I am looking at our site as an anomaly in the city. It is a break in the urban fabric and continuous city condition, which creates a place of sanctuary. Conditions seen in the surrounding area such as climatic effects, visual depth and enclosure are polarised and reversed at our site.
Our site is situated in an enclave of open public space where rest, circulation, transport and recreation occur. It is an area that is unmatched in the area for the size of that public space…In fact it is the only public space serving the SOMA area.
Although it is still a thoroughfare, its park like nature (benches, grass, reflecting pool) causes pedestrian traffic speeds to slow.
Beyond the northern part of the site, a circle of sequentially stepped buildings rise to skyscrapers. This enclosure contributes to an aphitheatre effect not just on our site but from all over the Moscone Centre, the Yerba Buena Gardens and the piazza outside the Jewish Museum. This creates a visual depth that, for the first time in several blocks, allows you to see further than the road you are on.
Its aspect allows for year round afternoon sun, and is one of the only places to find this condition in the broader vicinity. The direction it faces, combined with its openness, also makes it one of the few places in the city that do not exhibit a wind tunnel effect.
This combination of effects combine to create the unique conditions of the site. However, the characteristics of this site are only made possible because of its juxtaposition with broader urban condition. Like most things in an urban context, it is symbiotic with its surrounds.
