In amber morning light I boarded a vaporetto and floated down Venice’s Grand Canal. Bit of a switch from Dallas.
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The Floods in BudapestElizabeth Snowden
Eyes on the River. Photo by Christopher Herring.
The stone banks alongside the river contain the city. Despite them, here is the river, rising. Silently, swiftly the waters swarm downstream; the swell of water does not much alter the river’s appearance. You know there is more of it now only because benches, parks, and the bike road are being submerged. It has not yet risen to the main city wall, about 20 feet higher; three more days of flooding expected.
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Mr. Waka’s Dog HouseJohn Parman
Joseph Kosuth reviewing plans for the art installations at the Dog House. Photo by pm cook.
“Get out at the Sakuragaoka post office. Turn around and you’ll see a Lawson’s. Walk to it and then turn left. Walk up that street and you’ll see the Dog House on the right.” Typical Tokyo directions from the art impresario and entrepreneur Joni Waka. > Read More
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Bay Lights Ignite: One Part Business, Two Parts PleasureDonna Schumacher
Photo by Lucas Saugen, courtesy thebaylights.org
Perched on a bar stool at Sinbad’s Pier 2 Restaurant with a friend, I sipped a glass of white wine on a warm spring night. Sinbad’s is definitely a touristy establishment with its wonderful view of the Bay Bridge. And that is why I was there—to take in the recently ignited “Bay Lights” project on the Bridge’s Western span. > Read More
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Did Muji take a wrong turn in San Francisco?Yosh Asato
Where’s Muji? The Japanese chain opened its first West Coast store on a challenging block of Ninth Street last fall.
Muji finally opened in San Francisco late last year, ending a low-grade yearning that has nagged local devotees since the Japanese chain landed in New York in 2007. But unlike the fanfare that greeted Uniqlo, another Japanese brand that debuted here last fall, Muji’s arrival was more akin to sneaking in the back door—literally. > Read More
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Under The Surface, Past The Image, and Towards a Conversation: An Interview With TRACESF’s EditorsBrad Leibin
This past fall, the four founding editors of TraceSF (Yosh Asato, Yuki Bowman, John Parman, and I) sat down with Sarah Peck of Landscape Urbanism to discuss our vision for the role of TraceSF as a locally-focused, independent space for dialogue exploring Bay Area design, culture, and urbanism. Check out the interview here. > Read More
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On Making DocumentariesGlenn Lym
Woodward’s Gardens, photo from California State Library.
I like projects that teach me things I never expected to learn.
When the economy melted in 2008, I realized that I could take a rest from my practice’s residential focus. The downturn called for something different. I had time to look at what was happening around me. I had done movie projects before, so I found myself with an impulse to make documentaries on architectural subjects. > Read More
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STREET VIEW: A TALE OF TWO HOUSESChristopher Arnold
House 1 in 1961.
As an architect, it is impossible to predict what the future holds for one’s projects and sometimes it is better not to try. > Read More
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Under her Watchful Gaze: Installing the Cindy Sherman Mural at SFMOMASabrina Brennan
Cindy Sherman mural, SFMOMA 4th floor. Photo by Sabrina Brennan.
I recently had an opportunity to install a mural for the Cindy Sherman exhibition at SFMOMA, currently on view through October 8, 2012. > Read More
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Global Design through Local HackingAndrew Faulkner
120+ attendees met at Intersection for the Arts on 8/14/2012 to brainstorm ideas for prototype interventions on 5th Street between Howard and Market.
Andrew Faulkner reports on a recent brainstorming session that anticipates the upcoming Urban Protoyping: San Francisco festival. > Read More
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International OrangeJohn Cary
Interior of Fort Point during International Orange. Artist Cornelia Parker’s “Reveille” can be seen at the end of the corridor. Photo by John Cary.
On May 27, the tranquil beauty of the Bay and the grace of the Golden Gate Bridge were rocked by a spectacle of pyrotechnics and light to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the bridge. > Read More
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A ROOM WITH A VIEW: SELECTING SUBJECTS BY CHANCEChristopher Arnold
Kobe, Japan, 8.1999, Shinkobe Oriental Hotel
Over about a 10-year period in the 1990s I did a lot of traveling, which involved periodic waiting around in hotels before and after meetings. I decided that on every trip I would execute a watercolor painting of the view through my hotel window regardless of the merits of the scene. > Read More
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Home Sweet HomeRika Putri
A two‐year resident of the emerging Central Market district comments on her neighborhood’s evolution and ambiance. > Read More
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