there are few amazing gateways, and i am helping on the screen you can see all the yellow dots that i have highlighted there, these are opportunities to build a stronger identity, but you can see -- what the corners look like as you move. particularly up sixth street. another way to change soma is to extend the urban fabric. part of it comes from this fine- grained fabric. there are many small lots that give density and character to the street. we have always have the large and small lots and combinations, current development requires increasingly large lots to provide parking, and implement

the sustainable strategies, where this is achieved at larger sizes. you can see the loss at 20,000 square feet that seymour reliable -- seem more reliable. larger developments take up larger segments of the block because the block is more narrow. the question that you may consider is how the size contributes or diminishes to the fine grain urban fabric? this is an interesting case study, the better known view of the project from folsom streets. but this is what i would like to talk about. let's compare the two design approaches to the center of the block.

150 feet. the one on the left, this goes into the center, and the unit moves in from one end and it goes into the unit from there. the plan on the right is a schematic, it puts parking in the middle, and they enter from the street. both of them are good schemes out of context. when you set these schemes and to sum up, -- soma, it takes away from the vitality of the lanes and diminishes the identity. even with the residential units, this has to be enriched with how people moved through the place. the residents move in, leaving a blank wall that you can see with the slide examples. in the middle, is the blank wall

to the right. with the parking in the center, the residence look and move outward, adding life to the lanes. the third strategy for retooling, looking at the first streets, the named and the numbered streets. with the large block dimensions that we have, you cannot use the street intervals, like in new york city. this is where the architecture can make a difference. i will return back to boston as an example. the longstreet's are highlighted on your screens as the yellow streaks moving parallel to the river, and even though each street has a different section, they all share the pattern of injury, and bay windows. it sounds a little bit like san

francisco. the cross streets, they move from the river, and to the river, and the buildings engage the streets differently. along this street they are very few inches along the edge and if there is an entry, this is recessed. so when you are in there, you always know if you are moving parallel or perpendicular to the river. because this is so clear, the newer and the older buildings maintain this orientation. i think they have opportunities to increase their legibility. the main streets are associated with moving to and from the water, the number streets are associated with moving up and down the peninsula. how can this be made more legible.

one opportunity is to look at the use of corners. these are sights that are vacant or have small buildings in the middle of a lot that is open. and so the corners are not directional. as soma changes, building heights and block corners, are all opportunities to clarify the legibility. there has been a conflict between those who want to keep things as they were, and those who want everything to be new. if we accept this polarity, the debate for growth and change, then the debate for growth and the inevitable change in cities is an intractable problem. but if we return to the original question, i would like to strike

at two words. i find that tradition and heritage, in the urban structure. i see the architectural history as a continuum, with every building an expression of its culture. history is being made. this is part of a continuum, and so this is part of a change to advantage. i will be not answering a question, but answering the question with questions. this will balance the difference between architecture and the character of the neighborhood. rather than asking how the project looks, which ask how this performance. how this contributes to urban

identity and legibility. how does this add up to being more than two, and contribute to the street, the neighborhood, and the city. i suggested a very quick and lovely, fun way, to evaluate projects that are not on the individual basis but also based on the context. last, how this change serve as the opportunity to build an urban heritage. one that is rooted in the past and stable with the future? thank you. i would be delighted to ask for any questions, or to open this up to discussion in either direction. >> commissioners?

>> first, we will take public comments. and other in the members of the public who wish to comment on the presentation? seeing ninone, antonini? commissioner antonini: we have form following function, and until this century, with the advent of air conditioning and things that allow us not have to build into the architecture, parts tahhat insulate from the weather. a classic example are the steep roofs, where buildings have the

snow -- you want it to fall off. in soma, we see the form following function of the automotive buildings. a lot o fthem in that area. a number of other things with some kind of clues to what they were used for. now, we have the way to build anything how we want it to be. soma is a difficult spot. there is not a pattern here. there is no pattern and it blocks to -- varies from block to block. but to find contextual clues, and build off of those. working on corners. you pointed out south park and the enclaves as places with the urban fabric.

it is a fabric welcoming as opposed to the broad streets with a lot of disadvantages. if there is any way to add a denser form in areas, to add trees and more pedestrian enhancements, i think all those things may tend to have soma fit in with the rest of the city and still be functional. there is still going to be auto traffic with the freeways and the bridge. that won't go away. perhaps, we can change the pattern or at least in the busier streets. trees would be nice, to cut the wind a bit.

thsose are just thoughts about what i would look to as we make improvements to make soma more pleasant. >> commissioner martinez? commissioner martinez: a number of things i had questions about. for me, what i am puzzled about, is what is the definition of this problem. you see that there is a problem, but can you define this? what is the problem has city planning sees this? there are already expectations and rezoning that has been done to continue the process, so what do you really see as the problem? i do not say that belligerently.

if you define the problem that can change what the conversation is about. >> first of all the neighborhood is experiencing great, a dramatic change, and we have identified a couple of significant historic districts, and conversely there is the pressure for growth. thirdly, i think because the character is very different from any other part of the city, except for the residential enclaves, the character is quite diverse in terms of architecture. the size of buildings and the shape of buildings, and the question that is really presented assumes that this area will accommodate growth, how will this work in the neighborhood as it deals with and maintains the quality as part of san francisco and adding

to the neighborhood character? intractable maybe the incorrect word but this is a somewhat unique problem and that this is not typical, how you add to the historic fabric of a neighborhood with consistent quality, but how you can add to this with a fairly substantial way, more than you would in a normal neighborhood where i, in addition to this it would not be as substantial as it may be here, as you maintain the character? frankly, from a personal standpoint, we want to figure out if you can have the contemporary architecture in a way that works in neighborhoods like this, with a fairly substantial fabric that is quite diverse. >> this is talking about form, which is not something we talked about in the conversation. >> if i could interpret some of

her comments, part of what she says is that this may not be about the character of the individual buildings, but where they are with corners and creating gateways. we should be looking differently in the locations in a different way. >> i took this as an opportunity to read this book, and her main argument in favor of historic buildings is economic. those are the places, such as wall street, without the older buildings you don't have lunch places. you have the residential enclaves, which is a starting place with a mixed use district, with having the kind of variety that jacobs talks about. it seems to me, having been in

the city -- it seems they go through a lot of changes. they have a lot of artists and theater people because the rent was low, and without parts of the city with low rent, you don't have the entrepreneurial business. you don't have people -- the kinds of people that you have in the city. you see that in dog patch now, with all of the small differences. starting a business -- this is kind of like -- it seems to me that cities have to have bad neighborhoods. >> i think this is a good point. what it reminds me of, part of the issue for me has been to

think about this situation and the most extreme example would be to say that we will not teardown a single building. nothing will be demolished. but we have. knowledge that we substantially add to the density of the neighborhood. you do that by maintaining the fabric and assuming you can keep the majority of the fabric. >> around the city, there is what is expensive and what is an expensive. the whole thing is to set up the situation for slow change and not a drastic change. this is what creates the variety, because let's face it. we don't build neighborhoods. you can build a social -- there are networks of relationships.

people develop that over time, by living there. so these things have to happen over decades. it is curious to me that so much has happened on valencia's street and 16, that for decades, people have wanted to happen on market street. after all the programs and the attempts at revitalizing market street, this said -- this happened -- because the rent is low. there may be other qualities with smaller block sizes. it seems to me that south of market, there are a lot of empty lots that can create the density you are talking about. we have to be careful, especially with what she was talking about and the way that people want to build.

we're basically, people are on eighth street, where people basically -- this is a large development with the internal street, the kind of thing that you see in mission bay. the kind of problem that she is pointing to is turning what was public space into private space. it really kills the opportunity for variety, and different economic class is an uses. -- classes and uses. i would rather see taller buildings that cover less of the plot so that you can walk by them. what she is suggesting on the streets that go from the north to the south, with the taller buildings. i think if we can set something

up that is really about gradual change instead of thinking about rebuilding the market -- >> that raises a very interesting question about the economy, and there's an interesting question about the pace of change. and also, this is a challenge, given the economic conditions we work in. this is worth a discussion. >> historic buildings are not just important for the architecture, there are important because they are affordable. >> thank you. commissioner wolfern: yankee for the presentation. this was to the point in terms of looking at the network and the whole fabric rather than just the individual buildings.

one thing that i was struck with, when we looked at the rezoning of this area, recently, his understanding the potential of this district, and what are the things said give this great potential and what is not being realized? i really -- i was in as story with a similar block, subdivided by the alleyways. 20 years ago, if you were there, this is a little bit different. the alleyways were completely abandoned. this was a very an interesting place and this has been completely transformed as the alleyways have tremendous life now. one thing that were terry effectively is that they are connected, so that you can continue in the same alleyway from block to block, and you

have this seamless feeling. this is very vibrant and welcoming, and i think south of market has this, it is just unrealized, and one thing you -- we may want to look further at is how to connect them together more so there is -- they are more seamlessly integrated. right now, if you were to walk down the alley way, you are interrupted by the streets. these are confined to these big blocks, and with the one-way traffic, which is a disaster, i think all the streets should be two ways, suddenly, you don't want to continue because you cannot get across into the next valley. one thing that would be good to look at is how to create a feeling of integrating the block together so that they're not

completely individual and isolated units. the may be easier ways to get across the large streets. in some locations you can cross the blocks, but you have to go all the way back to the corner and would not be able to continue. i think the alleys, because of the scale and the industrial character of the existing buildings have this tremendous potential that is not realized, and it could make south of market a pedestrian-friendly area. the large, busy streets are not friendly to walk upon. this would show ways to promote the things that are there, inherently, that have potential. i think they started to modify those and i would encourage you to continue looking at that.

>> thank you. commissioner borden? >> i thought this was very thought provoking and i liked that word, fragmenting. it discuss an issue that we face on a regular basis, looking at the singular buildings or architectural statements, or a business with a particular focus. this is something that we often try to work on when we deal with individual projects but we don't have the full context or the ability to look at the context. this is important in soma and there is the opportunity to ruin what is the fabric there. or a chance for enhancement. the projects we have seen where we tried to break up the blocks, adding open space and we talked

about folsom st. -- and i like the idea of trees going down the middle of fulton, which is such a wide street. but there is a real need to look at how we create our design, in these neighborhoods. most of us agree that mission bay is not a shining example of a beautiful neighborhood had people want to move to. what makes this so special when we talk about older buildings being more affordable, they assume this much because of the fact that the neighborhoods with the thriving commercial corridors, that have the kind of businesses and the social engagement that you want are the older and more established neighborhoods. hayes valley -- this is a place to be, or the mission, because they have the fabric of the

smaller streets. there is the small kind of building with a critical mass of residents close by, who want to have things that are walkable. this is the challenge of market street, there is not a lot of real residence because we did not focus on that, so there are people on a daily basis getting their coffee or looking for a dry cleaner, creating that. you don't really get that until you have enough people buy enough areas, so how do you do that without completely changing the texture or the affordability, or the complexion of the neighborhood. this is something we don't have the easy answers to. in suburban communities, you have the town houses so you help -- hope that you get the socio-

economic diversity. but you hope that you can kind of create that and we are in a different position because we do not control what people choose to build. this makes it a little bit more challenging in terms of figuring out the kinds of housing or the projects people bring to us but we have an opportunity in terms of design and how we create these spaces. we ask for ground-floor retail, for the ground floor. what makes the space more cozy or attractive. in older buildings you see the ground first space, resonating with the space that you want to enter. you enter these kinds of spaces in the context of the building sometimes and it does not have the same kind of vernacular, where this is pulling on you to

walk into. we have a lot of brand new buildings with empty ground floors. and you wonder what it would take in the design of that, or in the building with the other concepts of the neighborhood that would make the space more attractive and more usable. i think the issue on recapturing the alleys is something that we have seen in areas of the city and this is an opportunity south of the market because there are some lovely alice, figuring out how to make those joint, open spaces as well, that people may have to go through for other purposes. i believe there is a great opportunity around trees and greening. i think that people love from the streets. you walk down delores' street

and this is so beautiful. there are so many trees and has this feeling that is very common. you go down folsom street and you want to get off as quick as possible. i think that, looking at the south of market, this is so critical for us to figure out how to make those spaces accommodate new places, but also, create the density that we need, taking into consideration a large residential projects. many of the spaces will continue to be other types of spaces and it brings in the concept of work and the types of buildings with people talking about, if you are an entrepreneur, you think of this space to work with. a lot of people want to be -- that is one thing san francisco has to offer -- many buildings

that you cannot build today, that just don't have the same feeling -- anything, and you can replicate those things. i think this is a great conversation and i would love to overlay this with the western soma plan, as we look at the different design guidelines, how this resonates with how we are looking at the historic districts within that area, and that the zoning, as we think about this sort of thing in terms of the context of the corners. so, thank you. >> thank you. commissioner? >> i want to say, thank you very much. i want to say thank you very much for one very important thing,