It's November 1st, 2012, and I'm back in San Francisco for the second time. Hopefully it rivals last year's visit with my architecture studio, as over the next few days I'll be meeting and exploring fellow architecture students from all over the Western United States!
I'm mostly starting this blog to get my thoughts written down and unforgotten. Pictures don't always tell the full story, though yes, I've taken dozens already today.
The flight out of Pullman left on time, and I accidentally caught an earlier flight out of SeaTac than planned! However, it worked out great, because I had plenty of time to get to my hotel, check in early, and wander around the city. From San Francisco International Airport I took the BART (Bay Area Regional Transit) commuter rail to the Civic Center station. I was pleasantly surprised to see "Hotel Whitcomb" attached to the side of a historic building as I emerged from underground. Even though I was three hours early I was checked in my room right away, giving me a chance to go explore.
Before heading out I stopped by a credit union to get some cash and stopped at a deli for lunch. On the way I passed what looked like San Francisco City Hall in the distance. I'd found Morton's Sandwiches, about five blocks northwest of the hotel, on Google, and it looked a little sketchy from across the street, but I was glad to find a bustling patronage and enjoyed a fine "Pop's Classic" sandwich for lunch. Afterwards I headed east on Market Street and ambled past the Hotel Metropolis, where our study tour group stayed last fall. I would say the Whitcomb is definitely a step up. I also passed the Crown-Zellerbank building, where Phil gave a lecture in a plaza last time I was here.
At one point I passed a Zipcar table, staffed by two people, on the street. I'm a Zipcar member, and I knew San Francisco was very trend-setting in car sharing, but I'd never actually seen an employee as it was all done online. I wanted to get a picture of the sight but, being my awkward self, did not turn around to do so and instead walked back around the block. But halfway there I found an awesome plaza with terraced planting and a sloped atrium. Sometimes when you make a detour is when you find the best a city has to offer.
Afterwards I rounded the block and got vouyeristically got my picture of the Zipcar staff.
At the end of Market I finally reached the Embarcadero and Justin Herman Plaza, the site of my studio project one year ago. There were some changes underway in the area; a hockey rink was being built on the plaza and even out into the drained fountain. I also found a sculpture with "Occupy" painted on, a remnant of the Occupy Wall Street protests that gripped the country last year.
I wandered over to the park next to the Embaracdero Center towers and found it was open to the public; last year it was under construction and fenced off. I also recall only spending about ten minutes there, which was unfortunate but didn't affect my project too much! I could image my terraced walkways, spanning arches, and boxy mixed-use cultural center filling up the space as I walked around.
Afterwards I found myself behind the Ferry Building and look out over the Bay. It was a beautiful day and all kinds of ships and boats were around. I then went through the Ferry Building, not as crowded with food vendors as I remembered, but I stopped in a fruit store and got some delicious Camino Apples!
On the way back to the hotel I started up Mission Street and got a very different change of scenery. The buildings were somewhat smaller, more homeless people, but perhaps a more accurate picture of the city. At one point I refoudn the Yerba Buena Gardens and found a cozy little spot on a wall to sample one of the apples I bought earlier. The gardens are quite a well-designed urban public space.
Returning to Mission I found a few building facades that may inspire changes in my current studio project. I also visited the Federal Building again, though from a different angle than on the study tour. I have mixed feelings about, but I like that it's different than other buildings in the area with it's second facade.
This is the first trip to a big city that I've made by myself, and honestly, I already like it better than going with a group. I have freedom to wander and do whatever I want and I don't have to worry about anyone else's needs. I also like to reaffirm that I'm mature enough to travel alone, though recent trips to large cities in years past have prepared me for this.
Compared to this year's study tour in Chicago, my impression back in San Francisco can be summed up as less sirens, less horns, more weed, more homeless people. Chicago was so neat and tidy, at least in the areas I visited, but San Francisco is okay with being a little dirty and expressive of human nature. San Francisco's blocks are also really long away from the waterfront, whereas Chicago's blocks were relatively small and more human scale.
Compared to the building watching and neck straining I did in Chicago, here I am doing a lot more people watching (perhaps because I've already seen the architecture). And people are wonderful. You can tell the tourists from the businesspeople from the service workers, like any city, but the mix here is very diverse and made up of many cultures and ethnicities. There's also the little moments of human interaction that help along the experience, like bumping into a group of slow walkers, passing a bike cop investigating a parked car, seeing a women pound on the side of a bus, chatting with the cashier, waving to the UPS driver as he pulls in front of me on the wharf, watching a man yell at his whore, denying candy cane sales from a bum, and nodding to a security guard.
That's San Francisco for me and I love it.
Well I'm off to the Academy of Art Architecture building to sign in the for the reason I'm here: the Fall 2012 AIAS West Quad Conference. I'll check back in soon!
