Adaptive Reuse
With Portsmouth Square and the Hilton Hotel serving as the “living room” of Chinatown in San Francisco, the proposal seeks to hone in on the certain experiences of activity and culture that make the area what it is today through the concept of framing. By utilizing layers of apertures in walls, ceilings, and the landscape, and contrasting new and old materials, the proposal aims to break down the massive, Brutalist nature of the hotel and square into more intimate moments while adding housing and museum programs.
On both the landscape and in the hotel, large-scale frames focus into large zones of activity, such as the cultural center, museum, restaurant, gym, etc... Meanwhile, small scale frames focus on personal experiences, such as views to the sky/bay or interactions with everyday objects. Therefore, framing creates threshold spaces with a sense of warmth and domesticity within the otherwise imposing hotel and square.
Portsmouth Square
Hilton Hotel
A Framed Experience
The [Impossible] Archive
Bernal Heights Art Center
Gridshell Vertiport
FRAME
Shifting Scales
Alley Abode
REVEAL
Mission Bay Open Air School
Oakland Urban Institute
INTERSECTION
Patio and Retaining Wall
Design Artifacts