Archive for 'Interviews'
Craig Hamburg: Developer, Citizen, Urbanist
“I’m disappointed that housing is so often treated strictly as a commodity… Designs should be impactful, not relying on cheap materials or bloated buildings. Developers aren’t the same as speculators. Developers are in it for the long-term…
“Context matters, too. My vision for San Francisco is to have great public transportation with higher density around the transit hubs, and get more cars off the road.”
(Photo: 400 Grove St., San Francisco by DDG, design by Fougeron Architecture)
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David Baker Architects: Affordable Housing, Slower Streets
Architects David Baker and Amit Price Patel discuss ways to make city housing and city living more effective, livable, and inclusive. For example, Lakeside Senior Apartments integrates low-income, formerly homeless, and special-needs seniors in a new 92-unit building in Oakland, California. (Photo: Bruce Damonte)
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Building It: An Unheard-Of Housing Strategy
“The whole question about whether developers are greedy is irrelevant. The people leveling this charge aren’t honest. In Los Gatos and Lafayette, professionals making $250K a year are complaining about “greedy developers”. But they themselves are not producing anything tangible, like more housing. They are not contributing to the general welfare…”
– Sonja Trauss, BARF Founder
“Getting evicted is not the worst thing to happen – if you can easily find an equivalent place.”
– Laura Clark, Exective Director, GrowSF
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David Ludwig: Artist, Architect, Tiny House Advocate
“Home is the nest we create for ourselves as a base for living. It provides us with safety and security – making a conscious and sub-conscious statement to ourselves and our community about our personal values… One is owned by one’s possessions when the acquisition, display, storage, and maintenance of possessions falls out of alignment with one’s self-image and life purpose.” (Photo: David Ludwig)
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David Winslow on the Guerrilla Urbanism of DIY Neighborhood Improvements
David Winslow of San Francisco’s City Planning Department talks about “living alleys” and walkable neighborhoods. “Home to me is a neighborhood where I can get basic needs met… Having a place to go outside of my own house… a corner cafe where they know me by name. It’s having public spaces that are functional and comfortable.” (Photo: green alley, Montreal, courtesy David Winslow)
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Richard Rhodes: Master Stonemason Turns Sculptor
“Stone is one of the most uniquely expressive materials on the planet. As an artist, I strive to think through the material – classical training as a stone-carver gives a unique perspective, similar to doing my scales the way a pianist would. I consider myself a modernist now – but still grounded in a deep affection for, and knowledge of, the classics.” (Photo: Richard Rhodes)
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Karin Payson wins the Kirby Ward Fitzpatrick Prize 2013
The Architectural Foundation of San Francisco presents the Kirby Ward Fitzpatrick Prize every year to a small San Francisco architectural firm for design excellence. This year the prize has been awarded to Karin Payson for her work on the new Bayview Public Library.
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Amy Eliot on Women in Architecture
“Women forget that we CAN go with our instinct, we can trust our intuitions. Sometimes women at big firms or competitive work situations take the attitude that “I can make it work… I have to make it work… I’ll do whatever it takes, suck it up without complaint”. For women and men alike, it’s important to have control over our own destiny. Follow your passion, and don’t assume there’s only one right way to do, or think about, architecture.”
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EB Min on Women in Architecture
“If you want to change things, you have to stay in the game. If you drop out and talk from the sidelines, people won’t take you as seriously.
Having a good mentor is very important. I can’t stress enough how important it is to be able to turn to someone for advice… a mentor can also be a model of behavior. I could watch my colleagues to see how they talked to people, how they spoke to clients and contractors. They did some custom, highly creative designs – how did they manage to get their way? Even the wording to use can be important… a mentor can coach you on how to speak.”
