RESOUCE GUIDE

A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO THE EXHIBITION

Curated by Benjamin Grant & Cydney M. Payton

California Historical Society & SPUR

September 6 — December 2013

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. ABOUT a. Project Background b. Introduction, Anthea Hartig & Gabriel Metcalf, CHS Director c. Curator’s Statement, Cydney M. Payton d. On Site

II. MARINCELLO a. Description b. Checklist

III. FERRY BUILDING, “FOOT OF MARKET” a. Description b. Checklist

IV. YERBA BUENA CENTER a. Description b. Checklist

V. IMAGE WITH CREDITS ONLY CHECKLIST

VI. CURATOR’S RECOMMENDED READING LIST

Photo: Kristen Werner

PROJECT BACKGROUND The California Historical Society and SPUR join AIA San Francisco, the Center for Architecture + Design, Environmental Design Archives at UC Berkeley, and the San Francisco Public Library in Unbuilt San Francisco, a five-venue exhibition examining visions of the urban landscape in San Francisco and the Bay Area. Unbuilt San Francisco: The View from Futures Past presents some of the most ambitious efforts to reimagine the city of San Francisco and the Bay Area as a metropolitan region. The exhibition surveys three projects—Marincello, Yerba Buena Center, and the Ferry Building and plaza—reaching beyond plans and models to depict the political, social, and economic challenges to each. This exhibition spans more than a hundred years of making and remaking San Francisco’s image, yet is centered in late-twentieth- century ideas about public space. Throughout the exhibition galleries architectural drawings, letters, photographs, artworks, videos, and newspaper clippings represent the voices of advocates and detractors. The selected items propose that culture and collectivism have deeply impacted thinking about the built environment of the Bay Area. This exhibition has been generously supported by our funding sponsors: Adolph S. Rosekrans, Inc. Architects, The Bland Family Foundation, Carey & Co. Inc., Cody Anderson Wasney Architects, Environmental Science Associates (ESA), Matthew Adams, Webcor Builders, and Yerba Buena Community Benefit District. In-kind support is being provided by our partners: Center for Architecture + Design (CAD), American Institute of Architects, San Francisco (AIASF), Environmental Design Archives at UC Berkeley (EDA), Hafner Vineyard, Lagunitas Brewing Company, One Brick, San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR), San Francisco Heritage, San Francisco Public Library (SFPL), Sherwin-Williams, The Cultural Landscape Foundation, and Vignette Wine Country Soda. Institutional support to CHS is provided by: The Barkley Fund, The Bernard Osher Foundation, Hearst Foundation, Hewlett-Packard, The James Irvine Foundation, San Francisco Grants for the Arts, and S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation.

INTRODUCTION

Ira Nowinski (1942- ) Site, SFMOMA, 1974/2013 digital print from original silver gelatin print from No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly Promised gift of the artist

Unbuilt San Francisco: The View from Futures Past is one of four simultaneous exhibitions across the Bay Area examining never-realized concepts for our built environment. The California Historical Society and SPUR have joined together to present an exhibition that not only displays architectural drawings and models but also provides evidence of the complicated civic discourse and powerful forces that led ultimately to the demise, or significant reshaping, of diverse proposed projects.

The subtitle of our exhibition is borrowed from Mike Davis’s landmark book City of Quartz (1990), which imagines the potential of Los Angeles from “the ruins of its alternative future.” We know that there is value to examining the future that almost was alongside the future that actually arrived. Whether we look back one hundred years or a century forward, this collaborative exhibition supports our missions: the fruitful discussion and debate around issues that impact our future in our region and our California.

We join our exhibition partners—AIA San Francisco/Center for Architecture & Design; Environmental Design Archives at the University of California, Berkeley; and San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library—in this exploration of making and remaking the image of our urban landscape.

Imagine and share in the conversation.

CURATOR’S STATEMENT

In these galleries we survey three ambitious efforts to reimagine the city of San Francisco and the Bay Area as a metropolitan region—Marincello, Yerba Buena Center, and the Ferry Building and plaza—reaching beyond plans and models to depict the political, social, and economic challenges to each. Throughout, architectural drawings, letters, photographs, artworks, videos, and newspaper clippings represent the voices of advocates and detractors.

Unbuilt San Francisco: The View from Futures Past presents the forms of resistance behind the currency of preserved coastal views: the rising environmental movement of the 1960s that defeated the Marincello proposition, the organized citizenry protesting displacement South of Market, and the public outcry about transformational plans at the waterfront. What is evident is that a history of intense public wrangling over the built environment has conferred a kind of postscript of leisure. Here, parks or plazas become enclosures for types of display, participation, and memory collection.

While the exhibition reveals the human determination in the making of public spaces, it also cautions against homogenized place-making and the touristic. These three sites suggest that the present compares to memories of idealized pasts—the feral landscape, a maritime village, the Victorians. In this way the built environment of today is a collected history that is still building. Can a radical architecture emerge from nostalgic models? Is the unbuilt future different than the unbuilt past?

ON SITE

This exhibition takes a deep look at three sites in the Bay Area to explore their contested histories. In the context of this exhibition, the usage of the word site is multidimensional. The curator looks to the subject of site through a theoretical lens, exploring notions of space, place, and the visual in relationship to culture. We can also reflect on the etymology (origin and meaning) of site to further understand evolving tensions around the interpretation of its meaning and application in relationship to the exhibition.

We are mostly familiar with the Middle English meaning deriving from the Latin situs— position or place—from sinere, to put, set down, but also to let, suffer, or permit. As a noun, site signifies a fixed place or, in an urban planning context, a place fitted for a certain type of usage, such as a home or church. In architectural terminology, it functions as a verb: to situate or place a building. We also designate the site of a historic event or building as a way to remember. This relationship between memory and place (or site) is critical to our sense of identity and community, and to the distinctiveness of our human culture.

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MARINCELLO

MARINCELLO

Introduction

Conceived in the early 1960s by the developer Thomas Frouge with the financial backing of Gulf Oil Corporation, Marincello was planned as a bedroom community for San Franciscans in the picturesque interior landscape of the Marin Headlands. This suburban community originally on 2,000 acres was designed to house over 150,000 people in homes, townhouses, and high-rise apartment towers. Future residents would have shopped at a sprawling mall and their guests would have stayed in a lavish hotel.

That vision was tempered through the planning process and developed into a scheme for a new town of 30,000 residing in towers and low-rise housing. Intended to represent “open-space” architecture, built structures were clustered in the landscape with minimal roadway access. The leading concept for the project integrated cultural amenities with commerce in buildings for theater, music, cinema, dance, the decorative, fine, and literary arts, a lyceum, and an artists’ embassy terminating at the circular, paved Brotherhood Plaza.

Obstacles to construction began almost immediately following the plan’s 1965 approval by the County of Marin. Homeowners’ accusations of trespassing, a ballooning budget, legal disagreements between Frouge and Gulf Oil, a successful lawsuit claiming zoning irregularities, and sale of the lands to the Nature Conservancy in 1972 for the newly established Golden Gate National Recreation Area all led to Marincello’s demise. By 1976, the would-be community’s entry gates—the only remaining architectural evidence of the failed project—were demolished.

MARINCELLO CHECKLIST

LOBBY GALLERY (left to right)

Mark Klett (1952– ) Fruit Tree Planted a Long Time Ago by Farmers, Oakwood Valley (from the Headlands Project), 1987 Silver gelatin print, ed. 4/50 Courtesy of the artist

In 1985, Helen Brunner, Don Russell, and Jock Reynolds—all former staffers at the Washington Project for the Arts—conceived of a project whereby a team of artists from across the country collaborated to create a “portrait” of the Marin Headlands. The team included the Bay Area artist Larry Sultan and the renowned landscape photographer Mark Klett (1952– ), each known for his work on the subject of place. The portrait that emerged reflected historical source materials and contemporary field research and was published in the book Headlands: The Marin Coast at the Golden Gate (1989).

Klett’s Fruit Tree Planted a Long Time Ago by Farmers, Oakwood Valley is the frontispiece of the chapter “Farms and Marincello.” In this image—made when the headlands was under the stewardship of Golden Gate National Park Recreation Area (GGNRA) and was still being discovered by local visitors and tourists—Klett offers us a portrait of landscape as a study on the nature of time.

The image is a quiet reminder of what was at stake when Thomas Frouge proposed the Marincello project in the early 1960s. After years of protests from environmentalists, and following Frouge’s death on January 5, 1969, his partner Gulf Oil Corporation sold the land to the Nature Conservancy, which then transferred title to the GGNRA. A fitting legacy for the dreamer Frouge emerged from resistance to his idea of erasing the Marin landscape. That opposition made way for the unbuilt Marincello to be inscribed in the history of the headlands’ preservation.

KRON News / Art Brown broadcasting Marincello Mall, March 20, 1967 16 mm newsfilm 3:07 minutes Video courtesy of KRON-TV

Anthony M. Guzzardo & Associates Preliminary Entrance Study [for Tennessee Valley Entrance], n.d. ink, pencil, colored pencil and marker on paper Courtesy of National Park Service, Golden Gate NRA, GOGA-37413

Unknown Untitled [Bus and Pedestrian schematic], n.d. pen and colored pencil on tissue Courtesy of National Park Service, Golden Gate NRA, GOGA-37413

Marincello Roads Unknown Major Road System, n.d. Ink on paper Courtesy of National Park Service, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, GOGA-37413

The planned city of Marincello required its own elaborate network of roads—indicated on this drawing by numbers 1 to 6—on which apartment buildings, shopping centers, and cultural buildings were oriented, as these drawings and plans illustrate. But the large-scale development also necessitated links to community roads and freeways. The potential impact of tens of thousands of additional cars on the streets and highways was a major area of concern of local citizens and galvanized resistance. Contesting the building of new roads and freeways became a strategy that organized community members used to block the project.

Even before the Marincello plan was approved in November 1965, the developers, Thomas Frouge and Gulf Oil Corporation, had encountered difficulty in gaining street and highway access. In June 1965, they were sued for “misappropriation and false representation of a proposed street entrance” that crossed over private property. This entrance was critical to ensuring easy access to Highway 101 and the Golden Gate Bridge.

KPIX Eyewitness News / Bill Hillman broadcasting Marincello Purchased by Nature Conservancy December 3, 1972 archival newsfilm, 16mm color, comagnetic sound film 3:57 minutes Video Courtesy of KPIX-TV, San Francisco

Unknown model of Marincello development, 1967 wood, plaster, plastic, paint, architectural flocking and other medium Courtesy of National Park Service, Golden Gate NRA, GOGA-17015

Department of Defense, Department of the Army, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, U.S. Army Audiovisual Center President Richard M. Nixon; Etc. [visiting proposed Golden Gate National Recreation Area to urge swift congressional action for passage of bill informally identified as "Gateway West"], 1972 Silent digital video from archival footage Courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration, ARC Identifier 34628 / Local Identifier 111-LC-57416

On September 5, 1972, following the defeat of the Marincello project, President Richard Nixon flew to San Francisco to visit the proposed Golden Gate National Recreation Area, a new urban park inclusive of the Marin Headlands. This well-publicized tour—in a year when Nixon was up for re-election and in a city where he had been historically unpopular—was organized to urge swift congressional action for passage of a bill to protect the land as a national park. In this footage, Nixon, Secretary of Interior Rogers Morton, former astronaut Frank Borman, Henry Kissinger, and Paul Ziegler talk and pose for the media as they cross the bay by ferry.

Political, economic, social, and environmental forces of the 1960s and early 1970s paved the way for the park’s creation, including the U.S. Army’s decision to sell much of the area’s open land to the highest bidder. People for a Golden Gate National Recreation Area, a local activist group, joined the San Francisco Planning and Urban Renewal Agency (SPUR), the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, and Congressman Phillip Burton to propose safeguarding the land on both sides of the Golden Gate Bridge through its purchase by the federal government and its establishment as a national park.

An earlier event influenced the outcome; the Native American occupation of Alcatraz (1969–71) called national attention to the island and neighboring land and provided the impetus for the government to address the property’s future. On October 27, 1972, with bipartisan support, Nixon signed into law “An Act to Establish the Golden Gate National Recreation Area” (Public Law 92-589).

EPHEMERA

Harlan Soeten Letters Harlan Soeten (1914–2008), director of the San Francisco Maritime Museum, was a key opponent of the Marincello project. In these letters, he outlines the key opposition players and proponents (December 22, 1965); confirms the original plan's intent to house 150,000 residents (December 1, 1966); recognizes opposition to the project as part of a larger environmental movement (December 27, 1966); and addresses the perils of the proposed freeway in relation to the Major Road System depicted in this gallery (January 11, 1967). California Tomorrow Collection MS 3641, California Historical Society

Unknown photographer Thomas Frouge and Associate Securing Pacific Avenue Sign at Proposed Marincello Development, Newspaper clipping mounted on scrapbook page (attributed to the Marin Independent Journal, February 11, 1966). Courtesy of National Park Service, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, GOGA-27066. Unknown photographer, Tennessee Valley Marincello Gates, c. 1973. Color photograph. Courtesy of National Park Service, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, GOGA-2316 The Frouge Corporation, Annual Report for Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1964. Courtesy of National Park Service, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, GOGA- 34887

RELATED MATERIAL IN READING AREA

William Alexander Coulter (1849–1936) Lyford's Stone Tower Overlooking the Bay, Tiburon, c. 1890s Oil on canvas California Historical Society, gift of William T. Martinelli in memory of his wife Marie Accession no. 60-1-18-2

The tower depicted in this painting was designed and built around 1889 by the San Francisco architect Gustav A. Behrnd as the gateway for Hygeia, a utopian village along the edge of the San Francisco Bay at Point Tiburon. It was Dr. Benjamin F. Lyford, a retired physician and embalmer, who acquired the land through marriage and then began to envision a community there based, at least in part, on the ideas presented in Dr. Benjamin Ward Richardson’s book, Hygeia: A City of Health (1876).

Named for the Greek goddess of health, cleanliness, and sanitation, the Hygeia parcels came with architectural plans and a building contract that reflected Lyford’s ideas about healthy living, including sleeping porches, bathrooms, and bedrooms oriented to receive the morning sun and fully detached kitchens and dining rooms. Potential buyers, however, apparently were frustrated by the building restrictions and sales lagged. Ultimately, Dr. Lyford became blind in both eyes from cataracts and the utopian village went unrealized.

Lyford’s Stone Tower still stands. It is designated a historic landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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FERRY BUILDING

FERRY BUILDING, THE “FOOT OF MARKET”

Introduction

Probably no other built site in San Francisco has reflected the daily civics of the city more than the Ferry Building at the base of Market Street. Since 1898, it has served as a hub for ceremonial public events, tourism, commercial exchanges, military celebrations, and daily ferry launches to and from bay ports. Its iconic clock tower has been demolished and rebuilt, brought back to life as the singular, analogue representation of the city’s cultural values of endurance, fortitude, and reinvention—made especially poignant after it remained standing amidst a sea of rubble following the 1906 earthquake.

The concept of creating a “front porch” for the city dates to a drawing by Willis Polk (1897) of an unbuilt Beaux Arts temple with a peristyle colonnade. This vision of a place for citizens to congregate and for visitors to take in the city’s civic atmosphere appears over and over in the reimaginings of the building by architects and planners. Alongside the Embarcadero, the idea of a front porch engages us with a more atmospheric point of reference—an envisioned place to come back to—that can be identified as distinctly San Francisco.

As a terminus to the central thoroughfare Market Street, the Ferry Building has framed San Francisco’s history and heritage. It has persevered as a landmark even after the erection of the Bay and Golden Gate Bridges made crossing the bay by ferry less necessary and a double-decker freeway choked off its access to the rest of the city. It had to be reimagined and transformed lest it become obsolete.

In the unbuilt propositions on view in these galleries, the Ferry Building has dematerialized and rematerialized over a hundred years. Such architectural re- envisionings have become a source of continual negotiation of the city’s ethos.

FERRY BUILDING, “FOOT OF MARKET” CHECKLIST

GALLERY ONE

Willis Polk (1867-1924) Ferry Building Peristyle, 1897 Ink on paper Willis Jefferson Polk Collection Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

Through his architectural perspective, the architect Willis Polk promoted San Francisco’s civic improvement. Self-taught in architectural theory and practice, he played a pivotal role, with Edward H. Bennett, in developing Daniel Burnham’s 1905 San Francisco Plan. An unbuilt endeavor that sought to re-create San Francisco, the plan—whose clean, open order and adaptation of Beaux Arts and neoclassical architecture actualized the qualities of the City Beautiful movement—was thwarted by the 1906 earthquake and fire.

In 1915, Polk oversaw one of the most important projects in the city’s history, the ambitious Panama-Pacific International Exposition (PPIE). Following on the heels of the 1906 earthquake, the PPIE was intended to reestablish San Francisco’s image as a place of commerce and culture, promoting San Francisco as a port city for shipping through the Panama Canal along the western coastline. This notion nearly took hold, Oakland being a more accessible site, but the PPIE remains an internationally revered iteration of a world’s fair concept.

In this 1897 elaborate drawing, we see Polk’s vision of the Ferry Building as the city’s principal gateway. Acknowledging its functional and urbanistic role, Polk was perhaps inspired, as the architectural historian Richard W. Longstreth suggests, by the Austrian planner Camillo Sitte, who proposed close-knit urban spaces defined through such architectural devices as the arcade, arch, and colonnade.

Polk’s plan failed to find its political grounding within the community, perhaps laying the groundwork for future unbuilt propositions for the Ferry Building site. His designs, however, were realized in more than one hundred Bay Area structures, including the Palace of Fine Arts, the Merchant’s Exchange Building, the Hallidie Building, and Filoli mansion.

TOP ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT: San Francisco Embarcadero Freeway from Telegraph Hill, 1967, photographer unknown, CHS2013.1273 Commuters Exiting Ferry Building at Foot of Market Street, n.d., photographer unknown, CHS2013.1271 San Francisco Union Ferry Building, c. 1898–1905, photographer unknown, CHS2013.1265 Ferry Building at Night in the Fog and Moonlight, c. 1909, photographer Willard E. Worden, CHS2013.1268 View of Market Street from Ferry Building, n.d., photographer unknown, CHS2013.1266

MIDDLE ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT: Cable Cars at Ferry Building, c. 1900–1904, photographer Gabriel Moulin, CHS2013.Moulin.003 San Francisco American Conservatory Theatre Hot Air Balloon Flight from Embarcadero Center #2, 1972, photographer Arthur Frisch, CHS2013.1274 Market St. from Ferry Tower, 1906, photographer H. C. White Co., CHS2013.1206 Ferry Building Illuminated for Panama Pacific International Exposition, 1915, photographer unknown, CHS2013. 1269 Ferry Boats Leaving Slips at Ferry Building, c. 1920, photographer Gabriel Moulin, CHS2013.Moulin.002

BOTTOM ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT: Construction at the Ferry Building, c. 1900–1904, photographer W. Wesley Swadley, CHS2013.1270 Ferry Building, Foot Market St., San Francisco, 1906, photographer unknown, CHS2012.877 (above) Commuters Entering and Exiting San Francisco Ferry Terminal, c. 1863–1900, photographer unknown, CHS2013.1264 (below) Ferry Building after 1906 Earthquake, c. 1906, photographer unknown, CHS2013.1267 Three Kids on Deck of Southern Pacific Ferryboat Approaching San Francisco Ferry Terminal, n.d., Southern Pacific photograph, CHS2013.1272

FERRY BUILDING

Is the city of San Francisco still a city in search of a defining metaphor for its identity? What metaphors for the city can be pulled from the space, place, and visual landscape of the Ferry Building site? And why has the Ferry Building remained influential in the discussion of the built and unbuilt environments of the city?

This selection of historic photographs from the California Historical Society Collection reflects the building and unbuilding of the Ferry Building over 115 years. Made by amateur and professional photographers such as the notable Gabriel Moulin (1872– 1945), these images unfold a narrative of exchange between people and place. Over time we see that the site becomes a theatrical stage, a scenic pass-through, for people shuttled by ferry, automobile, and trolley over the bay, walkway, or freeway.

The Ferry Building site serves as collection point for the temporary: arriving and departing or celebrating and marking time. Here, we notice the ever-present clock tower with its powerful insertion into the San Francisco skyline, its symbolic weight never faltering. In one image (top row, left) we see the Embarcadero Freeway intact. The freeway itself traces a history of the built environment, where ideas that once seemed integral to the function of the city over time become evident as failed. It could be argued that the end of the freeway ushered in the arrival of new era of leisure and commerce, rendering the relationship between camera and place more touristic and less observational than these photographs reveal.

William Merchant Freeway and Ferry Building (needs date) Colored pencil on paper William Merchant/Hans Gerson Collection Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California Berkeley

Paul Forster / SF Security Lithograph San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge Celebration, 1936 California Historical Society, Poster 266

EMPHERA

Burnham Plan (needs to be added)

GALLERY TWO

Ernest Born (1898-1992) San Francisco looking Northwest, 1956 Pastel on paper Ernest and Esther Born Collection Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California Berkeley

WORLD TRADE CENTER

In 1943, the architectural firm of William G. Merchant initiated plans for a World Trade Center at the Ferry Building site. This series of drawings—recalling the long history of the waterfront’s significance for commerce and trade—illustrates Merchant’s vision for the complex. The buildings’ stark, unadorned, and linear surfaces evoke the late- modernist sensibilities often associated with Brutalism.

The San Francisco World Trade Center Authority recognized the project’s implications for the city’s economy in its 1951 prospectus. Acknowledging the plan’s intent to revive lower Market Street as a key business district—and to concentrate the city’s international trade activities—the prospectus described it as perhaps “the most worthwhile major project in the annals of the development of the West.”

The prospectus observed how the World Trade Center’s intended location—occupying nine square blocks at the foot of Market Street and extending into the bay—would visually impact the shoreline: “Looking at the group of buildings as a whole, the immediate impression will be that a new and distinctive skyline has been created on San Francisco’s eastern rim, at the water’s edge.”

Like many unbuilt proposals, we struggle to determine the roots of opposition. What changed to make these projects untenable? Were the visions too expensive, or was there something in the political environment that led to their defeat?

William Merchant (1889–1962) Aerial View, n.d. Pencil on paper Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

William Merchant (1889–1962) San Francisco World Trade Center [showing tower and underside of pedestrian bridge], 1947. Graphite on paper. William Merchant/Hans Gerson Collection. Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley William Merchant (1889–1962) San Francisco World Trade Center [showing angled tower at right with bridge and Embarcadero below], 1947. Graphite on paper. William Merchant/Hans Gerson Collection. Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley William Merchant (1889–1962) San Francisco World Trade Center [showing sundial], 1947. Graphite on paper. William Merchant/Hans Gerson Collection. Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

William Merchant (1889–1962) Aerial View, 1951 Graphite on paper William Merchant/Hans Gerson Collection Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

William Merchant (1889–1962) San Francisco World Trade Center, c. 1950 Photomontage William Merchant/Hans Gerson Collection Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

William Merchant (1889–1962) San Francisco World Trade Center [bird's eye view], 1951 Graphite on trace William Merchant/Hans Gerson Collection Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

EPHEMERA

Joint Committee of the Northern California Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and the California Association of Landscape Architects, Submitted to the California State Park Commission Ferry Building State Park: A Proposal for a State Park at San Francisco's Historic Ferry Building, October 1955. Spiral-bound manuscript with original photographs mounted within. Courtesy of San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library REF f725.34 J668f San Francisco City Planning Commission, [A portion of] The Master Plan of San Francisco: Shoreline Development, Preliminary Report, September 1943. Courtesy of John King. San Francisco World Trade Center Authority San Francisco World Trade Center [prospectus], 1951. Courtesy of John King

GALLERY THREE

John Bolles Northern Waterfront Project, ca. 1968 Photostat print Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California Berkeley

Ernest Born (1898-1992) Embarcadero Crescent View, 1956 pastel on paper Ernest and Esther Born Collection Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California Berkeley

Mario J. Ciampi (1907–2006) Proposed World's Fair, 1965 Colored pencil and watercolor on paper Mario Ciampi Collection Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

Buster Simpson (1942– ) Embark, Proposed Installation at Embarcadero and Clay Street, 1999 Casting plastic and acrylic paint Courtesy of the artist Embark Controversy This photograph shows an accumulation of media coverage on a wall in Buster Simpson’s studio in response to his proposal for Embark. Courtesy of the artist In 1999, the San Francisco Art Commission approved Embark, an 18-foot-tall monument by the Seattle sculptor Buster Simpson, as a public artwork to be placed along the Embarcadero near the Ferry Building. Simpson’s idea for the sculpture originated from his discovery of the footings that had supported the columns of the dismantled Embarcadero freeway.

The creation and installation of the striated stainless-steel work—depicted in this scale model—subsequently was defeated by the Board of Supervisors following public debate of its merits. Although some described it as “whimsical,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported, others complained that it was “inelegant, ostentatious and at odds with the feel of the waterfront.”

Recently, Simpson amended his proposal for his current retrospective at the Frye Museum, observing, “A rejected proposal can have a second life . . . and concepts are dynamic and can evolve with time and changing conditions . . . . The foot, Embark, is our ‘footprint’ in many ways.”

Existing Ferry Building, Proposed Central Lobby, 1978 Colored pencil on paper Mario Ciampi Collection Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

Vernon DeMars (1908–2005) Proposal for New Ferry Building Plaza Following the Removal of the Freeway, 1990–91 Mixed media on wood plinth Vernon DeMars Collection Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

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YERBA BUENA CENTER

YERBA BUENA CENTER

Introduction

California Historical Society’s Mission Street neighbor the Yerba Buena Center was envisioned in the 1950s, when the urban renewal tidal wave swept into the city to redevelop so-called blighted areas. The history of the South of Market district dates to the time before San Francisco’s built environment emerged from a partially underwater and hilly terrain. According to historian Anne Bloomfield, non-Indian settlers did not venture south of Market Street until the Gold Rush. In 1849, the first-known settlement was the tent city Happy Valley (along Mission from First to Third Streets), which became a deadly site of dysentery and cholera.

By the mid-twentieth century, that history and the area’s topology had been radically altered, centralizing South of Market within the city’s overall urban fabric. Hotels and apartments—the district’s vernacular architecture—were occupied largely by working class men, reminders of the industrial age of foundries, machine shops, boiler works, and military manufacturing.

In this gallery, the Yerba Buena Center site is examined as a history of unbuilding. Unbuilt propositions for a convention center, museums, gardens, and other cultural amenities by some of the most prominent architects of the time are viewed within the context of documentation of the resistance against them. This display questions the shifting values of American cities during an era of reconstructing and reimagining as well as the consequences of preservation to future generations. Under what terms do we consider preservation important, and how do those standards apply under the flux and strain of economics and demographic change?

YERBA BUENA CENTER CHECKLIST MAIN GALLERY

Unknown photographer Benjamin Swig, hotel man and finacier, posing with associates and sketch of plan for redevelopment of downtown city blocks, about 1953 digital reproduction of 8 x 10 b&w photograph Courtesy of San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library photo id. AAD-3044

Mario J. Ciampi (1907–2006) Proposed Long-range Plan for Yerba Buena Center, 1981 Graphite on paper Mario Ciampi Collection, courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California Berkeley

Mario J. Ciampi (1907–2006) Transportation Corridor, n.d. Colored pencil (or marker) on paper Mario CiampiCollection Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

I’m an engineer, I’m an artist, I’m an architect, I’m a developer . . . . I always approached architecture as a work of art, and human fulfillment was my key concern .

Mario J. Ciampi, in Dave Weinstein, “Signature Style: Mario Ciampi,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 22, 2005

The modernist designs of the San Francisco-born architect and urban planner Mario J. Ciampi have reimagined the urban spaces of the Bay Area for more than seventy years. Rooted in the International Style, Ciampi’s architecture is characterized by bold geometric forms, curves, arches, angles, and color.

Beginning in the 1950s with architectural plans for schools, Ciampi conceptualized—and reconceptualized—a rebuilt San Francisco through his architectural practice. In 1962, he was hired as a consultant by the San Francisco Planning Commission to help develop a downtown plan that included the beautification of Market Street, the Embarcadero, and Halladie and United Nations Plazas. Over the years, a visionary materiality has distinguished his Bay Area residences, public spaces, and commercial and public buildings—most notably the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, as well as Golden Gateway, Fisherman’s Wharf, and the Yerba Buena Center.

Ricardo Legorreta (1931–2011) Proposed Mexican Museum, 2001 Courtesy of Legorreta + Legorreta, Mexico City, Mexico

In 1995, the Mexican Museum hired the famed Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta to design new quarters at Mission and Third Streets in the Yerba Buena Gardens arts district. “My firm, Legorreta Arquitectos, has devoted its life to the study of Mexican culture and translating it into contemporary architecture,” Legorreta remarked in a press release about the project. Legorreta described his plans for a museum building that would “represent Mexico at its highest levels of art, culture and human exchange.” These digital drawings of Legorreta’s model for the proposed project reflect his architectural practice of creating geometric forms that blend traditional colors and natural light, much like his progenitor, the renowned Mexican architect Luis Barrigán. Despite a ceremonial groundbreaking in October 2001, Legorreta’s bold, six-story design for the terraced structure clad in rough red stone was never realized. Development of the $34-million, 63,000-square-foot facility was abandoned following an unsuccessful and lengthy fifteen-year capital campaign. However, Legorreta’s architectural legacy in San Francisco is visible in his Bakar Fitness and Recreation Center on the Mission Bay campus of the University of California, San Francisco.

The museum’s plan has been reconceived in subsequent years and currently takes a much different approach to the site. The new 706 Mission/Mexican Museum Project, whose design by Handel Architects echoes some of Legorreta’s sensibility, situates the museum in the first four floors of a mixed-used high-rise at the same location. The controversial strategy, which includes rehabilitation of a historic building and new construction of a 47-story, 550-foot-high tower with residential units, has faced local opposition over height limits, environmental concerns, and the interpretation of historic preservation laws.

Lawrence Halprin (1916–2009)

View across Esplanade, 1984 The Chinese Garden, 1984 Chinese Garden: The Lake, n.d. The Fountain, Yerba Buena Gardens, n.d.

Shadow box models; watercolor and gesso on photocopy, mounted on board, in box of foamcore, wood, and Plexiglass Courtesy of The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania by the gift of Lawrence Halprin

I favor the Terraces Scheme! This is, in a sense, a derived point of view since at the outset I thought it too complex & against the grain of the city to work. But now I am convinced it is by far the most original & exciting scheme & will have the greatest impact on people’s enjoyment of the place.

Lawrence Halprin, May 26, 1981, Halprin Notebook, The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania

The influential Bay Area landscape architect Lawrence Halprin’s vision for Yerba Buena Center (YBC) incorporated many of his concepts for public spaces. In his 1981 notebook, Halprin sketched his theories of open and closed spaces to arrive at the terraced schematic for Yerba Buena Gardens on view in these delicate and wondrous shadow boxes.

Halprin thought that “the urban room” should be public forecourt to the programmatic concerns for the site, which were centered on a convention center, hotel, and housing. His ideas contrast with what he describes as “one dormant mega image” that those architectural elements would create. By addressing intimacy in scale and performative layers of sequencing for the spaces, he created an open space within the YBC site. The concept was for the terraces to blend architecture and garden—building and landscape—creating a “cacophony of three-dimensional spaces.”

Cathy Simon With John Long and Dan Cheetham Ratio Design Associates, model makers San Francisco Ballet Pavilion Model, 1995 Mixed media Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

In 1995, the War Memorial Opera House closed for seismic upgrades, leaving the San Francisco Ballet without a permanent home for nearly two years. Earlier, the Ballet’s board of directors engaged the women-owned architecture, urban design, and planning practice Simon Martin-Vegue Winkelstein Moris (SMWM) to create a temporary space.

SMWM designed the San Francisco Ballet Pavilion for a location at the edge of Yerba Buena Gardens on Mission Street. In a prospectus, the firm identified architectural elements that would “create an atmosphere of celebration and theatricality,” including clear and translucent glass and shaped fabric panels.

With costs escalating and without a commercial partner, the board canceled the project. Questions about the use of the space over time and the burden placed on the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency to erect an income-producing commercial building after ten years were far-reaching obstacles to a plan intended to address what the prospectus identified as “a pressing and hitherto unmet need in San Francisco’s cultural environment” for an “intimate, state-of-the-art theatre.”

Daniel Libeskind (1946– ) Proposed Design for Contemporary Jewish Museum (model A–60,000 sq. feet), c. 2006 Wood, foamcore, Plexiglass Courtesy of the Contemporary Jewish Museum

History does not come to an end but opens to the future: history is a dynamic ground.

Daniel Libeskind, in Mitchell Schwarzer, “Toward a California Judaism,” James E. Young et al., Daniel Libeskind and the Contemporary Jewish Museum: New Jewish Architecture from Berlin to San Francisco (New York: Rizzoli, 2008)

In 1994, the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency invited the Contemporary Jewish Museum to develop the historic Jessie Street Pacific Gas & Electric Power Substation, a landmark building remodeled and enlarged by the architect Willis Polk after the 1906 earthquake. The substation, which reflects the aesthetics of the City Beautiful movement, had been spared during the nearly wholesale demolition of the South of Market district (later Yerba Buena) in the 1970s.

After rejecting plans put forth by the architect Peter Eisenman, who is highly regarded for his sensitive Berlin Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (2005), the museum hired Daniel Libeskind as the “starchitect” for its new building. Libeskind’s ambitious conception would not only house the organization but also define its public identity through materials, built gesture, and treatment of the site.

One of three iterations proposed by Libeskind, this model features his signature style elements of geometric shards encased in dynamic materiality. Nearly three times the size—60,000 square feet—of the built museum, it would have dramatically altered the surrounding architecture through its assertive scale. The model offers an opportunity to reflect on the positive effects of the design process, which in the museum’s case resulted in an innovative architectural approach that foregrounds the substation, a public plaza, and the nearby historic Saint Patrick’s Church while drawing attention to Libeskind’s vision.

Ira Nowinski (1942– ) See all images in checklist pgs. 56- 60

Ira Nowinski’s moving photographs capture the dignity of these aged warriors and redemptive power of the human spirit. J. Anthony Kline, presiding justice, First District Court of Appeals, 1995

In the 1970s, the photographer Ira Nowinski captured the transformation of the South of Market neighborhood. This was an era when redevelopment programs were sweeping across America eradicating vernacular architecture and displacing residents. The San Francisco Redevelopment Agency sought to create a convention center, hotels, housing, and retail, but this action required the relocation of working class and elderly citizens, mostly men, who lived in safe, low-rent housing.

In 1971, these local residents formed Tenants and Owners in Opposition to Redevelopment (TOOR) in protest of redevelopment pressures. A political and legal battle ensued in which the residents immobilized the project, delaying it for twenty years and resulting in new affordable housing units under TOOR. Today the Yerba Buena Center houses a convention center and other cultural amenities.

Nowinski made these photographs beginning in 1971, when the San Francisco Chronicle headline “Ninety-six Citizens Thrown Out of Hotel” compelled him to document the dismantling of the South of Market district and the hotel residents displaced by redevelopment. They are published in No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly (1979).

Left to right: TOOR meeting, Milner Hotel, 1973 Joe Verdi, Rex Hotel, 1972 George Woolf, Lobby, Milner Hotel, 1972 Room 101, West Hotel, 1974 Parking Lot, Fourth and Howard, 1974 Joe Marsh, Joyce Hotel, 1971

From No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly, published in 1979 Courtesy of the photographer, Ira Nowinski

Left to right: Philip Roth, Fourth Street, 1973 Site, Milner Hotel, Fourth Street, 1974 Milner Hotel, Fourth Street, 1974 Rex Hotel, Third Street, 1974 Site, Hotel Sparta, Third Street, 1974 Gertrude Penny, Clementina Towers, 1972 Martha Laye and Mr. Cransten, Joyce Hotel, 1971 Vacant Room, West Hotel, 1974 Mr. Romley, Joyce Hotel, 1971 Vacant Bathroom, Panama Hotel, 1974

From No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly, published in 1979 Courtesy of the photographer, Ira Nowinski

Left to right: Lobby, Rex Hotel, 1974 Castle Café, 1973 Ken Roth, Rock Hotel, 1972 Room 201, West Hotel, 1974 Ken Roth, World Series, Rock Hotel, 1972 Dominoes, Rex Hotel, 1972

From No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly, published in 1979 Courtesy of the photographer, Ira Nowinski

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From Halprin notebooks at the Architecture Archive at University of Pennsylvania

CHECKLIST WITH IMAGES & DETAILS

CHECKLIST WITH IMAGES & DETAILS ONLY

INTRODUCTION (entry wall)

1. Ira Nowinski (1942– ) Site, SFMOMA, 2013 Digital reproduction from original 1974 silver gelatin print From No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly Promised gift of the artist

MARINCELLO LOBBY GALLERY (left to right)

2. Mark Klett (1952– ) Fruit Tree Planted a Long Time Ago by Farmers, Oakwood Valley (from the Headlands Project), 1987 Silver gelatin print, ed. 4/50 Courtesy of the artist

3. KRON News / Art Brown broadcasting Marincello Mall, March 20, 1967 16mm newsfilm, 3:07 minutes Video courtesy of KRON-TV, San Francisco

4. Anthony M. Guzzardo & Associates Preliminary Entrance Study [for Tennessee Valley Entrance], n.d. Ink, pencil, colored pencil and marker on paper Courtesy of National Park Service, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, GOGA-37413

5. Unknown Untitled [bus and pedestrian schematic], n.d. Pen and colored pencil on vellum Courtesy of National Park Service, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, GOGA-37413

6. Unknown Major Road System, n.d. Ink on paper Courtesy of National Park Service, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, GOGA-37413

7. KPIX Eyewitness News / Bill Hillman broadcasting Marincello Purchased by Nature Conservancy, December 3, 1972 Archival newsfilm, 16mm color, comagnetic sound film, 3:57 minutes Video courtesy of KPIX-TV, San Francisco

8. Department of Defense, Department of the Army, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, U.S. Army Audiovisual Center President Richard M. Nixon; Etc. [visiting proposed Golden Gate National Recreation Area to urge swift congressional action for passage of bill informally identified as "Gateway West"], 1972 Silent digital video from archival footage ARC Identifier 34628 / Local Identifier 111-LC-57416 Courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration

9. Unknown Model of Marincello Development, 1967 Wood, plaster, plastic, paint, architectural flocking, and other medium Courtesy of National Park Service, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, GOGA-17015

EPHEMERA

10. Harlan Soeten Letters (1914–2008), director of the San Francisco Maritime Museum, was a key opponent of the Marincello project. In these letters, he outlines the key opposition players and proponents (December 22, 1965); confirms the original plan's intent to house 150,000 residents (December 1, 1966); recognizes opposition to the project as part of a larger environmental movement (December 27, 1966); and addresses the perils of the proposed freeway in relation to the Major Road System depicted in this gallery (January 11, 1967). California Tomorrow Collection MS 3641, California Historical Society

11. Unknown photographer. Thomas Frouge and Associate Securing Pacific Avenue Sign at Proposed Marincello Development, Newspaper clipping mounted on scrapbook page (attributed to the Marin Independent Journal, February 11, 1966). Courtesy of National Park Service, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, GOGA-27066 12. Unknown photographer Tennessee Valley Marincello Gates, c. 1973, Color photograph. Courtesy of National Park Service, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, GOGA-2316 13. The Frouge Corporation, Annual Report for Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1964. Courtesy of National Park Service, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, GOGA-34887

FERRY BUILDING

GALLERY ONE (left to right)

14. Willis Polk (1867–1924) Ferry Building Peristyle, 1897 Ink on paper Willis Jefferson Polk Collection Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

TOP ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT: 15. San Francisco Embarcadero Freeway from Telegraph Hill, 1967, photographer unknown, CHS2013.1273 16. Commuters Exiting Ferry Building at Foot of Market Street, n.d., photographer unknown, CHS2013.1271 17. San Francisco Union Ferry Building, c. 1898–1905, photographer unknown, CHS2013.1265 18. Ferry Building at Night in the Fog and Moonlight, c. 1909, photographer Willard E. Worden, CHS2013.1268 19. View of Market Street from Ferry Building, n.d., photographer unknown, CHS2013.1266

MIDDLE ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT: 20. Cable Cars at Ferry Building, c. 1900–1904, photographer Gabriel Moulin, CHS2013.Moulin.003 21. San Francisco American Conservatory Theatre Hot Air Balloon Flight from Embarcadero Center #2, 1972, photographer Arthur Frisch, CHS2013.1274 22. Market St. from Ferry Tower, 1906, photographer H. C. White Co., CHS2013.1206 23. Ferry Building Illuminated for Panama Pacific International Exposition, 1915, photographer unknown, CHS2013. 1269 24. Ferry Boats Leaving Slips at Ferry Building, c. 1920, photographer Gabriel Moulin, CHS2013.Moulin.002

BOTTOM ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT: 25. Construction at the Ferry Building, c. 1900–1904, photographer W. Wesley Swadley, CHS2013.1270 26. Ferry Building, Foot Market St., San Francisco, 1906, photographer unknown, CHS2012.877 (above) 27. Commuters Entering and Exiting San Francisco Ferry Terminal, c. 1863– 1900, photographer unknown, CHS2013.1264 (below) 28. Ferry Building after 1906 Earthquake, c. 1906, photographer unknown, CHS2013.1267 29. Three Kids on Deck of Southern Pacific Ferryboat Approaching San Francisco Ferry Terminal, n.d., Southern Pacific photograph, CHS2013.1272 30. Report of D. H. Burnham on the Improvement and Adornment of San Francisco, 1905 California Historical Society Collection, 979.461g 935

31. William G. Merchant (1889–1962) Freeway and Ferry Building, c. 1958 Colored pencil on paper William Merchant/Hans Gerson Collection Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

32. Paul Forster / SF Security Lithograph San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge Celebration, 1936 California Historical Society, Poster 266

GALLERY TWO (left to right)

EPHEMERA

33. Joint Committee of the Northern California Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and the California Association of Landscape Architects, Submitted to the California State Park Commission Ferry Building State Park: A Proposal for a State Park at San Francisco's Historic Ferry Building, October 1955. Spiral-bound manuscript with original photographs mounted within. Courtesy of San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library REF f725.34 J668f. 34. San Francisco City Planning Commission, [A portion of] The Master Plan of San Francisco: Shoreline Development, Preliminary Report, September 1943. Courtesy of John King. 35. San Francisco World Trade Center Authority San Francisco World Trade Center [prospectus], 1951. Courtesy of John King

36. William Merchant (1889–1962) Aerial View, n.d. Pencil on paper Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

37. William Merchant (1889–1962) San Francisco World Trade Center [showing sundial], 1947 Graphite on paper William Merchant/Hans Gerson Collection Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

38. William Merchant (1889–1962) San Francisco World Trade Center [showing tower and underside of pedestrian bridge], 1947 Graphite on paper William Merchant/Hans Gerson Collection Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

39. William Merchant (1889–1962) San Francisco World Trade Center [showing angled tower at right with bridge and Embarcadero below], 1947 Graphite on paper William Merchant/Hans Gerson Collection Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

40. William Merchant (1889–1962) Aerial View, 1951 Graphite on paper William Merchant/Hans Gerson Collection Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

41. William Merchant (1889–1962) San Francisco World Trade Center, c. 1950 Photomontage William Merchant/Hans Gerson Collection Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

42. William Merchant (1889–1962) San Francisco World Trade Center [bird's eye view], 1951 Graphite on trace William Merchant/Hans Gerson Collection Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

43. Ernest Born (1898–1992) San Francisco Looking Northwest, 1956 Pastel on paper Ernest and Esther Born Collection Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

GALLERY THREE (left to right)

44. John Bolles (1905–1983) Northern Waterfront Project, c. 1968 Photostat print Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

45. John S. Bolles and Ernest Born Architects Description of Embarcadero Crescent View, c. 1956–61 Ernest and Esther Born Collection Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

46. Ernest Born (1898–1992) Embarcadero Crescent View, 1956 Pastel on paper Ernest and Esther Born Collection Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

47. Mario J. Ciampi (1907–2006) Proposed World's Fair, 1965 Colored pencil and watercolor on paper Mario Ciampi Collection Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

48. Buster Simpson (1942– ) Embark, Proposed Installation at Embarcadero and Clay Street, 1999 Casting plastic and acrylic paint Courtesy of the artist

49. Buster Simpson (1942– ) Embark Controversy [media coverage], n.d. Digital print Courtesy of the artist

50. Mario J. Ciampi (1907–2006) Existing Ferry Building, Proposed Central Lobby, 1978 Colored pencil on paper Mario Ciampi Collection Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

51. Vernon DeMars (1908–2005) Proposal for New Ferry Building Plaza Following the Removal of the Freeway, 1990–91 Mixed media on wood plinth Vernon DeMars Collection Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

MAIN GALLERY: YERBA BUENA CENTER (left to right)

52. Unknown photographer Benjamin Swig, Hotel man and Financier, Posing with Associates and Sketch of Plan for Redevelopment of Downtown City Clocks, c. 1953 Digital reproduction of 8” x 10” black-and-white photograph Courtesy of San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library Photo ID AAD-3044

53. Mario J. Ciampi (1907–2006) Proposed Long-range Plan for Yerba Buena Center, 1981 Graphite on paper Mario Ciampi Collection Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

54. Mario J. Ciampi (1907–2006) Transportation Corridor, n.d. Colored pencil (or marker) on paper Mario Ciampi Collection Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

55. Norman Kondy, Associate Office of Lawrence Halprin Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco, California Saint Patrick’s Square, 1984 Shadow box model; watercolor and gesso on photocopy, mounted on board, in box of foamcore, wood and Plexiglass The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania by the gift of Lawrence Halprin

56. Norman Kondy, Associate Office of Lawrence Halprin Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco, California View across Esplanade, 1984 Shadow box model; watercolor and gesso on photocopy, mounted on board, in box of foamcore, wood, and Plexiglass The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania by the gift of Lawrence Halprin

57. Office of Lawrence Halprin Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco, California The Chinese Garden, 1984 Shadow box model; watercolor and gesso on photocopy, mounted on board, in box of foamcore, wood, and Plexiglass The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania by the gift of Lawrence Halprin

58. Office of Lawrence Halprin Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco, California The Fountain, Yerba Buena Gardens, n.d. Shadow box model with internal light; watercolor and gesso on photocopy, mounted on board, in box of foamcore, wood, and Plexiglass The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania by the gift of Lawrence Halprin

59. Cathy Simon With John Long and Dan Cheetham Ratio Design Associates, model makers San Francisco Ballet Pavilion Model, 1995 Mixed media Courtesy of Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

60. a. Ricardo Legorreta (1931–2011) Model for Proposed Mexican Museum, South View, 2001 Digital drawing (as shown on ipad) Courtesy of Legorreta + Legorreta

60. b. Ricardo Legorreta (1931–2011) Model for Proposed Mexican Museum, West View, 2001 Digital drawing (as shown on ipad) Courtesy of Legorreta + Legorreta

60. c. Ricardo Legorreta (1931–2011) Model for Proposed Mexican Museum, North View, 2001 Digital drawing (as shown on ipad) Courtesy of Legorreta + Legorreta

61. Daniel Libeskind (1946– ) Proposed Design for Contemporary Jewish Museum (model A–60,000 sq. feet), c. 2006 Wood, foamcore, Plexiglass Courtesy of the Contemporary Jewish Museum

62. Peter Eisenman, FAIA (1932– ) Proposal for the Jewish Museum Photograph by Dick Frank Studios, New York, 1996 Courtesy of the Contemporary Jewish Museum

63. Letter to Maria Monet from Peter Eisenman, FAIA, January 12, 1996 Courtesy of the Contemporary Jewish Museum

64. NEED KENZO TANGE YBC PLAN 65. Kenzo Tange photo … Currently Outstanding until further notice from Cheryl

66. Ira Nowinski (1942– ) TOOR Meeting, Milner Hotel, 1973 Gelatin print Plate 48, from No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly Courtesy of the photographer, Ira Nowinski

67. Ira Nowinski (1942– ) Joe Verdi, Rex Hotel, 1972 Gelatin print Plate 5, from No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly Courtesy of the photographer, Ira Nowinski

68. Ira Nowinski (1942– ) George Woolf, Lobby, Milner Hotel, 1972 Gelatin print Plate 8, from No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly Courtesy of the photographer, Ira Nowinski 69. Ira Nowinski (1942– ) Room 101, West Hotel, 1974 Gelatin print Plate 50, from No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly Courtesy of the photographer, Ira Nowinski

70. Ira Nowinski (1942– ) Parking Lot, Fourth and Howard, 1974 Gelatin print Plate 44, from No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly Courtesy of the photographer, Ira Nowinski

71. Ira Nowinski (1942– ) Joe Marsh, Joyce Hotel, 1971 Gelatin print Plate 29, from No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly Courtesy of the photographer, Ira Nowinski

72. Ira Nowinski (1942– ) Philip Roth, Fourth Street, 1973 Gelatin print Plate 40, from No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly Courtesy of the photographer, Ira Nowinski

73. Ira Nowinski (1942– ) Site, Milner Hotel, Fourth Street, 1974 Gelatin print Plate 47, from No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly Courtesy of the photographer, Ira Nowinski

74. Ira Nowinski (1942– ) Milner Hotel, Fourth Street, 1974 Gelatin print Plate 42, from No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly Courtesy of the photographer, Ira Nowinski

75. Ira Nowinski (1942– ) Rex Hotel, Third Street, 1974 Gelatin print Plate 43, from No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly Courtesy of the photographer, Ira Nowinski

76. Ira Nowinski (1942– ) Site, Hotel Sparta, Third Street, 1974 Gelatin print Plate 46, from No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly Courtesy of the photographer, Ira Nowinski

77. Ira Nowinski (1942– ) Gertrude Penny, Clementina Towers, 1972 Gelatin print Plate 25, from No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly Courtesy of the photographer, Ira Nowinski Gertrude Penny, Clementina Towers, 1972 78. Ira Nowinski (1942– ) Martha Laye and Mr. Cransten, Joyce Hotel, 1971 Gelatin print Plate 34, from No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly Courtesy of the photographer, Ira Nowinski

79. Ira Nowinski (1942– ) Vacant Room, West Hotel, 1974 Gelatin print Plate 36, from No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly Courtesy of the photographer, Ira Nowinski

80. Ira Nowinski (1942– ) Mr. Romley, Joyce Hotel, 1971 Gelatin print Plate 32, from No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly Courtesy of the photographer, Ira Nowinski

81. Ira Nowinski (1942– ) Vacant Bathroom, Panama Hotel, 1974 Gelatin print Plate 35, from No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly Courtesy of the photographer, Ira Nowinski

82. Ira Nowinski (1942– ) Lobby, Rex Hotel, 1974 Gelatin print Plate 23, from No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly Courtesy of the photographer, Ira Nowinski

83. Ira Nowinski (1942– ) Castle Café, 1973 Gelatin print Plate 12, from No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly Courtesy of the photographer, Ira Nowinski

84. Ira Nowinski (1942– ) Ken Roth, Rock Hotel, 1972 Gelatin print Plate F, from No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly Courtesy of the photographer, Ira Nowinski

85. Ira Nowinski (1942– ) Room 201, West Hotel, 1974 Gelatin print Plate 17, from No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly Courtesy of the photographer, Ira Nowinski Room 201, West Hotel, 1974 86. Ira Nowinski (1942– ) Ken Roth, World Series, Rock Hotel, 1972 Gelatin print Plate 10, from No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly Courtesy of the photographer, Ira Nowinski

87. Ira Nowinski (1942– ) Dominoes, Rex Hotel, 1972 Gelatin print Plate 22, from No Vacancy: Urban Renewal and the Elderly Courtesy of the photographer, Ira Nowinski

EPHEMERA

88. San Francisco Redevelopment Agency Yerba Buena Center: A Major Opportunity to Invest in Downtown San Francisco, October 1, 1969 Courtesy of Environmental Design Library, University of California, Berkeley

89. San Francisco Redevelopment Agency Redevelopment Plan for the Yerba Buena Center Approved Redevelopment Project Area D-1, September 1, 1966 Courtesy of the Prelinger Library, San Francisco

90. Will Stevens Three Street: A Novel of Mirth and Magic on San Francisco's Skid Row, 1962 Courtesy of the Prelinger Library, San Francisco

91. San Francisco Redevelopment Agency Yerba Buena Center: Existing Conditions, July 15, 1965 Stapled report Courtesy of the Prelinger Library, San Francisco

92. San Francisco Redevelopment Agency Request for Qualifications, Mixed-Use Development,Yerba Buena Center, Downtown San Francisco, April 1980 Courtesy of SPUR

93. Economics Research Associates, Los Angeles Reevaluation of the Development Feasibility of Public Facilities in Yerba Buena Center, Prepared for the Redevelopment Agency of the City and County of San Francisco, February 7, 1966 Comb-bound report Courtesy of the Prelinger Library, San Francisco

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READING AREA

William Alexander Coulter (1849–1936) Lyford's Stone Tower Overlooking the Bay, Tiburon, c. 1890s Oil on canvas California Historical Society, gift of William T. Martinelli in memory of his wife Marie Accession no. 60-1-18-2

Aaron Ximm, “Marincello,” Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, 2009 Ben H. Bagdikian, “The Rape of the Land,” The Saturday Evening Post, June 18, 1966 Bill Yenne, “San Francisco Then & Now,” Thunder Bay Press, San Diego, 1998 Cathy Simon, “Presentation Booklet for Temporary Ballet Pavilion,” FAIA, LEED, AP BD+C, 1995 Daniel Libeskind, “Daniel Libeskind and the Contemporary Jewish Museum: New Jewish Architecture from Berlin to San Francisco,” Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., New York, 2008 Ira Nowinski, “No Vacancy,” Carolyn Bean Associates, San Francisco, 1979 James P. Degnan, “The Wasters: Santa Clara: The Bulldozer Crop,” The Nation, New York, 1965 Kevin Lynch, “The Image of the City,” The M.I.T. Press, Massachusetts, 1960 Mike Davis, “City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles,” Vintage Books, New York, 1992 Miles DeCoster; Mark Klett; Mike Mandel; Paul Metcalf; Larry Sultan, “Headlands: The Marin Coast at the Golden Gate,” The University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1989 Mitchell Schwarzer, “Architecture of the San Francisco Bay Area: A History Guide,” William Stout Publishers, San Francisco, 2007 Paolo Polledri, “Visioning San Francisco,” San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, 1990 Peter Blake, “God’s Own Junkyard: The Planned Deterioration of America’s Landscape,” Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Canada, 1964 Raymond Williams, “The County and the City,” Oxford University Press, New York, 1973 Rebecca Solnit, “Infinite City: A San Francisco Atlas,” University of California Press, Berkeley, 2010

CURATOR’S SUGGESTED READING

Rebecca Solnit, Susan Schwartzenberg, Hollow City: The Siege of San Francisco and the Crisis of American Urbanism. London; New York: Verso 2000.

Rebecca Solint, Infinite City: a San Francisco Atlas. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2010.

Dean MacCannell, The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class. London; New York: Routledge, 1992.

Mike Davis, City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles. London; New York: Verso, 1990.

Gray Brechin, Imperial San Francisco: urban Power, Earthly Ruins. London; Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.

Reclaiming San Francisco: History, Politics, Culture, eds. James Brook, Chris Carlsson, Nancy J. Peters. San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1998.

Lawrence Halprin, The RSVP Cycles: Creative Processess in the Human Environment. New York: George Braziller, Inc., 1969.

Florence Lipsky, San Francisco: La grille sure les Collins (The Grid meets the Hills), Marseille: Editions Parentheses, 1999.

Visionary San Francisco, eds. Paolo Polledri; Greg Brechin; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Munich; New York: Prestel, 1990.

Headlands: The Marin Coast at the Golden Gate, eds Miles Decoster; Mark Klett; Mike Mandel; Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1989.

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While the exhibition reveals the human determination in the making of public spaces, it also cautions against homogenized place-making and the touristic. These three sites suggest that the present compares to memories of idealize pasts—the feral landscape, a maritime village, the Victorians. In this way the built environment of today is a collected history that is still building. Can a radical architecture emerge from nostalgic models? Is the unbuilt future different than the unbuilt past?

Cydney M. Payton, Curator

UNBUILT SLIDESHOW http://www.californiahistoricalsociety.org/exhibitions/unbuiltsf/slideshow/

PRESS http://www.sfgate.com/homeandgarden/a rticle/Exhibition-imagines-a-different-S- F-skyline-4729200.php#photo-5033784 http://www.thehistorylist.com/events/unb uilt-san-francisco-the-view-from-futures- past-san-francisco-california http://urbanlifesigns.blogspot.com/2013/10/if-you-make-grandiose-plan-in-sf- they.html