sense of place LAB - laurie halsey brown

PROJECTS

Six intersections of ‘place’ at Stockton and Vallejo for SPUR
Research, text and photographs on what has become San Francisco’s ‘North China Beach’
San.francisco Planning & Urban Research magazine: The Urbanist 07/10 issue

In 2007, at an exhibition at American Institute for Architecture SF titled INOUT, I saw a design of a bike rack shaped like a car and placed in a parking space. It made me realize that design and public art can play distinctive role in making biking more accessible. Fast forward to the Treasure Island Community Transportation Plan, which launched their report in April, 2009 with recommendations for how to create a model bike and pedestrian friendly community. There’s a huge opportunity for the redeveloped island to be truly sustainable — 3,500 and 5,000 housing units will be located within a 10-minute walk of a transit center. With some of the monies from a $98,000 grant from CalTrans Division of Transportation Planning, the Treasure Island Bike Rack as Public Art Design Contest was set in motion. In February, 2009, we received 70 submissions of high quality in just 3 weeks time, which reflects well on the talent pool in San Francisco. This aspect of the contest alone generated valuable awareness of Treasure Island. In March, 2009, I organized an interdisciplinary panel for the competition to include leading people from the fields of architecture, design, urban planning, public art and public transportation; David Baker/Partner David Baker + Partners, Courtney Fink/Director of SOEX Gallery, Dave Snyder/Transportation Policy Director at SPUR, Heath Maddox/Bicycle Sharing Program at the SFMTA, Ben Davis/Owner, Words, Pictures, Ideas and Teri Gardiner/ Communications Director of the SFBC. The panel chose the winners based on how well the rack reflected the unique character of Treasure Island, whether it was functional as a bike rack and whether or not it activated public space.