be replaced by shops that open to busy sidewalks. The Sci-Fi interior will be toned down and views will be emphasized, not obscured. It should be said that Sony purposely designed the center specifically to pretend the outside world didn't exist for a very simple goal: to distract patrons and trap them inside "for a bite to eat or for entertainment the whole day," according to Sony's original brochure. This is evident as the main entrance at Fourth and Mission is only eight feet high, a dark passage leading to a dull space dominated by the movie-ticket counter. Along the park, the building was designed with a 64-foot-high glass wall, but Sony scrunched the interior lobby with beams and catwalks to dazzle patrons with what the press kit described as a "celebration of urban vitality."

So last week, the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency gave a green light to Westfield and Forest City to embark on the overhaul and revitalization. The "front door" will be moved 35 yards down Fourth Street, where 12-foot-high retractable glass panels will replace eight doors. This will allow open views of the park from Fourth Street, since the current structural clutter will be minimized to create a 34-foot-high atrium separated from the park by the existing clear wall and visually connect interior and exterior spaces.

Also, most of the restaurants which are now located within the building will be moved to the street level so as to spill onto the park and foster more of an interaction with the community an integrate the Metreon into the surroundings.

I am always the first to advocate that buildings should relate to their surroundings but I think the Metreon was successful at what it did for the time period that it did it. If one wanted to spend the whole day out, you could find something for the whole family to do without leaving the building but I guess times have changed and residents want some more urban interaction these days. That being said, I think these are some good changes that are being proposed and will only integrate it better within the city.






Images obtained from: www.sfgate.com

Fisher Museum Toned Down

In light of the uproar last year, the design for the contemporary art collection museum to be located in San Francisco's Presidio has been amended by New York architect, Richard Gluckmanto to try to relate to its site and the surrounding buildings without being an icon in itself.

With the new plans, instead of a sharp-edged stack of concrete and glass, it's a low pavilion with a landscaped roof. The pavilion burrows into the earth and includes a public thruway, rather than rising up, as its predecessor did, to demand attention within the historic heart of the army base turned national park. The museum, being funded by Gap founder, Donald Fisher is still to be located on a prominent site between 19th century red-brick barracks and the site of the original 1776 Spanish settlement. That's anathema to critics who, for reasons ranging from traffic to the non-Presidio focus, don't want the facility anywhere in the park.

The current plan also reduces the gross square footage from over 100,000 square feet to just about 76,000, reduces the building height from 50 ft to 27 and the main structural material has been changed from precast concrete to masonry and wood.

Gallery spaces would be housed in a long and relatively narrow two-story structure; the lower level would rest beneath the existing slope, opening onto three sculpture courts. The upper level would be clad mostly in glass, topped by a roof with a series of pitches that ripple toward the parade ground and shade the galleries. The roof would be "green" a la the California Academy of Sciences and framed in a white lacquered wood similar to what clads other Main Post structures. Again this was to make sure that he museum feel like part of the larger district.

I'm still not sure that the new designs adequately complement the site as well as it could but at least proper steps are being taken to lead the design in the right direction. I always groan when I see a building that screams for notice without enhancing its surroundings and its good to see that the Fisher family have been made to understand a little bit of this.





Images obtained from: www.sfgate.com

The Manhattanization of San Francisco Part II

It seems that the umbrige felt by some San Franciscans about their city's apparent urban xeroxing of New York is not limited to the Rincon Towers but also extends to the proposal for the new Transbay terminal which will be slated to break ground sometime this fall and top out in 2014.

The original terminal located roughly in the center of the rectangle bounded north-south by Mission and Howard Street and east-west by Beale and Second street currently serves long distance and local transbay buses such as the Muni and SamTrans. The new proposal seeks to replace the current terminal with a new one including a tunnel that would extend the Caltrian commuter rail and a heavy rail portion designed to accomodate the planned high speed line from Los Angeles. This project, designed by Pelli Clark Pelli Architects will consist of a 1,200ft tall tower paired with organic undulations of the transit center toped with a 5.4 acre green roof that will be freely accessible to the public and will host a variety of cultural activities.

The new Transbay terminal will seek to incorporate as it's theme, "transit & sustainability" with the tower's apex crowned with wind turbines and each floor being able to draw fresh air from outside directly through the building's "porous" facade. Geothermal heating has also been incorporated to regulate room temperature and both tower and transit park will benefit from a rain and gray water recycling center that can provide water to neighboring buildings as well.
Even though mayor Gavin Newsom has lauded this project as "forward thinking," many residents again feel that an elevated 5.4 acre park does not compliment its surroundings nor does the 1,200 ft high tower which will again redefine the city's skyline. I agree, even though I really like the look of the roof park but one will only see it like that from the window of a taller surrounding building. What I feel is pretty awful is the structural undulation of the park from street level. The height of the building will only set a new height for new projects to contend with but that structural pattern on the terminal is just horrid and will continue to stick out for a very long time to come.

This is a very innovative design and I think is the better proposal of all submitted to the city of San Francisco. It does a good job of making public transportation a bit easier and convenient which is a necessary component for cities in America today as we are continually faced with ridiculous gas prices but the terminal's street level facade...Its just bad!



Images obtained from: http://lifewithoutbuilings.net

The Manhattanization of San Francisco

This seems to go a long way in summing up the concerns of many Bay Area residents about the effects of the One Rincon Towers on Rincon Hill right next to the Western approach of the Bay bridge. This project is a residential complex designed by Solomon, Cordwell, Buenz and associates and is to consist of two towers, 45 and 60 stories respectively, sharing a common podium base with a combined count of 709 units. The latter tower (Rincon south tower) has been completed and currently stands at 641 feet but Rincon north tower just broke ground in january of this year.

Though the towers are considered not only the most significant additions to the San Francisco skyline in over 30 years and one of the tallest all-residential towers west of the Mississippi, it has sparked a lot of criticism from residents. Some of this criticism has stemmed from its design which has been ridicled to resemble the Sharper Image Ionic Breeze air purifyer. Other residents living east to north east of Twin Peaks are enraged at the height and placement of the towers as they block views from Delores park and Hillside neighborhoods to the Bay bridge but the general concern is about the price of the units within the towers which have been rated to be too expensive for most San Franciscans selling at $600,000 to $2,000,000 on average. This they feel is about to set the preceedent for outrageously priced condo units making San Francisco as expensive to live in as Manhattan. This is an interesting concept to note as most of the units within the South tower have sold already.

This building though still under construction has become the most controversial landmark in San Francisco since the Transamerica Pyramid. One website, curbsf, has nominated the Rincon towers as the ugliest buildings in the city beating the Marriot on Fourth St, which is saying a lot.

I know that I slammed the Al Hamara tower for not relating to it's site better and though the Rincon towers seem to do much of the same, I think that they enhance the skyline and add to the dramatic effect of the city view when coming down the Bay bridge from Oaklnad. Yes, I like the towers and I think that they have a certain elegance and sleekness to them that is lacking in most residential highrises today. Am I "flip-floping?" Maybe but Rincon affects my perception differently. After all, architecture in a sense is subjective.

Image obtained from www.sfnewdevelopments.com