Monday, February 25, 2008

Judeo-Christian Architecture 1



On the south side of Market Street, between the Marriott Jukebox Hotel and the Four Seasons Modern Brutalism Hotel and Residences...



...a new walkway has opened that leads to Mission Street and Yerba Buena Center.



On the left it skirts by the dark cube under construction at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, and also the side of St. Patrick's Catholic Church, which dates from 1851.



The weather turned beautiful on Monday. and since all my clients' work was finished over the weekend, I needed an excuse to get out of the house.



So I called my new friend Patrick Vaz to see if he wanted to be my host at the Museum of Modern Art during his Financial District lunch hour, and he agreed happily.



The special exhibits, however, turned out to be two extremely boring photography shows. One consisted of 400 modestly sized photos by Lee Friedlander and the other featured slightly larger photos of ugly buildings, freeways and industrial sadness by Gabriele Basilico entitled "From San Francisco to Silicon Valley."



With few exceptions, I prefer looking at photos online or printed rather than on museum walls, the exceptions being when the photos are huge or part of a larger conception. Besides, I'd rather take my own photos of ugly new buildings and show them to you instead. They are certainly not hard to find in this rapidly changing neighborhood.

2 comments:

Nancy Ewart said...

Nice essay about how SF is changing. I try not to be old fashioned about a lot of new architecture but I can't help but think that the older buildings are more beautiful.
Oh - by the way. Since I'm retired, (almost) any time that you have free and want to be treated to lunch, I'd be very glad to do the honor. It's the least I can do for all the pleasure your blog has brought me. Besides, I'd love to meet you in person and get some camera tips from "the Master."

janinsanfran said...

Judeo-Christian or merely imperial? Usually the same thing, though not always.

Great series!