Category Archives: Architecture
Berkeley Lab holds meeting for Emeryville/Berkeley site
Cannabis dispensaries display a stylish flair
After the Berkeley Patients’ Group’s plans to move into the old Sharffen Berger chocolate factory on Heinz and Seventh Street fell through in 2010, the medical cannabis dispensary turned its attention back onto its San Pablo Avenue home. If the organization, which serves hundreds of people a day, wasn’t going to be moving into larger digs, what could it do to make the experience better for patients?
In a word, remodel.
Over the last year, Berkeley’s largest cannabis dispensary … Continue reading »
Five Berkeley homes featured on new architecture tour
This year, the American Institute of Architects is launching an East Bay Home Tour to complement those it already organizes in San Francisco and Marin. The new tour, which takes place on August 13, features eight distinctive homes, five of which are in Berkeley — a sign, perhaps, that the city is alive and kicking with creative energy in the field of architecture.
All the homes on the tour — the three outside Berkeley are in Oakland, Lafayette and Orinda — share key characteristics: sustainability, open floor plans, connection of indoors to outdoors, abundant light and a mix of modern and traditional materials.
The five Berkeley homes — two of them the creations of Berkeley architects – each boast interesting stories of their own.
The “DIY House” was designed by Berkeley architect Endres Ware to be built by the owner, who had no prior construction experience. The result, a clever, energy efficient box, was built for just $175,000. … Continue reading »
Berkeley architect built, rebuilt Frank Lloyd Wright home
Berkeley architect Walter Olds built a spectacular Frank Lloyd Wright home not once, but twice.
The Buehler Home, commissioned in 1948 by inventor Maynard Buehler and his wife Katie for their 3.3 acre property in Orinda, was partially destroyed in a 1994 fire, and it was to 75-year-old Olds, who was supervising architect on the original construction, that the owners turned, as soon as the flames had been doused, with a request to oversee the rebuild.
The result — a magnificent example of Wright’s Usonian style — can now be seen by the public for the first time, as the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy is holding a Home Tour on Saturday July 30 to raise funds for Frank Lloyd Wright conservation programs.
Olds, who passed away in 2008, told the New York Times in 2003 that he received a call from Maynard Buehler, who was then 89, on the day of the fire. ”Well, Walter,” he said. ”You figured this all out in ’49. I don’t see why you can’t figure it out now.”
Library architect apologizes to Berkeley
The architect who worked with Concerned Library Users, the group suing Berkeley to stop the demolition and rebuilding of the south and west branch libraries, has sent an apology for his actions to the City Council and City Manager.
In a letter dated June 17, 2011, Todd Jersey apologizes for “causing more harm than good,” by presenting two designs that he said would “save the original buildings.” Jersey said his work was a misguided effort to resolve the dispute between the city, which wants to tear down the two branches and build entirely new structures, and CLU, which contends bond monies raised to renovate the city’s branch libraries cannot be used for demolition.
“This clearly backfired in many ways that in retrospect I should have known,” Jersey wrote in his letter. “Therefore I am also writing to apologize for the stress and hardship that my participation in the project caused you as City officials. Looking back on this now I can see that I naively thought that my participation could help settle the suit and alter the course of the projects in a good way. Obviously I failed to understand the amount of community investment in the work done by the other firms and furthermore, that in a lawsuit, there really is no opportunity for discourse. Instead of helping, my efforts created hardship for the City and for the Library Staff and The Friends of the Library. For that I am personally sorry. Clearly I have no intention of doing anything like this again.” (emphasis is Jersey’s)
Jersey wrote that he was never a signatory to the efforts of CLU to sue the city. In fact, he said, he does not support suing his own municipality.
The letter will not have any legal bearing on the CLU lawsuit against Berkeley, which will be heard before a judge on September 9th, according to Berkeley City Attorney Zach Cowan.
But Councilman Darryl Moore, who sits on the board of the public library, hopes Jersey’s letter prods CLU to reconsider its actions.
“The lawsuit is causing nothing but difficulty and pain throughout the community,” said Moore. “I hope those who filed it will read it, take it to heart, and consider dropping the lawsuit.” … Continue reading »
Road closure adds more woes for UC Berkeley neighbors
By Niclas Ericsson
The east side of Piedmont Avenue – one of the main routes across the top of the UC Berkeley campus – was shut down May 23 for the summer, leading some nearby residents to complain about the continuing disruption caused by construction projects in the area.
James McClury, an architecture student, said getting around the east side of campus has been difficult this year with all the construction vehicles clogging the roads, and he expected the traffic situation to grow worse with the closure of Piedmont Avenue.
“But it’s impossible to stop it,” said McClury. “The university is like the guerrilla gorilla of Berkeley, they can do whatever they want.”
Jack Chang, who was packing up to leave for his summer holidays, said he not happy about the closing down of one lane of Piedmont Avenue.
“That’s going to be a mess,” he said. … Continue reading »
Sustainable, stylish, affirming: Berkeley’s Teen Center
“This isn’t a building for long-time Berkeleyans to reminisce about the Free Speech Movement or the history of Chez Panisse. It’s for a segment of the population that too often is viewed as a nuisance and threat — and in a location that by its visibility affirms that teenagers belong to our society as a whole.”
So writes John King in the Chronicle today, reviewing the recently opened YMCA PG&E Teen Center for his weekly “Place” … Continue reading »
Berkeley’s asphalt-to-green movement rooted in schools
Sharon Danks, an environmental planner and founding partner of Berkeley’s Bay Tree Design, is a leader in transforming asphalt playgrounds into kid-friendly places replete with ponds, plants, and places to play.
This video, produced by Erika Brekke for OnEarth magazine, shows Danks’ transformation of the grounds at Rosa Parks Elementary in Berkeley. It’s a wonderland for kids with tree stumps to sit on, rocks to climb on, ponds to study, and vegetables to eat. The teachers use the outdoor space in parts of the curriculum, too, the video shows. … Continue reading »
Rally planned to draw attention to library lawsuit
Dozens of church leaders, community activists, students, and library supporters plan to stage a rally outside city hall on Tuesday to call attention to a lawsuit they believe could stop construction of new libraries in the southern and western parts of Berkeley.
The group, which is calling itself New Libraries Now, plans to hoist pickets right before the City Council meeting. They want to let the members of Concerned Library Users, a small group that is suing the city … Continue reading »
John King talks cityscapes, including his Berkeley picks
John King, staff writer at the San Francisco Chronicle, is a skilled observer of the urban terrain. His new book, “Cityscapes: San Francisco and Its Buildings” (Heyday; $14.95), is drawn from his “Cityscapes” column in the Sunday paper and celebrates serendipitous juxtapositions of 50 of his favorite buildings. Berkeleyside caught up with King, who lives in Berkeley, and asked him about his perspectives — including on Berkeley buildings that speak to him.
Do you bump into a lot of … Continue reading »
