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?
Category: Architecture
architecture
Housing Costs Controversy and the Math of BMR Ownership
My posts on housing costs have gained a lot of attention in the last week or two, and there have been a lot of comments. I decided to respond to Peter Cohen’s comments in this post, because his comments are similar to others I have heard on Twitter and elsewhere from people in the housing… Continue reading Housing Costs Controversy and the Math of BMR Ownership
Building Efficiency and Housing Cost
One thing I left out of my calculation the housing unit costs the other day in the interest of simplification was the efficiency of the building, but I probably shouldn’t have because it’s a huge factor. David Baker pointed out in a comment: One thing, if the 800 Square foot is cost for the building… Continue reading Building Efficiency and Housing Cost
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
Facadism gone wild: a visit to Washington D.C.
The image of Washington D.C. forged by television and film is usually confined to government buildings, the river, and monuments. Most people are familiar with the city’s low-rise skyline, dominated to this day by the stark white obelisk of the Washington Monument. Venturing into the city’s streets brought the great lengths the city’s preservationists have… Continue reading Facadism gone wild: a visit to Washington D.C.
A brief pro-clutter interior design manifesto
I was browsing Apartment Therapy recently and came across one of their ‘Before and After’ posts titled A Granny Office Goes Modern. The ‘before’ photo does look like it could be a grandmother’s office: After “a simple organization and renovation techniques you can completely change the style and give a space a fresh and… Continue reading A brief pro-clutter interior design manifesto
Buffalo’s Grain Elevators: The Destruction of the Beginnings of Modern Architecture
Standard Elevator It’s been a few months now, but in July I had the chance to witness the destruction of one of Buffalo’s concrete grain elevators. Written about 30 years ago by Reyner Banham, and in the early part of the 20th Century by Corbusier and other European Modernists, the grain elevators on the Buffalo… Continue reading Buffalo’s Grain Elevators: The Destruction of the Beginnings of Modern Architecture
Sonoma / Mendocino Part II: Sea Ranch & South
From there, it was further down the coast to the community of Sea Ranch. Laid out in the 1960s by the landscape architect Lawrence Halprin with buildings by architects including Charles Moore and Joseph Esherick, Sea Ranch is a pilgrimage site for San Francisco architects (and architectural tourists). It is incredibly unwelcoming to visit if… Continue reading Sonoma / Mendocino Part II: Sea Ranch & South