Architecture in the City Festival: Temporary & Experimental Approach to Urbanism Discussion | SF

Submitted by the Event Organizer

2019 Architecture & the City Festival | SF

The 16th annual month-long celebration features behind the scenes and walking tours, films, exhibitions, lectures and more that address varying aspects of the design and planning process.

This years festival theme, “We the City”, aims to explore how cultural diversity and connectivity inspire and inform the built environment. From the Dogpatch to the Outer Sunset — San Francisco is a unique, diverse, and multi-generational mosaic.

Thursday, September 26, 2019
2019 Architecture & the City Festival | SF

Join for a discussion at PROXY inviting participants to reflect on the evolution of temporary, experimental urban activation in San Francisco and beyond.

SF Planning Department’s Robin Abad will moderate the conversation with: Douglas Burnham (envelope A+D), Liz Ogbu (Studio O), and Deanna van Buren (Designing Justice + Designing Spaces).

About the Conversation:

When envelope A+D created PROXY in 2011, its temporary, experimental approach to urbanism was almost unprecedented in its form, methodology, and scope. Eight years later, interim use is increasingly accepted as part of a next-generation toolkit for urban planning and development. City agencies, major developers, private clients, and local communities alike have embraced this strategy for activating temporarily vacant, disused, or in-transition spaces that range from small lots to huge urban sites.

This movement has opened new opportunities for architecture and design practices. Yet, in contrast to the familiar process of making buildings, the process of creating place through interim use has no defined rulebook, nor any consensus about what are its fundamental goals. Creating opportunities for meaningful community engagement? Building property values? Iterative design and prototyping? A new public relations channel? Interim use in the Bay Area has served each of these ends. With the first wave of Bay Area interim use projects reaching (or beyond) the end of their lifespans, this panel discussion invites participants to reflect on the evolution of this work in our region. ​

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.