Summary of A’19 Public Architects Pre-Conference Workshop held on June 5, 2019
Ever heard the phrase “Good Enough (or “Close Enough”) for Government Work”? Since the 1960’s, this phrase has been used to reference poor quality production and/or construction and has become somewhat of a joke. Believe it or not, this phrase was originally coined in WWII and referred to the highest quality and performance standards so that it could be used to win the war, just the opposite of the implied meaning today. In other words, if a project or product was NOT built to the highest exacting quality and standard of care, it was in fact NOT “Good enough for Government Work”.
Our Civic Buildings are not just monuments to the government(s) that built them, but more importantly, they are the Buildings for the people and by the people, often paid for through the taxpayer dollars and/or bonds. For this reason, they should be built to the highest standards, BUILT TO LAST, for generations to come. In the age of developer driven construction, where corners are cut to save money or “value engineering” is implemented to meet unrealistic budgets, this concept is even more relevant today.
This was the theme around the 2019 AIA Conference on Architecture (A'19)’s Pre-Conference Workshop entitled “BUILT TO LAST: WHY PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE NEEDS TO STAND THE TEST OF TIME”. The Public Architects Knowledge Committee (PA-KC) had a very successful all-day workshop at A'19 and one of the most engaging workshops to date. The workshop was organized into (4) separate sessions all focused around the notion that our Public Architecture needs to stand the test of time, whether it be “Something Old”. “Something New”, “Something Green” or “Back to the Future”, which was the initial basic organization and working titles for the sessions.
In Session #1, Julia Laue, AIA, LEED AP, Workshop Chair and Public Architect’s Advisory Board Member presented “Something Old: The Renovation and Seismic Upgrade of Historic Civic Architecture”. In this session, three San Francisco Historic Buildings were hi-lighted: SF City Hall, Glen Canyon Rec Center and the historic War Memorial Veterans Building. For the purposes of brevity, I will highlight just a couple here:
- San Francisco City Hall: Known as the “Crown Jewel” of San Francisco’s Historic Civic Center, City Hall suffered extensive damage during the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. Financed by the Earthquake Safety Program Phase II and Proposition A, the Seismic Upgrade and Improvements project restored the national landmark’s architectural beauty and brought it into the 21st century with state-of-the art technology.
- Glen Canyon Recreation Center: Located in the Glen Park neighborhood, the Glen Canyon Recreation Center was built in 1937 and designed by William G. Merchant, a protégé’ to renowned Architect, Bernard Maybeck. The renovation restored the historic gymnasium and auditorium to their former glory, with new well-defined entry ways and expanded multi-purpose spaces linking the building to its community and spectacular setting. Designed to reach LEED Gold certification, the renovation unites historic architecture with modern technology in a seismically safe and environmentally sensitive building that serves the local residents and visitors.
Glen Canyon Park & Recreation Center, Built in 1937, Seismically Upgraded and Renovated in 2017 (Photo Courtesy of San Francisco Public Works)
In Session #2, “Something New”, Fred Clarke, FAIA, RIBA, JIA Senior Design Principal of the infamous Pelli Clarke Pelli, presented the new Salesforce Transit Center in San Francisco in one of the most fascinating and well received sessions. The Salesforce Transit Center is a state-of-the-art multimodal transit station in downtown San Francisco, linking 11 transit systems and connecting the city to the region, the state, and the nation. The innovative, highly sustainable design includes a 2.2-hectare (5.4-acre) rooftop park that anchors the growth of a new mixed-use neighborhood. In the spirit of New York’s Grand Central Terminal and London’s Victoria Station, the Transit Center’s soaring light-filled spaces give San Francisco a grand entrance that befits its status as one of the world’s great cities.
View of San Francisco's Transbay Transit Center's rooftop park (Photo courtesy of Pelli Clarke Pelli)
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In Session #3, “Something Green: Setting New Rules for a Warmer, Wetter World”, Eric Corey Freed, RA, LEED Fellow and renowned public speaker on architecture and the current climate crisis, conducted an interactive workshop on this critical and timely issue. Eric conducted a session that was not only funny and entertaining but also reached the audience in presenting the magnitude of a topic, that is one of the AIA’s priorities.
In the last decade, carbon levels increased 20 parts per million (from 380 to 405), record setting storms have become expected, and global temperature increased by half a degree Celsius. Our buildings and cities were designed on assumptions that are no longer true. We need to find ways to incorporate resiliency thinking into our new and existing projects. Architects are in a unique position to transform our communities into safe, healthy, and abundant places. Resiliency is more than simply “getting back on your feet after a catastrophe,” but rather it’s about identifying and anticipating for all of the stresses and shocks that can affect our clients.
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The last session of the day, Session #4, Natasha Luthra, AIA, Director of Emerging Technologies, Jacobs Engineering presented “Back to the Future: How Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning is informing the future of our Cities and Public Spaces”. This fascinating session described what the future looks like for our cities, through the lens of technology such as “Smart Cities”. Topics of discussion included how technology is coloring the view of our past by advancing the way we collect data and recreate our history, and how technology will expand our future by looking into how advances in artificial intelligence and Machine Learning are informing the future of cities and public space. It was truly fascinating as our technology is exponentially growing and we must evolve along with it.
We now look forward to future workshops and hope to see you there!
Julia Laue, AIA, LEED AP
Principal Architect & Manager
San Francisco Public Works, Bureau of Architecture