The Bay Region Style has defied definition ever since Lewis Mumford suggested its existence. In this project we have made our own guesses. Rather than defining it, though, we have chosen to re-construct the three periods of the Bay Region Style.
The site is along the Filbert Steps on Telegraph Hill. Coit Tower marks the top of the Hill, and the site's eastern vista includes the Bay Bridge and Treasure Island. Reached only from a narrow lane (Darrell Place) crossing the Filbert Steps, this is amongst some of the oldest buildings in San Francisco, survivors of the earthquake and the fire.
The front elevation is a fanciful reconstruction of a building that might have been assembled over time. Intersecting pieces from each period of the Bay Region Style form a collection, much as the Bay Region Style itself is a collection of other architectures made over in local materials and proportions. The building's imagined assembly is reconstructed in the back, Bay-facing facade. Like the cities of Troy, each period is built atop of the previous one.
The same architectural motives are at work in the building's interior.
The lower unit reconstructs the First Bay Region Style. Shallow arched openings expand into the view of the Bay and Bridge beyond. The lowest floor is a vaulted undercroft, a memory of prehistory.
In the upper unit, the first level is modeled the Bay Area's International Style period. A curved redwood wall in the dining room intersects the glass block wall of the entry. At its eastern end, this horizontal volume is penetrated by a two story aedicula, the four posted building within a building beloved of Third Bay Region Style architects.
Like any Style, the Bay Region Style evolves looking both backwards and ahead. At each stage in its history, this Style incorporates a worldly range of architectural and other enthusiasms, while remaining regionally distinct. These apartments on Darrell Place seek to build on this pattern.
At Darrell Place, the interior of the lower unit draws inspiration from early Bay Region style houses, with walls finished in redwood paneling, classicizing details, and apparently antique elements, including a red-orange chimneypiece, whose design is taken from Piranesi. The interior of the upper unit modern, and four redwood columns support a roof, through which daylight streams into the interior.
The site is along the Filbert Steps on Telegraph Hill. Coit Tower marks the top of the Hill, and the site's eastern vista includes the Bay Bridge and Treasure Island. Reached only from a narrow lane (Darrell Place) crossing the Filbert Steps, this is amongst some of the oldest buildings in San Francisco, survivors of the earthquake and the fire.
The front elevation is a fanciful reconstruction of a building that might have been assembled over time. Intersecting pieces from each period of the Bay Region Style form a collection, much as the Bay Region Style itself is a collection of other architectures made over in local materials and proportions. The building's imagined assembly is reconstructed in the back, Bay-facing facade. Like the cities of Troy, each period is built atop of the previous one.
The same architectural motives are at work in the building's interior.
The lower unit reconstructs the First Bay Region Style. Shallow arched openings expand into the view of the Bay and Bridge beyond. The lowest floor is a vaulted undercroft, a memory of prehistory.
In the upper unit, the first level is modeled the Bay Area's International Style period. A curved redwood wall in the dining room intersects the glass block wall of the entry. At its eastern end, this horizontal volume is penetrated by a two story aedicula, the four posted building within a building beloved of Third Bay Region Style architects.
Like any Style, the Bay Region Style evolves looking both backwards and ahead. At each stage in its history, this Style incorporates a worldly range of architectural and other enthusiasms, while remaining regionally distinct. These apartments on Darrell Place seek to build on this pattern.
At Darrell Place, the interior of the lower unit draws inspiration from early Bay Region style houses, with walls finished in redwood paneling, classicizing details, and apparently antique elements, including a red-orange chimneypiece, whose design is taken from Piranesi. The interior of the upper unit modern, and four redwood columns support a roof, through which daylight streams into the interior.