San Francisco is the cultural, commercial and financial center of Northern California. It has always been known for the diversity and the cultures that are born here or that are welcomed here. Since the 1990s, the demand for skilled information technology workers from local startups and nearby Silicon Valley has attracted white-collar workers from all over the world and created a high standard of living in San Francisco. Many neighborhoods that were once blue-collar, middle, and lower class have been gentrifying, as many of the city's traditional business and industrial districts have experienced a renaissance driven by the redevelopment of the Embarcadero, including the neighborhoods South Beach and Mission Bay. The city's property values and household income have risen to among the highest in the nation, creating a large and upscale restaurant, retail, and entertainment scene.
Today, San Francisco’s South of Market area is known for swank tech-company offices, gleaming luxury apartments, a baseball park with breathtaking views of the bay, and some of the city’s best bars, restaurants, and galleries. Few know that it was also home to one of the country’s earliest Filipino communities. Some 5,100 Filipinos still live in SoMa today, according to the 2010 Census. But amid concerns about the encroachment of rapid development, community advocates hope a new resolution approved by the city earlier this year will help preserve what’s left of the Filipino culture and history in the neighborhood. For my project, I have decided to make a garden-pavilion in the SoMa District. One of the reasons why this culture is been fading from the city is because people are not aware of it. Filipinos have contributed a lot to the development of San Francisco but it has been unnoticed. When talking to a colleague of mine, I cam to know that they had their own language scriptures but it is no more in use. The other cultural districts in San Francisco - Chinatown, Japantown, North Beach filled with Italian American - are always celebrated and the city takes part in the events but SoMa, where half of the population is Filipino, has not been celebrated much. By building a piece of architecture for the Filipino community, the city would be aware of the great things the culture has done an is continuing to do. The interior of the pavilion will be with the great and rich history along with the current art exhibitions by the Filipinos. This space could be used as a recreational space, exhibition space, event hosting space or just a place to know more about the food and culture. The exterior will be white colored with a Filipino flag projected on it. This will remind the city of this culture. My aim is to get them the pride they deserve and to preserve the culture. |
AuthorLaksh was born in Mumbai, India and is currently studying Architecture at California College of the Arts after completing the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. Apart from architecture, he is interested in films and music. He seeks out solutions to problems in the creative process of design. He is passionate about working with parametric design and various software. He believes that there is no single approach to a problem and there are multiple ways. He is researching to advance the easiest ways to solve architectural problems rather than having a long process. |