The Exploratorium museum, housed within the original bulkhead at Pier 15, accommodates four spacious galleries. The glass-and-steel Bay Observatory—the only new structure on the site—unites the Embarcadero with the bay. Photo by: Bruce Damonte.
Original architects: G.A. Wood, H.B. Fisher, A.W. Nordwell (1930s)
Contemporary architect: EHDD (2013)
Preservation architect: Page & Turnbull 2013
SPUR, aka the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association, has been the driving force behind awareness-raising archictural and urban initiatives in SF since 1910. It's still a resonant organization for Dwell's home city (see: 10 Diagrams That Changed City Planning, Yerba Buena Street Life Plan), and this month, SPUR's publication The Urbanist delves into a topic we can't get enough of: new life for old buildings.
Here we've selected seven examples of civic architectural preservation done right, from what SPUR's deputy director Sarah Karlinsky notes as the "dramatic juxtaposition of old and new in the Daniel Liebeskind-designed Contemporary Jewish Museum to the rehabilitated Ferry Building, which instantly became a magnet for tourists and locals alike" when it reopened in 2002.
You can read the full report on preservation in the city of 800,000 here, or visit the free exhibition Adapt/Transform/Reuse at SPUR Urban Center Gallery at 654 Mission Street.
