Sea Ranch to North Beach: Encountering Barbara Stauffacher Solomon
Stepping into Barbara Stauffacher Solomon’s North Beach loft in 2017, I expected a polite studio visit and instead landed in the middle of her life story—greeted first by Gus the barking dog, then by Barbara’s amused, commanding voice filling the stairwell as completely as her Sea Ranch supergraphics filled a wall. Surrounded by a ping-pong table turned canvas, a towering library, and portfolios she firmly intended for museums, I listened as she leapt from dancing at the Copacabana to nights with Surrealists, then stopped me short—“Are you interested in books about me or by me?”—before selling me her own, signed “Bobby,” and joking the cash would go straight to her dog walker.
Architectural Innovations at the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition: Three Modernist Landmarks
Between 1937 and February 1939, a league of architects set out to create a vision of Pacific Unity on Treasure Island. Their vision would reflect the early 20th-century architecture and lifestyles of California and the Pacific Rim- a style that opposed that of the technologically modern New York World Fair occurring in the same year. Yet, three interwar-modern buildings emerged despite the prescribed “Pacific Basin Style” of the Exposition’s Architectural Board. These buildings, perhaps overlooked by modern enthusiasts, would influence the future of Modernism and the second and third Bay Traditions of California architecture for years to come.
Explore Modern Chinatown
Docomomo US Tour Day celebrated Diversity in Modernism to highlight the contributions of female and underrepresented architects, landscape architects, designers, and artists to the modern movement. Like many professions, the field of architecture is primarily dominated by white male architects, and their legacies are entered into the canon. San Francisco’s Chinatown is a great place to explore the work of architects and designers of Chinese descent because it is not only the birthplace of San Francisco but also where modern architecture exists if you know where to look.
Sacred Architecture
This article explores modernist sacred architecture in Northern California, highlighting how architects utilized contemporary technologies to create spaces for community building and religious practice during the last century. It emphasizes that while many architects of these spaces are forgotten, their creations fostered lasting stories within their communities.
The article also notes that beauty can be found in the mundane and functional aspects of modernist architecture, and not every building needs to be a cathedral to be appreciated.