PARK(ing) Day 2015 at INTERSTICE
On Friday, September 18th, the parking spot outside of the INTERSTICE office on Sutter Street in San Francisco was dominated by the presence of inflatable dancing tube men, or “Air Dancers” in celebration of Parking Day.
These Air Dancers were quite simply, the most hilarious, exuberant objects conceivable and brought joy, laughter, and awe to those who encountered them. INTERSTICE laid out a large area of turf and bright yellow chairs between the Air Dancers for passersby to share in some laughs and respite along the busy street.
IA has established a tradition of participating in the PARK(ing) Day festivities, 2015 being our 9th year celebrating the event. Sharing in PARK(ing) Day’s call to action for more urban public spaces, this year’s installation demonstrates the joy that can come from such environments. Check out our previous post for a history of IA’s Park(ing) Day celebrations.
INTERSTICE Begins work on the Lower Polk Alleyways District Initiative
In coordination with Lower Polk Neighbors, LPN, and the newly established Lower Polk Community Benefit District, CBD, INTERSTICE Architects has begun working with the community on an Improvement Initiative to create and define a new Polk Alleyways District in the heart of the Lower Polk neighborhood. There are six uniquely situated Alleys in the Lower Polk Neighborhood that extend outward from the Polk Street commercial spine. These two block long intimate alleyways form a finer urban grain to the central core of this rapidly changing neighborhood – extending from Olive at the South to Austin Alley at the North, and bounded on the West by Van Ness Avenue and East by Larkin Street.
INTERSTICE recognizes the dramatic need to understand and re-envision these five alleys as open space opportunities, instead of underutilized “back-alleys”often viewed as problems, and is collaborating with the LPN and CBD to identify opportunities for community engagement, physical changes, and future funding opportunities. In recognition of these public streets cumulatively as a significant open space resource, IA proposes studying them as a whole and as integral parts of a neighborhood core. In this way each can be uniquely and individually integrated into a larger, planned amenity for the whole neighborhood, which is desperately in need of improved green spaces and quality shared public space.
IA has completed the initial phase of existing resource documentation and introduced the existing conditions studies at the LPN meeting on August 12, enjoying initial feedback from the community. All who attended this meeting, as well as any persons in the Lower Polk neighborhood, are encouraged to join the upcoming workshop in October to share ideas and aspirations for the alleys.
Please link to the LPN newsletter and visit the site to keep up with announcements and community outreach workshops in the months ahead, as a comprehensive Master Plan evolves treating the Polk Alleys as a treasured asset and destination in this vibrant San Francisco neighborhood.
IA Sunset Parklet Wins AIASF Urban Design Award
We are extremely excited to be a winner this year at the SFAIA Architectural Awards Gala. INTERSTICE receives the Urban Design Award for 2015 for its Sunset Parklet, which was featured in the NACTO International Design of Cities conference last fall. The Sunset Parklet challenges the stereotypical “café patio” to leverage a complex program into a singular and synthetic sculptural expression that prioritizes functionality over the figural. The pro-bono design project is a monolithic “riff” on the diversity of SF’s street sections – by which four adjacent “streets” undulate and double back to create a rich interplay of ground, seats, lounge chairs, tables, benches, and planters.
From east to west, the design incorporates a bike parking deck, which divides into individual strips that rise and fall creating complex adjacencies as they pass each other, enfolding a wide variety of program opportunities and a rich diversity of formal “readings.” Constructed of sustainable and reclaimed materials in compliance with DPW’s Guidelines, the Sunset Parklet is now a new public amenity designed for two local community oriented businesses in San Francisco’s Outer Sunset district on the Judah light-rail transit line. INTERSTICE Architects took on the controversial 50ft-long site (2.5 parking spaces) to help Other Avenues Whole Food Co-op Market and the popular Sea Breeze Café develop and realize a simple, well detailed and synthetic solution to their multi-headed program demands and complex public process hurdles. We are proud to have helped this enthusiastic community both politically to galvanize support, and in its funding efforts over a grueling two-year process to become a point of local pride.
As one local observed, “it’s not like the other parklets … It’s more like a big sculpture … kids just can’t stop climbing all over it.”
Indoor Trees at the Office
The new trees have arrived and are being placed around our designer’s desks. The canopy provides shade for the studio, along with a dash of natural beauty.
New Studio Facade Construction
The paint is up and the raw materials are here!
The new front screen INTERSTICE designed, as an experiment with the Bosch Rexroth System, is being built by the IA team in-house.
INTERSTICE Completes Design/Build for Ghirardelli Square Holiday Market
INTERSTICE Architects designed the interior environment for this years “2014 El Mercado” Holiday Market, in partnership with local non-profit, La Cocina. The existing raw space is reconfigured using re-purposed shipping pallets and locally-sourced wine barrels to create spatial definition and material texture emphasizing the pop-up market’s retail displays.
Re-using plywood from the SF Street Food Festival, INTERSTICE re-programed the interior space for vending, seating, pathway and conversation nooks. The simple and restrained palette helps to unify the varied local crafts and holiday food selections. Festive lighting and a topographic “pallet lounge” on the second floor complete the holiday atmosphere for this year’s seasonal market place in San Francisco’s famed Ghirardelli Square.
Defining "Home"
Our Principal Architect, Andrew Dunbar, participated in the Novedge panel for “How to Succeed in Architecture: Third Places – The Architecture of Sharing”.
Each panelist was asked to explain what the term “Home” means to them in their personal life and in their practice.
Home, of course, works on many levels. I think at the very basic level it’s a kind of center… not so much geographical, it is ontological. It has a lot to do with meaning. It has very broad repercussions but also very specific qualities that belong to a sense of safety, protection and place.
My home is a city, but it’s also a place.
I’ve allowed San Francisco to change me. I’ve permitted the nesting of San Francisco to have affected me in such a way that I can be perceived as a San Franciscan.
We make it our own, and from that centering point, we are ourselves. – Dunbar
The full video can be found here.
The Final Countdown to SFSFF 2014
Recycled pallets, zip ties, gloves, Folsom Street and the IA team: it’s time for the San Francisco Street Food Festival!
Come join INTERSTICE Architects in celebrating the final year of the San Francisco Street Food Festival on Folsom Street. IA has designed and led the volunteer effort for the fifth year running, transforming Folsom Street in the Mission neighborhood to a dining district filled with people, food and festivities.
IA’s street furnishings design re-purposes shipping pallets to create banquettes for seating, eating, socializing, dining and drinking.
Thank you to La Cocina, the festival’s organizer, for your community leadership and inspired support of local food!
For more information about the schedule for the day, head over to the SFSFF website. The festival runs from 11 am – 7 pm.
Sunset Parklet: Complete!
The Sunset Parklet, designed by IA, is a public space hosted by Other Avenues Food Store and Sea Breeze Café on Judah St. between 44th and 45th Avenue.
It is officially complete and open to visitors!
The structure was designed to reflect the urban street grid and level changes of San Francisco. The movement and play of the wood units work together to create various programming opportunities.
An important feature of the design is the bike loop series. Visitors are encouraged to be one with the streetscape: to bike to the parklet, enjoy the outdoor environment, and interact with their fellow city goers.
The Parklet, ultimately, serves as a tool and compliment for business. Other Avenues and Sea Breeze Cafe customers can enjoy an extended sidewalk and the opportunity to interact with the design in multiple ways.
Hop on your two wheels and head towards the Outer Sunset!