San Francisco, Part 1: SF Architecture

So, in light of my impending move, I flew out to SF this past weekend to try to find an apartment. Naturally, the real estate whore in me couldn't help but delight in tramping from house to house comparing layouts, kitchen renos, views, laundry amenities and so forth. Like a house tour -- except for free! But considerably more stressful. And nerve-wracking and exhausting. Ha.

Anyway, since the city is completely new to me, I was rather daunted by -- and then rather enjoyed -- plotting out bus routes and getting to know one neighborhood after another. The blog Overstated once posted this cheeky guide to SF-NY neighborhood equivalencies, and I was eager to see if any of them were right. In all, I had the opportunity to visit Potrero Hill, the Mission, SOMA, Hayes Valley and Nob Hill. Not too shabby for 2.5 days.

After nearly a decade living in New York, the most notable thing about all these neighborhoods was, of course, the architecture. Instead of being built of brick, brownstone and limestone (Manhattan, Brooklyn) or siding (Queens, parts of Brooklyn), most houses in SF are painted, and in a million different pastel shades at that. Most are also Victorian in style, although very different from the Victorian brownstones you see in New York -- for one thing, there is always a garage on the ground floor (or as we would say in New York, the "garden floor"). The Italianate and Neoclassical styles seem to largely be absent from the areas I visited -- but I should probably consult a textbook and/or get to know the city better before making that kind of assertion.

In the end, whaddaya know? I just signed a lease on an apartment in Potrero Hill, a neighborhood that's conveniently close to my new school, California College of the Arts -- and that, according to Overstated, is the equivalent of guess which neighborhood?? That's right, Brooklyn Heights. I had to laugh out loud when I reread the list after my trip. Yeah, Potrero Hill is like Brooklyn Heights. But without the tourists or the traffic. And on a big hill. Maybe more equivalent to a little town on Long Island. Again, on a big hill.

About those other neighborhood equivalencies -- here's what I would say based on one short trip. Please don't hesitate to correct me.

The Mission = Williamsburg, without a doubt. Ugh. (Sorry Billyburgers.)

SOMA = LIC waterfront, mixed with Financial District.

Hayes Valley = Cobble Hill (although Kaii called it "precious" from the pictures... is Cobble Hill "precious"?)

Nob Hill = ?? This one stumps me. Help me out, folks!

Visiting the New Lincoln Center

En route to the 2010 New York Asian Film Festival (EIGHTH year in a row -- woot!), I just had to pause and take in all the changes that Lincoln Center and its surrounding buildings have undergone in the past year. As a Brooklynite, I hardly make it into Manhattan, let alone above Houston these days (except for work), so it was my first time seeing the renovations in person.

Alice Tully has become quite the hip hang-out, with seemingly impromptu street performances happening and crowds gathering to watch them (first pic via Wikipedia). Love the way the triangular amphitheater juts its back into the sidewalk, both creating a separate visual and aural space for performance and challenging pedestrians to come around to the other side. Plus it blocks the sun out. I know Ourossof wasn't the biggest fan of the Lincoln Center reno as a whole, but I say kudos to them for this part at least.

Down 65th, I also took in the new South Plaza -- including the dramatic lawn-roof on top of Jonathan Benno's (former exec chef at Per Se) new restaurant under construction -- and the new Juilliard and Walter Reade (the venue for NYAFF).

Day 21: Taliesen West

The centerpiece of our very last day was a tour of Taliesen West, Frank Lloyd Wright's experimental home-slash-workshop-slash-work in progress in the middle of the Arizona desert. I'm not really a huge Wright fan, but it was fun to see -- and also to learn what a gigantic a**hole he was. (Astounding how the architect stereotype pulls through so many times! Ha ha, apologies to any architect friends reading this... but you know what I mean.)


I was actually more interested in Wright's furniture designs (big surprise there -- check out my post on Donald Judd's furniture). You can see the Asian influence in these "Origami" chairs and table sets:


His doors are also fascinating -- apparently he built them especially low so that you are forced to acknowledge your transition into another space...HIS space.

Pueblo Architecture Redux -- Sedona Edition

Like Santa Fe, the city of Sedona has taken the so-called "pueblo revival" style and run with it. There are a number of manifestations...

In luxury homes, the blocky pueblo style effortlessly adopts a modernist vibe -- all straight lines and rectilinear volumes:


The vigas -- those round poles sticking out of the facade -- are a straight-up Disney-fication of the traditional style, though. Originally, vigas were used to support wooden slats that served as balconies. These are almost cartoons -- they have become completely detached from their original meaning and function. You can also see them on low-end residential developments and shopping plazas alike:


Finally, pueblo style -- and pueblo colors! -- impose themselves on even the mighty McDonalds! (Note to Jess: I spelled it right this time...) Have you ever seen the Golden Arches, well, not golden?? This city has some kind of money if it can mandate that national chains alter their logo fonts, size and even color. And it has -- the free Sedona tourist magazine we picked up proudly declared that if we should seek chain dining establishments, there are plenty to be had... they just don't "blare" their colors. Everything fits into the preestablished, homogeneous pueblo scheme. Goodness gracious!

Pueblo Architecture -- Here, There, Everywhere

One of the cute things about Santa Fe is that pretty much everything is done up "pueblo"-style -- even chain stores! Check out this IHOP and Target.

Scenes from Marfa

The town itself is lovely, with lots of architecture left over from eras past. I kind of felt like we were on an old movie set!

Judd's Interior & Furniture Design

I think it's pretty interesting that Judd made quite a few furniture pieces in his time, and was as rigorous in designing them as he was in making his art.

Nevertheless, he considered design an entirely separate thing from art. Someone once suggested that one of his steel boxes would make a great coffee table; he considered it and then decided it would be blasphemous to make a work of art serve a practical purpose. Design, on the other hand, was purely practical for him.

These days, in our age of "design as art," his furniture sure looks as beautiful and "artful" as his art.


Here is a peek inside a window at some of his chairs. Very boxy, just like his, er, boxes, no?


More chairs... I like how when all of them are pushed in, they look like the legs of the table.


These are what are known as "Judd doors." They hinge from the middle and can only be opened to a 45-degree angle, per his meticulous specifications. At least that's the story the Chinati has. When we went on a tour of Judd's old house in the neighborhood later on in the afternoon, the Judd Foundation pooh-poohed that and said there was no need to be so strict: "Oh, we're not going to yell at you if it's not at that exact angle." Hmm, wonder why there's the disagreement?

Mission Concepción

The last mission we went to was Mission Concepción. It is the best-preserved and has some beautiful original frescos:



This is the cord that rings the bell in one of the towers.

I'm Obsessed with Mission Doors

Day 8: Menil Collection Redux

Kaii and I went back to the Menil Collection yesterday, to see the Rothko Chapel. It was pretty awesome, though, because we ended up seeing a bunch of other things we hadn't the night before.

For starters, the museum itself is just gorgeous during the day. The ceiling is made of glass, under which there are white sail-like flaps that let the daylight through and give the building the appearance of being open to the elements. There are also interior courtyards sheathed in floor-to-ceiling glass and planted with gigantic tropical plants. The white walls, modern art, glass, jungle vegetation... it's kind of an interior design fantasy. The Menil Collection is one of those museums you just want to move into.

In front outside, there are some minimalist troughs implanted in the lawn by Michael Heizer -- aka the fanciest storm drains you've ever seen -- that were impossible to see in the dark before.

Oak Alley Plantation

En route to Houston, we stopped by Oak Alley Plantation, about one hour outside of New Orleans. If Bonaventure in Savannah is the Platonic ideal of a cemetery, Oak Alley is kind of the Platonic ideal of a plantation. I felt horribly guilty for swooning, but the place is just so damn romantic.

28 300-year-old oaks stand sentry on each side of a path leading up to the house, with a smaller number of baby oaks (150 years old) in the back. The house itself sports one of those deep wrap-around verandas.

After the tour, we parked ourselves under the oaks and had an impromptu picnic, finishing up the muffuletta we'd saved from NO.

Garden District Tour: aka "Star Homes" Part 2

And here are some more notable homes/institutions:


Commander's Palace, the restaurant where Paul Prudhomme and Emeril first became famous.


House where they shot "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." (Incidentally, F. Scott Fitzgerald lived in the 'hood at one point, but not when he wrote that story, I believe.)


House whose architecture was inspired by temples in Bangkok.


Where Degas came to visit and paint.


Just a really pretty one. The peeps who own this one spent tens of millions on the renovation, and now come to visit from New Jersey a couple times a year -- like this weekend, for the Mardi Gras parade.