Author: Mark

Mark is an architect in San Francisco.

30,000 units of housing by 2020 and James Baldwin looks at race relations in 1963 San Francisco

Last December, SF Mayor Ed Lee announced a Mayoral Executive Directive ordering all city departments with jurisdiction over housing permitting to prioritize housing construction, particularly for affordable housing, and his state of the city address in January called for 30,000 units of new housing by 2020 with 1/3 of them built as permanently affordable. Come hear… Continue reading 30,000 units of housing by 2020 and James Baldwin looks at race relations in 1963 San Francisco

The Unintended Effects of Direct Democracy: Say “no” to ballot box planning on Proposition B June 3rd.

“Let the voters decide” has a certain immediate appeal. It implies that the will of the people will guide public decisions and create a more just and fair city for all. That’s the idea at least. The reality usually ends up looking a lot messier. To say nothing of the huge structural issues direct democracy… Continue reading The Unintended Effects of Direct Democracy: Say “no” to ballot box planning on Proposition B June 3rd.

After the Mission Bay fire: Construction types explained

Yesterday’s huge fire on a construction site in San Francisco left people with a lot of questions, some of which were circulating on Twitter as the fire was still burning. The six-story, eighty foot tall uncompleted structure burned out of control for several hours as nearly 150 firefighters fought to contain the flames and keep… Continue reading After the Mission Bay fire: Construction types explained

Why have the tech buses invaded San Francisco?

Oh boy. There is no easy answer to this question, but protests in front of buses are certainly not going to solve the problem because it’s a problem that goes beyond the boundaries of the City of San Francisco. Saying that tech companies owe a billion dollars for doing curbside pickup are completely ignoring reality and… Continue reading Why have the tech buses invaded San Francisco?

How can we build cheaper urban housing?

There were a number of suggestions from readers, via both the blog comments and Twitter, on how we could build cheaper multifamily housing. Here are a few ideas with my thoughts: Prefabrication – Most large projects already take advantage of this to some degree. Many contractors pre-frame wood walls in a factory and crane them… Continue reading How can we build cheaper urban housing?

“Why can’t developers build housing in San Francisco for the people who need it most instead of for the rich?”

A question I have heard a lot lately is “why can’t developers build housing for the people who need it most instead of for the rich.” Let’s look at what a typical multi-family development project in a reasonably central part of San Francisco would cost to build (in a very simplified way). I’m assuming an… Continue reading “Why can’t developers build housing in San Francisco for the people who need it most instead of for the rich?”

This is not Guerilla Urbanism: Architecture of resistance and capitulation

The theme of the U.S. Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale this year is “Spontaneous Interventions: Design Actions for the Common Good.” Cathy Lang Ho, who helped to select the participants, discusses the criteria and the approach in this article over at the Architect Magazine site. This is hardly the first post about spontaneous or… Continue reading This is not Guerilla Urbanism: Architecture of resistance and capitulation