MUD Thesis
Japantown For A More Resilient Tomorrow Lingyue ANNE Chen
Revitalizing Japantown For A More Resilient Tomorrow By Lingyue Chen A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Master of Urban Design in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley
Committee in charge: Professor Peter Bosselmann, Chair Professor Renee Chow Professor John Kriken Fall 2013
The thesis of Lingyue Chen, titled Revitalizing Japantown For A More Resilient Tomorrow, is approved:
Chair: Professor Peter Bosselmann
Date
Professor Renee Chow
Date
Professor John Kriken
Date
University of California, Berkeley
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Acknowledgments I was lucky to receive tremendous help from these incredibly kind people, to them I wish to express my highest gratitude:
Peter Bosselmann
Sam Johnson
Kushal Modi
Anna Ying Li
Renee Chow
Winnie Yingyi Wu
Alana Sanders
Jimmy Jie Chen
John Kriken
Alexis Wei Xiang
Maria Sitzoglou
Stefan Pellegrini
Antonin Yuji Maeno
Ariel Utz Wirnsberger
Naoaki Furukawa
Armelle Le MouĂŤllic
Ned Reifenstien
Shigeru Satoh
Yuki Uchida
Aziz Khalid Albarrak
Margaret Crawford
Kazunori Yama
Qingbo Liu
Harrison Fraker
Keisuke Sugano
Casto Vocal
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Contents Acknowledgments
Chapter 3 CASE STUDIES i
Preface
iii
Introduction
vii
3.1 Methodology
078
3.2 Hillside Terrace
081
Chapter 4 INTERVENTION FRAMEWORK
087
4.1 Strength and Opportunities
088
4.2 Weakness and Challenges
094
4.3 Objectives and Principles
099
4.4 6 Approaches to Group Form
103
Chapter 1 QUALITY OF URBAN SPACE AND COLLECTIVE FORM
001
1.1 What makes a good city form?
002
1.2 Urban structure and urban form
006
1.3 Group form and the Japanese city
021
Chapter 5
1.4 Proposition
035
DESIGN OF THE CORE AREA
Chapter 2 AN OVERVIEW OF JAPANTOWN
035
2.1 Context and Planning Background
036
2.2 A Brief History of Japantown
042
2.3 Layers of Japantown
051
077
105
5.1 Re-envisioning Infrastructure
109
5.2 Framework of Communication Space
115
5.3 Orchestrating Forms and Activities
119
5.4 Implementing and Evolving the Framework Plan
121
Bibliography
127
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Preface
I clearly remember the first time I
the people I have talked to), and how
conditions in Japantown. My goal was
visited Japantown. I was in a car
Japantown has become the place it is.
to tie both together to find solutions
slowly going east along Post Street.
A difficult starting point for my thesis:
for the future. Two questions in
The blank wall that goes on and on,
in order to make Japantown better,
particular interest me:
the stucco buildings of modernist
I would have to understand what is
style, the Disney-like outdoor mall,
fundamentally not GOOD enough
the empty streets and beautiful
about Japantown.
signage, the handsome pagoda and the plaza that faces on Post Street only: it was such a strange place. It was to me a place that tried to be Japantown but was not doing it quite right. I have tried hard to find out and explain in a structured way why it is strange to me (and to most of
1/ What is wrong with massive scale of the Japan Center as opposed to fine grain? The historic towns and
I have always been interested in
villages that we like are characterized
the way historic towns and villages
by their fine grain texture. But the
organize themselves and enable
scale and built form of Japan Center
changes through time. Starting
was the result of decision made
from there I try to find guidance in
during the urban renewal period of
Fumihiko Maki’s group form. The
massive land assembly. A process
study ran parallel to the analysis of
that resulted in racial and social
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segregation. Also highly suspect
the possibility to tie Japan Town’s
2/ It is relatively easy to understand
was the decision to abandon the
transformation to necessary
how the misfit of the massive scale
public realm and put all the function
infrastructure improvement of
of Japan Center and the inhospitable
within a sealed envelope of a mall
the adjacent Geary Boulevard
pedestrian frontage can be a negative
type development. But the Japan
expressway. If we need and
factor in the neighborhood. But the
Center has been in the neighborhood
appreciate the substantial modern
Buchanan Mall is of a much more
for more than 40 years, to replace it
infrastructures needed to transform
intimate scale, and it actually fits the
would require very strong reasons. I
an express way into a multi-transit-
criterion of collective form. Also it has
tried listing some of the benefits that
mode boulevard and a new BART line,
undergone 40 years of wearing, here
fine grain urban texture brings, which
why would it not be appropriate to
a reconfiguration could add some
include human scale and capacity
maintain the scale of a large structure
live to the entire context around the
for change, and that it enables the
as an intermediate layer between the
Japan Center. Why does Buchanan
replacement of components while
transformed expressway and the fine
Mall today still feel lack of life and
still maintaining the character of
grain texture of the neighborhood?
theme park like?
the place. But I am also facing
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I found Alexander’s description of the
quality without a name. He stated in the book that good places should have the character of nature. This has shed light on the puzzle.
“When a place is lifeless or unreal, there is almost always a mastermind behind it. It is so filled with the will of its maker that there is no room for its own nature.” (Christopher Alexander, 1979, The Timeless Way of Building, P38)
However this is not the answer to my questions, it is rather a hint that leads to more questions: What is a place’s own nature? If a city grow spontaneously, is it true to its own nature? If we were to plan a city, how do we make “room” for the city’s nature? How do we permit changes over time? What does that ask of the urban structure and urban form? Is there a generative form?... I tried to answer those questions in the first chapter of the thesis. And what I have found lead me
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back to group form, fortunately.
concern for humanity and history,
The design proposal is in turn, an
resilience, and embracement of
attempt to apply those findings in
transience and plurality.
an complex urban context. It is still very preliminary and cries out for further development in terms of implementation of ideas generated from the findings. A lot of work still needs to be done at the architectural scale and with regard to policy and guidelines. But by setting up a framework for the urban space in
Interestingly I came across Maki’s acceptance speech given at the Pritzker Prize ceremony in 1993 and Maki closed the speech by a remark of the basis for the difference between GOOD architecture and BAD architecture. I shall quote it here in comparison with Alexander’s notion:
“...as an ever-present guide to the thoughts of the designer, sensitivity to other human beings and human situations—or its lack—will be evident in the resulting architecture and will certainly influence whether it will be deemed good or bad.”
Japantown, the proposal hopes to
(Fumihiko Maki, 1993, Fumihiko
touch upon these key messages:
Maki Acceptance Speech, P3)
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Introduction This thesis examined the spatial
diversity, at a level that could not
strategy of group form, a dynamic
be offered by single use large
equilibrium of generative elements
structures. At the same time,
linked by revealing clues of
recognizing the need of modern-day
relationships to provide a sensed
developments that often require
inherent order, as an approach
maximizing investment return by
to construct a framework for
consolidating parcels and reaching
development that encourages and
higher density, the thesis attempts
facilitates movement and maximizes
to adapt the approach of group form
interface between uses, so as to
to accommodate higher density and
activate urban places and permit
embed a framework for different
changes. With the social, economic
scenarios of development opportunity
and environmental concerns as
and property ownership. The first
premises, the hypothesis is that
chapter of the thesis discusses
interconnected fine grain texture
some of the key issues concerned.
of mixed uses, generated by the
To list some of the key words: urban
principles of group form, enables
structure, movement, interface,
interaction, resilience, and vivid
interaction, mixed use and urban
phenomena, and resilience. The site chosen for the topic is Japantown in San Francisco. Largely a product of the urban renewal that took place in 1940s–1970s, the predominant buildings in Japantown are single use large structures that are now in need of renewal or replacement because of years in service and seismic hazard. Furthermore, given the strength and resources that Japantown has, various discussions have taken place in the pass 20 years about the future plan for Japantown. This thesis hopes to add to the discussion an alternative approach.
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STARTING POINT 1 : THEORY STUDY
STARTING POINT 2 : SITE STUDY
RELATED TO THE MORE OBVIOUS PROBLEMS
The planning and design proposal is presented
THEORETICAL STUDY OF URBAN STRUCTURE AND COLLECTIVE FORM
in the second half of the thesis, which includes a strength and weakness analysis of the site, the intervention framework, the general ANALYTICAL METHODS TO LOCATE THE PROBLEMS
approaches and detailed design of the core area and key elements. As a part of both theory study and site study,
THEORY STUDY
case studies were carried out from the two
CASE STUDY SET A : GROUP FORM
HOPEFULLY
starting points. The cases are chosen as CASE STUDY SET B : GOOD MIX-USE DISTRICT AND OTHER ETHNOPOLIS
precedents of either group form, fine grain commercial developments or ethnic enclaves. They offer different sets of design criteria that should be taken into consideration. Given the special cultural characters and identity of Japantown, research on the urban structure and urban form of Japanese city was carried
DESIGN METHODS
out. The findings are included in the first 0.1 Thesis work flow
chapter.
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CHAPTER 1 QUALITY OF URBAN SPACE AND COLLECTIVE FORM
Quality of Urban Space and Collective Form | 002
1.1 What Makes a Good City Form?
Starting the thesis by asking what makes a good city form may be too ambitious. But it is such an intriguing question and possibly one of the ultimate questions of urban design. Unlike math and physics, there is no absolute way to tell if a design would be “good” unless it’s built and used by people. We cannot prove a design would be the best solution possible by equations and deductions. Unlike art and music either, that even after a piece of art or music is made and meets the public, it is still difficult to judge if it is “good”. It remains largely a matter of acceptance. And if the piece conveys meaning to even a small group of people, we perhaps may call it successful. And as Kevin Lynch puts it, the artist’s creations “are enjoyed for themselves, and not solely as means to other ends.” Urban design on the other hand deals with too many factors.
“…It must manipulate things and activities that are connected over extensive spans of space and time, and that are formed and managed by numbers of actors. It operates through intervening abstractions: policies, programs, guidelines, specifications, reviews, incentives, institutions, prototypes, regulations, spatial allotments, and the like. Through all this clutter, it seeks to influence the daily experience of a bewildering variety of people…” (Kevin Lynch, The Immature Arts of City Design, 1984)
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Nevertheless, we recognize a good city place when we see it: everything seems to work in harmony; it agrees with and facilitate the local way of living; it seems so self-sustaining that it is difficult for us to picture it otherwise. Christopher Alexander calls this quality “the quality without a name” and describes it with 7 words: alive, whole, comfortable,
free, exact, egoless, and eternal.
“the quality without a name”
“…A system has this quality when it is at one with itself; it lacks it when it is divided. It has it when it is true to its own inner forces; lacks it when it is untrue to its own inner forces. It has it when it is at peace with itself; and lacks it when it is at war with itself…” (Christopher Alexander, 1979, The Timeless Way of Building, P26)
“exact”
For the word exact, Alexander gives an example of designing a table for birds:
“Suppose that I am trying to make a table for the blackbirds in my garden. In winter, when the snow is on the ground, and the blackbirds are short of food, I will put food out for them on the table. So I build the table; and dream about the clusters of blackbirds which will come flocking to the table in the snow. But it is not so easy to build a table that will really work. The birds follow their own laws;
Quality of Urban Space and Collective Form | 004
and if I don’t understand them, they just won’t come. If I put the table too low, the birds won’t fly down to it, because they don’t like to swoop too close to the ground. If it is too high in the air, or too exposed, the wind won’t let them settle on it. If it is near a laundry line, blowing in the wind, they will be frightened by the moving line. Most of the places where I put the table actually don’t work. I slowly learn that blackbirds have a million subtle forces guiding them in their behavior. If I don’t understand these forces, there is simply nothing I can do to make the table come to life.” (Christopher Alexander, 1979, The Timeless Way of Building, P35)
a good city form should be above all human-centered
This thought rises naturally: since urban design is for people and to accommodate people’s activities, should we not start from the pattern of people’s behavior and make the urban structure true to the social structure? It may sound very obvious and straightforward. But very often we find modern planned cities trying to suggest otherwise. The concepts behind them are of linear hierarchy. They are about categorizing uses and locating the similar together. They are about subdividing and stereotyping, about simplifying relations and creating discipline. In the worst cases, the living reality is not reflected and cannot find its place in such planned systems. I remember well the example given by Prof. Bosselmann and McDonald about the
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infamous cul-de-sac in the American suburbia. Suppose a kid lives in house A at the end of a cul-de-sac. His friend’s house is right adjacent to his, back to back; but this house B is accessed by another cul-de-sac and structurally belongs to another subset of houses. If the kid wishes to visit his friend, he would have to walk to the main street and find his way into the other cul-de sac even though his friend is geographically one fence away. That is if this kid is lucky. There are chances that his parents would have to drive him to get to the other neighborhood to finally enter that other cul-de-sac where house B is. Similar examples can be found in the concepts behind the urban redevelopment project that changed completely the Western Addition and Japantown neighborhoods. They do, you might argue, arise from the system of land subdivision and property ownership, and facilitate management. But by prioritizing those elements, these plans result in a lack of structural complexity and thus fail to correspond to social realities.
Quality of Urban Space and Collective Form | 006
1.2 Urban Structure and Urban Form
I was overwhelmed by the number of different analogies I found when researching about social structure and urban structure: the machine (Team X, 1960s), the language (Rolande Barthes, 1975), the organism (Metabolism, 1960s), the rhizome (Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, 1976), the semilattice (Christopher Alexander, 1965), the brain (Nikos Salingaros, 2005), the Golgi structures (Fumihiko Maki, 1965), the quantum physics (Ayssar Arida, 2002), etc. Among them three ideas interest me the most.
The first is the emphasis on the complexity of today’s social structure. It is 1.2.1 Social Structure and Urban Structure
asymmetrical, sometimes non-hierarchical, overlapping, ambiguous. We are witnessing the highest level of mobility, the disassembling of nuclear family, the fundamental impact of the Internet, etc. We may say that today’s society is more fragmented than ever in history in terms of basic structuring unit, and more inter-connected than ever in terms of the thicker and more complex fabric of connections worldwide. If we look at the city as a large collection of many small systems goes to make up a large and complex system, those smaller systems are more overlapping than ever. And it goes hand-inhand with the increase of connections.
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If we are to provide physical receptacle for such a social structure, so as to make the urban structure what it “ought to be�, how do we correspond to the fragmented, interconnected, and overlapping nature of it? I certainly do not have an affirmable answer. But there are things that come to mind in light of ideas drawn from scholars who advocated urban structure of such characters:
initial ideas set 1
Increase connections (for example smaller street blocks or more streets and alleys), and improve opportunities for movement across multiple scales (from escalators and short narrow alleys of local significance to broad avenues that traverse many districts); more mixed activities and other locally mixed phenomena (such as working schedules and building conditions).
Quality of Urban Space and Collective Form | 008
The second idea that stands out is the importance of movement. A majority of the 1.2.2 Movement and the Generation of Activity
more recent analogies, whether it be the rhizome, the semilattice, the brain, or the quantum physics, emphasis on the connections as a vital part of the structure and key to the interaction of activities. With the virtual world that we have today, a great portion of the connections do not have and do not need physical presence. For the sake of distinguishing those connections that require physical receptacle, I shall call them physical connections or movement. We have learnt, from the example of the kid who lives at the end of the cul-de-sac, how over-simplified street network of linear hierarchy can hinder interaction. We recognize too the importance of physical connections in today’s urban structure. So how can those complex patterns of movement be materialized? An example of the gradual transformation of a gridded Roman colony into an Islamic city in the book The City Shaped tells us how it happened historically.
“the spontaneous city”
When we think about how a city “ought to be”, we tend to trace back to the unplanned city, or “the spontaneous city.” Spiro Kostof defines it as “presumed to develop without benefit of designers, subject to no master plan but the passage of time, the lay of the land, and the daily life of the citizens” (Spiro Kostof, 1991, The City Shaped, P43). And thus it is presumably true to “ its inner forces”. More often than not, the premeditated
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and spontaneous coexist, or in some cases they metamorphosed. The examples of the once regular grid plan morphed into an irregular, non-geometric, “organic” form is of particular interest to me, as in each step of the process, the major force at play was almost singled out and results displayed. In this particular example given in the book, given the background of post-Roman Europe, the first changes that took place is that the solidly framed Roman grid was appropriated by the new users to suit the pattern of movement.
an example of urban form shaped by movement
“...the freeing of movement from geometric order... …With the impairment of municipal controls in the post-Roman city, natural movement soon carved short-cuts through the large rigid blocks of the grid. Tracks skirting or crossing the ruins of those public buildings for which there was no longer any use also crystallized into new street. At the same time, the circulation pattern relating to the central market, which sometimes coincided with the old Roman forum, was rationalized to suit the new urban conditions…” (Spiro Kostof, 1991, The City Shaped, P48)
Quality of Urban Space and Collective Form | 010
1-1 Transformation diagrams from “The City Shaped” (Spiro Kostof, 1991, The City Shaped, P49)
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This example reveals how the movement shaped the urban form. The pattern of movement in effect here was a combination of the basic pattern of human movement and the most advantageous circulation layout from the shopkeeper and artisan’s point of view. Irrefutably today’s pattern of movement is far more complex than that in the example. Nevertheless it is immensely helpful to the understanding of how an urban form can be an honest and direct response to the pattern of people’s behavior and social structure.
movement — a concept that implies more than connections
On the topic of movement, another question came to mind. When we think about connections, we tend to think of them as ways to connect the nodes; they are means to an end. But when we think of movement, many a factor comes to mind: how fast the movement is, in what way people mobilize themselves, what would happen alongside, etc. It is perfectly reasonable to strip the idea of physical connections down to lines that connect dots when we are trying to conceptualize urban structure. While translating that idea into physical form would require us to think of it more as movement and take into consideration what would actually happen.
Quality of Urban Space and Collective Form | 012
movement and interactions
We have learnt from numerous previous studies that a great amount of human activities and interactions are generated around pedestrian movement. People stop to talk to their friends and neighbors who they meet on the way. Also they would very often like to keep that interaction as a part of the movement: they would stand in the middle of the street or at the porch till the conversation is over and then go their separate ways, or, walk together and talk. People love people-watching and especially watching different people come and go. Parisians for example love it so much that they would prefer sitting and eating along a crowded sidewalk instead of an indoor area. If given a small piece of comfortable space by the sidewalk, people would stay there for a while and rest. Bypassing a row of shops can be seen as being presented with opportunities to participate in commercial activities. If a very pleasant smell were coming out of the bakery, why wouldn’t you go in and grab a piece of pastry? Of course it means, equally, opportunities for the shops to have people bypassing their establishments.
criticism of Japan Center set 1
Examples like these are inexhaustible. Looking at these patterns of human behavior we can come up with criticism of the Japan Center, which is, now, essentially a very closed-off shopping mall. Access into the mall is limited. People who go into the mall either have time to navigate around or know what is in the mall that they are looking for.
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Movement relating to the shops is entirely contained in the mall. The blank faรงades does not inform pedestrian on the street exactly what businesses they would find in the mall (except for the names of a few of them listed on signs outside of the mall). As a result, the Japan Center may have brought visitors to Japantown but it does not contribute to the generation of activities in the neighborhood. Instead it keeps the pedestrian flow that it has generated away from the streets, and the closed-off blank faรงades worsen the streets into an unpleasant pedestrian environment. For the businesses inside the mall, the opportunities of having people pass by and be attracted are eliminated. They are dependent entirely on the visitors who come to visit Japan Center. In the case of a multistory mall that would be justified for it offers the shops on the upper levels exposure to visitors that would not be otherwise possible because of their lack of street level presence. But if we keep in mind that Japan Center is a single story of shops above a parking lot, a better configuration than the current one is clearly possible and favorable.
initial ideas set 2
If we value movement and the activities that are generated by and in the radiating field of movement, shall we not respect and celebrate that in our designs? On the pedestrian scale, we can envision sidewalks and alley as a transitional zone that not only accommodate the flow of people, but also offer room for spontaneous and varied
Quality of Urban Space and Collective Form | 014
activities. This network of movement should then of course link the existing important urban open spaces. The linear zone might as well enlarge into new nodes of urban open space at strategic locations. So instead of centering the design of our environment around the composition of buildings and try to make the residue space work, we could perhaps consider the local connections together with the built form, and let the movement and pertaining activities carve out the blocks and post a demand on the building design to not only serve its own purposes but also provide a backdrop for the urban activities. Within the buildings, the movement network would continue at a different scale. In cases like Japan Center, where pubic access is a vital part of the building, we can picture the zone of movement dominating both inside and outside the buildings as communicating space that holds the functional space of more static uses. Boundary between indoor space and outdoor space can then be blurred through arcades and courtyards; the building volumes themselves become permeable too. By doing this we are maximizing interface between different uses and encouraging interaction.
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Resilience 1.2.3 Urban Form and Resilience
: the ability to become strong, healthy, or successful again after something bad happens (an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change) : the ability of something to return to its original shape after it has been pulled, stretched, pressed, bent, etc. (the capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress) (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)
resilience and its definition
Resilience is such fascinating word. If we start from the definition given above, we can at least picture two different modes how resilience would present itself. Take the example of a tree, when a breeze comb through the branches, the branches would bend; a counterforce to the force of wind is generated in the system of a tree. When the wind stops, that tree is still whole and complete. The tree is resilient in a sense that it is selfmaintaining, able to withstand (remain undamaged or unaffected by) external forces. In another case, when a storm hits the tree and breaks its branches (to a certain extent that is still within the capacity of a tree to stay alive), the tree would be damaged. But branches will re-grow after the storm, abiding by the same structural principles of the tree before the storm. This is also a case of resilience. To some extent, the system of the
Quality of Urban Space and Collective Form | 016
tree has the quality of self-regenerating. Looking at resilience of an urban structure and urban form, in the examples of transformation of cities and towns throughout history, we found “characteristics that have permitted the unexpected to occur;” and conditions within which users “have been able to interact in a positive way with their own environment” (Anne Vernez Moudon, 1986, Built for Change, P157). It is a quality of self-sustaining, rather a combination of the two modes mentioned above. There have been discussions on resilience in both urban structure and urban space.
resilience in urban structure
On the urban structure level, I may again take the analogies of ideal urban structures of today as reference for they respond to the unprecedented rapid and extensive transformations in the physical structure of the society. By advocating multi-level connections and overlapping of the sub-systems, they have made the parts and clusters of parts (elements and sets) potentially autonomous. Single or multiple elements or sets can be taken away or added without destroying the evident governing structure of the system in its totality. Two of the models that represent extremes in cities are the “rhizome” and the “tree” structure.
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“rhizome” and “tree”
“A rhizome is an interwoven complex of heterogeneous parts that is centre-less, dynamic and ever changing. It is a cluster of connected yet autonomous parts that is vigorous and can extend in any direction, according to conditions and need.” “Whereas the tree is of linear hierarchy, where “underground roots branch successively into finer strands, and the boughs, branches, twigs, etc do likewise above. If a major artery is cut then its extensions will wither.” (Barrrie Shelton,1999, Learning from the Japanese City, P127) Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari first used the metaphor of “rhizome” to propose “a condition where the taproot for ideology has been aborted in favor of the shifting layers and boundless interconnectivities of the rhizome” (Martin Pearce and Maggie Toy, The
Education of Architects, 1995). Deleuze and Guattari describe it as a model which “has no beginning or end; it is always in the middle, between things, interbeing, intermezzo” (Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, 1972/1980, Capitalism and Schizophrenia, P25). Kisho Kurokawa takes the reference of “rhizome” and “tree” for the Japanese and Western cities (Kisho Kurokawa, 1994, The Philosophy of Symbiosis, P64). Although we may not find an exact example of a city of rhizome model (with the Japanese city being the closest to it), if we acknowledge our urban society as a dynamic field of interrelated
Quality of Urban Space and Collective Form | 018
forces, the rhizome does seem like an ideal model, and shall we conclude that resilience is more embedded in the rhizome structure than in the tree structure?
resilience in urban space
As for resilience of urban space, Anne Vernez Moudon defines it as “the ability of space to assume a variety of functions as well as meanings, to be owned and inhabited in variety of ways without major disruption to the principles of the structure of that place” (Anne Vernez Moudon, 1986, Built for Change, P157). She also concluded two basic attitudes toward building resilience as “flexibility”, that physical space must be able to undergo substantial alteration to accommodate changes in the requirements of social space (the social events that may take place within the physical structure); and “adaptability”, that variety and change can, to a large extent, be accommodated without major disruption of the physical space (Anne Vernez Moudon, 1986, Built for Change, P178).
initial ideas set 3
If we see architecture as one single entity/volume, an element in the system, we may find resilience in the versatility of how a system organizes its elements and adaptability in terms of an individual architecture in the system. What if we look at architecture not as an element but an assemblage of elements? Would that at least add one
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extra stratum between architecture and the city? The elements could take on different program and should each be adaptable to change. The movement network at the architectural scale could be a part of the rhizome structure of the city and an organizing communication space (or transitional space) that connects the elements. This would mean the resilience embedded in the system could be extended to the architectural scale, and architecture might contribute more profoundly towards the formation of more diverse and fertile urban environments. Of course it is not a universal solution: it would be very difficult to imagine, say, a hospital as a cluster of small buildings, or how a skyscraper can be broken down when the communication space within a skyscraper is in nature primarily vertical and also takes up a large portion of the construction cost. But it is a possibility when we are dealing with projects that access and connectivity is inherent in the program.
criticism of Japan Center set 2
Let me again take the Japan Center, the centerpiece of Japantown, as an example. We could probably say that it has the quality of adaptability. It was designed to accommodate large cooperate showrooms and therefore the span of the structure made it relative easy to be subdivided into smaller shops and restaurants and become the mall that we know today. But the tree structure of access and organization of space is so
Quality of Urban Space and Collective Form | 020
dominating in its structure that it lacks the resilience to permit the unexpected to occur. On the upper level of the West Mall and Kinokuniya Building which are linked by the Webster Street Bridge and occupy one and a half city block, 57 of the total 58 shops and restaurants share only one main entrance on the street level. If any construction were to happen at the Peace Plaza where this single main street level entrance is, it would have been devastating to the businesses inside Japan Center. Two of the three volumes (East Mall and West Mall) sit on a parking structure that spans across two city blocks; the other one (Kinokuniya Building ) is above another parking structure shared by the Kabuki Theatre. The parking structures are now under structural examination which will convey the scope of repairs that may be necessary for seismic improvements and maintenance. Depending on the results of the structural survey, significant and time-consuming reconstruction of the garages may be necessary, in which case the total reconstruction of the Japan Center will be inevitable. Not to mention the businesses inside the buildings have no control over the street level presence of their businesses and it would be very difficult for them to “interact in a positive way� with the set of buildings.
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1.3 Group Form and the Japanese City
In the previous sections, some of the findings and ideas in bold could potentially lead to a design proposal for an urban space of which public access would be a vital part, like Japantown. To conclude these initial ideas that have been discussed above: ›› Increase connections and improve opportunities for movement across multiple scales; ›› More mixed activities and other locally mixed phenomena; ›› Envision the physical receptacle of pedestrian movement as communication space/ transitional zone that not only accommodate the flow of people, but also offer room
initial ideas recap
for spontaneous and varied activities and encourage interaction between different uses across all urban scale; the city blocks should be permeable when possible; ›› It would also continue at the architectural scale as a dominating framework that organizes and links the functional space of more static uses, both inside and outside the buildings; ›› Boundary between indoor and outdoor space can then be blurred; the building volumes themselves become permeable too. We can then start to imagine an interconnected fine grain urban texture with a diverse mix of uses and urban phenomena. But how about the built form and the composition of the basic elements? And that lead me to the study of Maki’s Collective Form.
Quality of Urban Space and Collective Form | 022
Before we elaborate on the topic of group form, it is important that we first look at 1.3.1 Learning from the Japanese City
the characters of Japanese cities, where Maki spent his childhood and youth and the experience “strongly conditioned his thinking and provided a lasting basis for his spatial constructs in architecture” (Jennifer Taylor, 2003, The Architecture of Fumihiko Maki, p.18).
qualities and characteristics of Japanese urban form
Shelton summarized the “tangible aspects” of Japanese urban pattern and form set against the backcloth of his experience of Western cities, urban theory and design as follows: ›› The primacy of land plot and machi/cho* over building and street — patchwork rather than network. ›› The floating floor was preferred to the foundation wall — temporary versus permanent. ›› The spreading ground-peering roof was favored over the sky-aspiring dome, spire or
* Chome, an aerial unit approximates to a Western street block or collections of small blocks and may be of a regular or irregular shape. Machi, a larger areal unit in which a collection of chome nest. (Barrrie Shelton, 1999, Learning from the Japanese City, P32)
tower — horizontal more than vertical. ›› Temporary and changeable space (singular) was more common than formed and fixed spaces (plural) — flexible more than fixed. ›› In the broader sweep of the city, signs, services and activities have prevailed as place-
023 |
makers vis a vis buildings — content against physical context. ›› Important functions or activities have been scattered across city space (rather than grouped around a formal center) to offer a decentralized experience — once loosely about bridges (now often about stations) rather than concentrated about a wellformed square or plaza. (Barrrie Shelton, 1999, Learning from the Japanese City, P129) Understanding Japanese urban pattern and form is of significance, not only in a way that it represents a set of tendencies that is in the opposite direction of those of the West, which can be traced far back as thick threads through time; but also, the Japanese city offers a working model to deal with the fragmentation, fracture, de-centering, scattering, layering, superimposition and collage in the context of today’s chaotic and fast-changing world and the cultural background of instant information and rapid international exchange. We find in Japanese cities a wider range of characteristics reflecting more closely the more recent views in the field of physics, philosophy and sociology, than in their Western counterparts. Shelton closes the chapter of Learning from the Japanese City in his book by stating that:
Quality of Urban Space and Collective Form | 024
significance of understanding Japanese urban form
“As a final note, I should remind readers that the West has a record of ignoring (or worse, denigrating) the design characteristics and qualities of Japanese built forms until such times as these may be used in support of some ‘new’ theory, sensibility or model of its own ... Now, it is the city’s turn and I am one of the growing band of urban designers who are increasingly ‘looking east’.” (Barrrie Shelton, 1999, Learning from the Japanese City, P137)
increasing interest in group form
Along the same line, approximately 50 years after the idea of group form was first presented, it continues to be a subject of interest to many. Maki believed that one reason for this is that “as relationships of social phenomena in contemporary cities become more complex, a structure (in which a loose connection exists between the whole and the parts) that can adapt to various conditions, including the passing of time, seems more realistic than a structure in which the relationship between the whole and the parts is clearly hierarchical” (Fumihiko Maki, 2010, 50 Years Since Group Form) The book Investigations in Collective Form (first published in 1962) was reissued in 2004. The journal of Japan Architect issued an edition titled Redefining Collectivity in summer 2010, featuring the work of 14 Japanese architects in the recent 10 years. It is through this issue that I was introduced to the notion of collective form and group form.
025 |
The study of collective form* was described as an investigation of the morphological 1.3.2 Group Form /Sequential Approach
resultants of forces present in cities. In Maki’s book Investigations in Collective Form, he defined collective form as “a collection of buildings that have reasons to be together, and concluded the possible ordering means as:
›› “Compositional form/compositional approach”, a collection of often individually
three paradigm of collective form
tailored buildings of which “proper functional, visual, and spatial (sometimes symbolic) relationship would be establish on a two-dimension plane; with examples such as Rockefeller Center, Chandigarh Government Center and Brazilia; ›› “Mega-structure/structural approach”, “a large frame in which all the functions of a city or part of a city are housed”; with examples such as study for Boston Harbor and Tokyo Bay Proposal by Kenzo Tange; ›› And “group form/sequential approach”, “form that evolves from a system of generative elements in space”, which “have their own built-in link, whether expressed or latent,
*The notion of group form was first published in an article called “Group-Form” in the first issue of “Metabolism” (Fumihiko Maki, Masato Ohtaka, 1960), 4 years before the publication of Collective Form.
so that they may grow in a system”. (Fumihiko Maki, Masato Ohtaka, 1964, Collective Form—Three Paradigm)
Quality of Urban Space and Collective Form | 026
group form
Maki leant clearly in favor of “group form”. His thinking towards group form had evolved from his reading of the traditional and vernacular settlements such as Japanese villages and Italian hilltowns. Maki’s group form “provides for an overriding cohesiveness brought about by the amalgamation of loose parts linked by revealing clues of relationships to provide a sensed, rather than a material, order” (Jennifer Taylor, 2003,
The Architecture of Fumihiko Maki, P23).
“master-program” and “master-form”
Group form developed as a critique of the static nature of “master planning”. For the “master-plan” they substituted the “master-program”, which was conceived as involving a temporal dimension. The key lies in the possibility of open-ended and evolving planning. The term “master-form” was also introduced as an “ideal” which “can move into ever-states of equilibrium and yet maintain visual consistency and a sense of continuing order in the long run … The vital image derives from a dynamic equilibrium of generative elements, not a composition of stylised and finished objects” (Fumihiko Maki, 1964, The Future of Urban Environment). The equilibrium of “master-form” was to be sustained by the elements present at any given time. Heather Cass commented on the approach as the attempt “to reconcile the deterministic object-oriented tradition of the West with the indeterminate evolution-orientated tradition of Japan” (Heather Willson Cass, 1976, Architecture as Human Experience).
027 |
1-2 Form diagram from “Notes on collective form�
Quality of Urban Space and Collective Form | 028
Compositional Form
1-3 Aerial view of the Forbidden City, Beijing, China. (The Beijing Report.)
Mega-Structure
1-4 Kisho Kurokawa, Agricultural City. (Metabolism.) 1-5 Kenzo Tange, masterplan for Tokyo. (Metabolism.)
Group Form
1-6 San Francisco. (Image courtesy of Philip Hyde.) 1-7 Fubao, Sichuan, China.
029 |
The Japanese culture and view of the world was also embedded in the earlier collective 1.3.3 Group Form and Resilience
effort of the Metabolism group which Maki was a part of. The central declaration of Metabolism is that “the city would be regenerated by a continuous replacement of parts on a ‘metabolic cycle’, as in nature” (Jennifer Taylor, 2003, The Architecture of Fumihiko
the origin of Japanese world view
Maki, P42). Fawcett claimed that “it was this plateau of cultural agreement on which Metabolism was based, lending credibility to its vision of an environment as a sort of living plasma of demountable settings, a multi-strategy architecture of indeterminacy …” (Chris Fawcett, 1980, The New Japanese House, P17). It is in accord with the Buddhist notion of the world-in-transformation where phenomena are viewed as transitory states rather than as fixed object, which also ties closely with the Shinto vision of nature as a cycle as renewal. This thinking was compatible with the existing situation in the Japanese city, which constantly changes according to
the transient
the natural patterns of decay and renewal. It also applies to the Japanese traditional modular buildings such as machiya (townhouses) as a set of exchangeable and transferable parts.
Quality of Urban Space and Collective Form | 030
the concept of “oku”
“A place (in Japan) is originally defined as an empty place into which anything may be brought. The way of integration is not that the centre holds everything together, but rather only that there exists coordination at some point but with nothing inside it.” (Yujiro Nakamura, 1984, Process Architecture, P62)
the concept of “linkage” and “equilibrium”
The equilibrium of group form was rooted in this way of seeing the balance of space. Maki’s formal/spatial strategy is that wherein external space or space “between” is an implied linkage. It rose in response to Maki’s concerns for the urban society as “a dynamic field of interrelated force. It is a set of mutually independent variables in a rapidly expanding infinite series. Any order introduced within the pattern of forces contributes to a state of dynamic equilibrium — an equilibrium that will change in character as time passes.” (Fumihiko Maki, Masato Ohtaka, 1964, Collective Form— Three Paradigm)
the incomplete
As the elements in the equilibrium are constantly evolving and renewing, and that one or more elements should be added or taken out of the system without breaking the state of equilibrium, there is no “complete” or “finished” state of the group form. It is forever changing and always in balance. “The conceptual openness of the compositions
031 |
provides for multiple penetrations and an acceptance of and responsiveness to uncertainty.” (Jennifer Taylor, 2003, The Architecture of Fumihiko Maki, P23)
another perspective of resilience
The embrace of the incomplete and the transient is fundamentally a new view of resilience; and the notion of equilibrium offers a new possibility besides the resilience in the nature of the structure and adaptability of the basic elements, which is in the composition of elements.
The notion of group form was inspired by and can be best understood as the informal 1.3.4 Group Form and Density
cohesion of vernacular settlements. For this particular reason, use of the term often raises questions about the building scale and density. Maki’s work deploying group form as a formal/spatial strategy, however, involves organizing physical fabrics, urban and rural, large and small. His exploration of group form as a means of handling large and complex assemblages and units evolved through projects such as the proposal for Shinjuku, 1960, Rissho University, 1968, and the Hillside Terraces, 1969, to the large “cloud” complexes, including the gymnasiums and exhibition buildings of the 1990s.
Quality of Urban Space and Collective Form | 032
dealing with bigness
Taylor described the approach as “seek to humanise bigness, when bigness is inherent in the program … the designs are based on a policy of accepting and accommodating the large by means of strategies of uncontainment and incompleteness” (Jennifer Taylor, 2003, The Architecture of Fumihiko Maki, P23).
the floating floor over the foundation wall
What I found coherent and interesting in these projects, is the preference of the floating floor over the foundation wall, which is exactly in accord with the Japanese value presented in the traditional Japanese architecture and urban form. That liberates the concept of “element” in group form from individual volume or even functional room to horizontal activity plane. Space is defined by setting these planes at different heights, and the partition between them are either permeable or transparent. Both public and private space, indoor and outdoor space are treated in more or less the same way
layering of space and permeable volume
(which enables the concept of Maki’s “city rooms” —interior “outdoor” space). That also results in a very vibrant and rich layering of space. Thus however big a “functional room” might be, there is at least a layer of “communication space” at human scale and relates to a more graspable experience of space through out the set of buildings. And the “largeness” of a high-density building is broken down into a fluid composition of activity planes.
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1.4 Proposition
Starting by asking what is good city form, the thesis builds itself on a series of hypothesis: ›› A good city form should be above all human-centered, which means it should reflect the social realities, the pattern of human behavior, and permit changes over time.
recap and hypothesis
›› The urban structure of today in correspondence to the urban society should be more like a rhizome than a tree: dynamic, interconnected at different levels with overlapping sub-systems and autonomous parts. ›› Connections and overlaps are key to such a structure. The network of movement combined with space for spontaneous activities can be conceptualized as interface between different uses and zone of interaction. ›› Instead of one complete entity, architecture can be seen an assemblage of elements with interwoven system of movement and thus be a part of the rhizome structure. ›› The assemblage of elements should be a dynamic equilibrium of generative elements. This conceptual openness of the compositions would provide for multiple penetrations and an acceptance of and responsiveness to uncertainty.
Quality of Urban Space and Collective Form | 034
›› Each element can be regarded as a horizontal activity plane, which enables rich layering of space both indoor and outdoor, functional or communicational, and thus offer an intimate human scale to large and high-density set of buildings.
proposition
The proposition is then derived from the hypothesis, study of Maki’s group form and projects in terms of architectural approaches, and analytical study of Japantown: To revitalize Japantown in San Francisco and to sew Japantown back into its context, I propose to replace the low-density, mega-scale, single-use structures incrementally with interconnected fine grain texture of mixed uses, generated by the principles of group form, which enables interaction, resilience, and vivid diversity, improving connectivity across a wide range of urban scales and increasing density at the same time.
035 |
CHAPTER 2 AN OVERVIEW OF JAPANTOWN
An Overview of Japantown | 036
2.1 Context and Planning Background
Japantown as we know it today is located
Western Addition together. It is also where
along Geary Boulevard, with the Fillmore
future developments are more likely to take
District to the west, Western Addition
place.
to the south, and Cathedral Hill to the east. The thesis takes reference from numerous previous planning efforts and adopts the boundary of the planning area for the Japantown Better Neighborhood Plan (May 2009, San Francisco Planning Department) as the boundary of its study area. The study area is bounded by Steiner, California, Gough, and O’Farrell streets so as to include the numerous cultural and historic resources of the community. An area of 9 blocks along Geary Boulevard is chosen as the core design area. The design area is of strategic importance to stitch Japantown, the Fillmore District and
Looking at Japantown in the context of San Francisco, it is adjacent to the downtown area of highest building and population density (figure 2-1 a and b). Located at the middle of a saddle, the northern part of Japantown has a view towards southeast, of the Twin Peaks, Noe Valley and Mission District (figure 2-1 h). Noticeably in the lot sizes map (figure 2-1 d), the city lots around Japantown and Western Addition are significantly larger than the typical San Francisco city lots, as a result of the consolidation of parcels in those areas during urban renewal.
037 |
2-1 Japantown in the context of San Francisco
a
b
c
BUILDING HEIGHT
DENSITY OF EMPLOYED POPULATION
DENSITY OF HOUSEHOLDS
e
f
g
LAND COVER
ASPECT
SLOPE
d
LOT SIZES
h
HILLSHADE
An Overview of Japantown | 038
2-2 Study area and core design area.
STREET
Numerous discussions have taken place
PARK
in the passed 20 years about the future plan of Japantown. To name a few: the Fillmore Jazz Preservation District Plan 1994, Japantown Community Planning Process Status Report 1999, Japantown Community Plan 2000, Senate Bill 307 Neighborhood Cultural Preservation Report for San Francisco’s Japantown 2005, Japantown Neighborhood Pedestrian Safety and Traffic Community Plan 2006. The 3 most recent and influential ones are:
Japantown Better Neighborhood Plan 2009 In March 2007, Mayor Newsom, Supervisor Mirkarimi and the San Francisco Planning
039 |
Department initiated the Japantown Better Japantown Cultural Heritage and Economic Neighborhood Plan (the Plan) at a town hall community meeting. The Plan was initiated BETTER NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN
to address imminent new development in DRAFT FOR PUBLIC REVIEW MAY 2009 SAN FRANCISCO PLANNING DEPARTMENT
SACRAMENTO
JAPANTOWN BETTER NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN
Japantown; provide support for existing community-based organizations and
ST
Proposed Project Area PERINE
PL
ST
PROJECT
Kintetsu Mall
Peace Plaza
Miyako Hotel
ZAMPA LN
Feet
SHORE
LN
GALILEE
LN
QUICKSTEP
LN
ST
0
HOLLIS
ST
I
ST
1000
1481 Post Street
Rosa Parks Elementary School
locally-owned businesses; improve the neighborhood’s circulation, streetscape,
Miyako (Hotel Kabuki) Mall
INCA LN
SCOTT
OFARRELL
Kimochi Home
ST
A I
WESTERN
Redevelopment Area (A-2) Expires 01-01-09
ST
RT GEARY B
BLVD
Properties Within Japantown BNP Area
ST
Kabuki/ Kinokuniya Sundance Mall Theater
ST
GEARY
HEMLOCK
Mall
POST ST
Sokoji Temple
Buchanan
ROW
ST
AVERY
Hamilton Playground
Christ United Presbyterian Church
Former YWCA Nihonmachi Little Friends
JPOP Center SUTTER
OCTAVIA
COTTAGE
JCCCNC/Japanese American History Archives
ST
Kokoro
Konko Church of San Francisco
ST
ST BUSH ST
AUSTIN
ST
ST
Kinmon Gakuen
ST
BUCHANAN
WEBSTER
FILLMORE
ST
ST
PIERCE
STEINER
WILMOT
LAGUNA
PL
PINE ST
GOUGH
Buddhist Church of San Francisco
ORBEN
CALIFORNIA
WILLOW
CT CLEARY
ELLIS ST
ST
open spaces, and connections across Geary Boulevard to the Fillmore District;
japantown_poster.pdf - mwebster - April 10, 2008
2-3 Japantown Better Neighborhood Plan. Released 2009. (Courtesy of San Francisco Planning Department)
and preserve the special character, culture and history of the neighborhood. The final version of the draft was released for public review in 2009. The plan proposed land use changes and increases in allowable building heights, and changes in the public realm.
Sustainability Strategy 2013 After the Japantown BNP draft was released, feedback from the Japantown community proved the Plan controversial in terms of the additional growth that it proposes. In 2009 the Planning Commission directed the Department and community to revisit these issues. In 2012 the Japantown Organizing Committee, Office of Economic and Workforce Development and Planning Department have tentatively agreed to “re-brand” the Japantown Better Neighborhood Plan as a “Japantown Economic and Social Heritage Strategy”. This Strategy builds off the Better Neighborhood Plan and
FINAL DRAFT / JULY 10, 2013
An Overview of Japantown | 040
TOWN JAPAN and RITAGE RAL HE BILITY CULTU STAINA SU IC M ECONO GY STRATE
S JCHES
incorporates many of its recommendations
San Francisco. Over 50,000 daily transit
and strategies. However as the name
riders rely on Geary bus service, but the
implies, the Japantown Economic and
route is often unreliable and crowded.
Social Heritage Strategy is focused
To improve travel times, reliability and
specifically on Japantown’s cultural
the user experience, the San Francisco
heritage and economic sustainability. The
County Transportation Authority (SFCTA),
Planning Department recognizes that the
in partnership with the San Francisco
JAPANTOWN ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
2-4 Japantown Cultural Heritage and Economic Sustainability Strategy. Released 2013. (Courtesy of San Francisco Planning Department)
centralized location and rich transit service Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), make portions of Japantown reasonable
is evaluating the implementation of a
for consideration of increased development bus rapid transit (BRT) system for the potential. However the important land use
Geary corridor. The Project is currently
and growth-related issues are being tabled
undergoing an environmental review.
for future community planning efforts.
Upon certification of the Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental
Geary Corridor Bus Rapid Transit Project
Impact Report, the Project will enter the preliminary engineering and design
Geary Boulevard is the most heavily used
phase (estimated in 2014), which will be
transit corridor in the northern part of
followed by construction and mitigation
041 |
2-5 Geary Corridor Bus Rapid Transit Project. Scheduled to finish by 2020. (Courtesy of SFMTA)
GEARY CORRIDOR BUS RAPID TRANSIT
Conceptual Engineering and Environmental Analysis
(estimated 2017). Features of Geary BRT
BRT corridors also typically benefit from
include: dedicated transit lane and new
investment in street beautification and
stations, transit signal priority and traffic
pedestrian amenities, and in some cases,
signal optimization, pedestrian safety
have prompted new investment and
enhancements and all-door boarding and
increased economic activity in commercial
low-floor vehicles which would result in
districts they serve. Base on the case
reduced travel times.
studies carried out by the San Francisco
Cities in the US, such as Los Angeles, Project Update June 2012
Boston, Cleveland, and Eugene, Oregon, www.gearybrt.org
have implemented BRT systems as a costeffective way to improve transit service. These projects have brought significant improvements in transit travel times and reliability, with strong gains in ridership. 38R Geary Rapid 38
42nd Ave
25th Ave
Fort Miley
43
6th Ave
Stockton
Tenderloin/Lower Nob Hill
Japantown/Fillmore
Union Square
GEARY
8X, 30, 45 (NB)
Kearny
10, 11
Richmond
Inner Richmond/Roosevelt MS
Kaiser/Mt. Zion Hospitals
28, 28L
33
24
Park Presidio
18
Connections to Metro Stations & Other Muni Lines |
Arguello
Divisadero
Mission St/SOMA
Battery
FINANCIAL DISTRICT
GEARY
33rd Ave
Transbay Transit Center
MARKET O’FARRELL
Cathedral Hill
Union Square
19, 47R, 49R Golden Gate Transit
Cable Car
Van Ness
Powell
Grant 8X, 30, 45
Montgomery/ New Montgomery Station in Transitway
BART Stations | Regional Bus Lines
4th & King N, T, E, 12, 30, 45, 108
Mission Bay
11, 14, 14L
11th St/Bryant
South Van Ness & Mission
13th ST
S VAN NESS
9, 9L
SOMA/Mission
TOWNSEND
Eugene Emx) can be expected in the first year. As one of the special nodes and major stations of the Project, the Fillmore station will certainly bring changes to Japantown. It is necessary to envision
5, 5L
38, 38R
McAllister
SOMA
O’Farrell/Geary
Civic Center/Hayes Valley
1, Cable Car
Golden Gate Transit 41, 45
Polk Gulch/Nob Hill
Cow Hollow/Russian Hill
Sacramento
Cathedral Hill
Stop on Sidewalk
11
Union
North Point Aquatic Park
VAN NESS
VAN NESS
DIVISION
Showplace Square
SOMA/Mission
19
27
8th St
Connections to Metro Stations & Other Muni Lines |
Folsom
Mid-Market
Tenderloin
6, 71, 71L, F Van Ness J, K, L, M, N, T
31
Market
Caltrain Stations | Regional Bus Lines
49R Van Ness-Mission Rapid
Eddy
Polk Gulch
Polk Gulch/Pacific Heights
2
10
Sutter
Jackson
Galileo HS/Marina
Chestnut 30
Station in Transitway
development to ensure that they happen
108 AC Transit, SamTrans
F Montgomery J, K, L, M, N, T Montgomery
47R Van Ness-Townsend Rapid 4th & Townsend
Angeles Orange Line) to 90% (case of
8X, 30, 45 (SB)
Leavenworth/Jones
Fillmore
Raoul Wallenberg HS
GEARY
Washington HS
GEARY
27
22
Masonic
Kaiser French Campus/Clement St
Outer Richmond
PT LOBOS AVE
Cliff House
ridership increase of 51% (case of Los
and plan for the changes and future 44
29
48th Ave
County Transportation Authority, a
Stop on Sidewalk
within an healthy framework.
An Overview of Japantown | 042
2.2 A Brief History of Japantown
San Francisco’s Japantown was originally
to Japan but many settled to establish
known as Nihonjin Machi–“Japanese
shops, hotels, restaurants and rooming
people’s town.” It is the oldest of its kind
houses. From 1900 to 1909, Japanese
in the continental United States and one
businesses quickly grew from 90 to 545
of only three remaining Japantowns in the
establishments in San Francisco. They
United States. Numerous social, economic initially settled on the edge of the city’s and political organizations originated
Chinatown, and in the working-class
in the city, including schools, religious
South of Market district, until the 1906
institutions and civic organizations.
earthquake devastated these areas. The Western Addition remained untouched by
San Francisco’s Early Japanese Communities
the fire and provided a haven for the bulk of San Francisco’s burned-out population.
The first Japanese immigrants sailed
Tent villages were hastily erected in
into San Francisco Bay in 1896. This
nearby parks to provide emergency
first generation, known as the Issei, was
accommodations for homeless families.
small in number and consisted mainly of
Later these families crowded into small
young men. These early immigrants had
apartments which Western Addition
the intention to earn money and return
homeowners had built into the attics,
043 |
basements, and wings of their homes.
San Francisco’s Japantowns
Many property owners raised their houses
E C AR MB (1870sto1940s)
GEARY ET
RK
MA
H 6T
and placed stores beneath them, and
Chinatown
additional commercial buildings were
D 3R
(1906 to today)
VAN NESS
GEARY
FILLMORE
Western Addition Japantown
O ER AD
BROADWAY
PRESIDIO
GRANT
LOMBARD
South Park (1906-1930s)
constructed alongside homes. Thus began the mixed land use which later brought
MISSION
Richmond District South of Market (1950s to today) (1880s to 1906) G O L D E N G AT E PA R K 1906 fire Sunset District (1950s to today) 2-6 Historic Locations of Japantown
restaurants, theaters, saloons, and hotels
to the area. The Japanese community relocated to the present Japantown area in the Western Addition, with another smaller concentration in the South Park (south of Market, between Second and Third Streets and Brannan and Townsend).
2-7 Japantown Businesses along Geary Street, 1910s. (Collection of National Japanese American Historical Society)
By then, San Francisco was the chief U.S.
Fillmore Street looking north
2-8 port of entry for Asian immigration with the toward Sutter Street, ca. 1916. (Collection of the San Francisco Public Library) largest Nikkei (Japanese) population of any
mainland
American city.
n ba ur
in te r
19
0
6
nm
re
en t
ne
w
al
An Overview of Japantown | 044
2-9 Time line of Japantown History 1937 Aerial View. (David Rumsey Historical Map Collection) 1956-2005 Building footprint map. (Data from Japantown Atlas) 2013 Aerial View. (Google Map)
045 |
2-10 Mikado Hotel and Cafeteria on Post Street, 1930s. (Reproduced in Generations)
Growth Of Nihonmachi
Internment and Japantown Without Nikkei
By the time of the 1910 census, the core
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
area near Post and Buchanan Streets
in December 1941, the neighborhood
was home to more than 50 Japanese-
experienced Kristallnacht type attacks on
owned commercial establishments, and
residences and businesses. In February
to most of the 4,700 Japanese residents
1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed
residing in the city. The neighborhood
Executive Order 9066 that forced all
took on a very Japanese character and
Japanese of birth or descent in the United
before long became a miniature Ginza.
States interned. By August 1942, the entire
The community prospered through the
Japanese community of San Francisco was
1920s and 1930s. By 1940, the Japanese
shipped out to one of the ten concentration
population of Japantown, although by
camps located away from the West
then second in size to Little Tokyo in Los
Coast. By 1943 many large sections of the
Angeles, numbered over 5,000, with more
neighborhood remained vacant due to the
than 200 Japanese-owned businesses.
forced internment. The void was quickly
Long-established Issei-owned businesses
filled by thousands of African Americans
were joined by emerging Nisei (second
who had left the South to find wartime
generation) entrepreneurs.
industrial jobs in California as part of the
2-11 Japantown residents registering at Kinmon Gakuen, 1942. (Collection of Bancroft Library)
An Overview of Japantown | 046
Great Migration. With the in-migration
settled in other parts of the city. Starting
of African Americans, the quiet Nihonjin
over was a particular hardship for most
Machi quickly turned into a vibrant, loud
Japanese American families returning
and crowded Fillmore District. From the
from the camps. Temporary housing in
1940s to the 1950s, the Fillmore flourished
the district -– sometimes in church social
with nightlife and music, and famous jazz
halls or former military housing – was often
musicians flocked to San Francisco from
full. Reentry into society, from finding work
all over the country to play on the stages
to attending school, was often met with
of Fillmore, earning the neighborhood the
hostility and mistrust. By the 1950 census,
name of “Harlem of the West.”
although Japanese numbers in Japantown
2-13 Pine Street Laundry, 1946. (Reproduced in Generations)
area were nearly back to their prewar
Resettlement
2-12 Jimbo’s Bop City and Uoki Sakai Co. on Post Street. (Collection Following of National Japanese American Historical Society)
the war, some Japanese
levels, both whites and African Americans far outnumbered them. Japanese property
Americans returned, followed by
ownership initially rebounded following the
new Japanese immigrants as well as
war. By 1950, 148 parcels were Japanese
investment from the Japanese Government owned. This number dropped to 18 by
and Japanese companies, many did not
1962, the end of the initial round of urban
return to the neighborhood and instead
condemnations.
047 |
Urban Renewal in the Western Addition In 1948, 27 blocks of San Francisco’s Western Addition, including much of Japantown, was selected as one of the
2-14 Graphic argument for public health as
2-16 Demolition for the Geary Expressway, 1960.
an urban renewal issue, 1947. (Collection of San Francisco Public Library) (Courtesy of San Francisco Public Library)
first large-scale urban renewal projects in the nation. In order to address the “urban blight”, this quickly expanded to two project areas, A-1 (south of Post Street, 27 blocks) and A-2 (north of Post Street, 43 blocks), and involved the mass clearance of the neighborhood including a large number of residences and small businesses. The San Francisco Redevelopment Agency mandated “improvements,” but allowed the Japanese American community to hire their own architects and planners to reshape the
2-15 Demolition of the A-1 area, 1961. (Courtesy of San Francisco Public Library)
2-17 Western Addition Redevelopment project areas A-1 and A-2. (Courtesy of San Francisco Redevelopment Agency)
area between Post and Bush Streets—four blocks of the larger 43-block project.
An Overview of Japantown | 048
With the urban renewal projects, came
the investments and construction of the
Miyako Hotel and the Japanese Trade Center malls (opened in 1968), and the Peace Pagoda, a five-tiered concrete stupa designed by Japanese architect Yoshiro 2-18 St. Francis Square 2-19 Miyako Hotel from Peace Plaza. 2-20 Buchanan Mall Looking Taniguchi and presented to San Francisco Co-operative Apartments. Completed in 1968. toward Japan Center. Occupied by 1964. (Collection of San Francisco Public Library) Completed in 1976. (Rudy Bruner Award for (Collection of San Francisco by the people of Osaka, Japan. Most of Agency) Urban Excellence Digital Redevelopment Archive) the Japanese American businesses were relocated to be concentrated on Post
Street (between Fillmore and Laguna)
and Buchanan Mall. Buchanan Street was further redesigned into a landscaped
pedestrian mall completed with landscape fixtures designed by Japanese landscape architect and planner Rai Okamoto and
2-21 Relocating a 19th century house in the Western Addition. (Courtesy of San Francisco Redevelopment Agency)
artist Ruth Asawa, such as “River of Cobblestones,” origami fountains and the
049 |
Buchanan Mall Gate. Together they formed a more diverse and pan-Asian population, the new focal point of Japantown.
and Nisei retirements led to the closure of long-time businesses ranging from manga
Preserving Culture & Reinforcing Identity
alleys, community energies have focused
World War II internment, post-war
on the question of what is essential to
redevelopment, and the assimilation of
Nihonmachi.
Japanese Americans into the broader 2-22  New People Center. Built 2009. (Courtesy of Kwan Henmi Architecture Planning)
shops to markets, bookstores to bowling
social fabric has meant that Japantown is no longer the site of a highly concentrated residential population of Nikkei. By 1990, more than 90 percent of Japanese Americans in San Francisco lived outside of Japantown. In addition, more than half of the Nikkei population of California is of mixed ethnic heritage, further complicating the issue of cultural identity. As the neighborhood’s demographics shifted to
Cultural pride and celebrations remain the core to San Francisco’s Japantown. The two largest public events, the Cherry Blossom Festival held in the spring and the Nihonmachi Street Fair held each August, attracts thousands each year. Other Events, organizations and demonstrations focused on Nikkei heritage contributes to an ongoing way of life. The Sansei (thirdgeneration Japanese Americans) formed
An Overview of Japantown | 050
many grassroots organizations based in Japantown to serve the needs of both Japantown residents and the extended Japanese American community. These changes show an important 2-25 Japantown JPOP Summit Festival, August 2012.
transition in Japantown’s identity—instead of the enclave of Japanese migrants and descents, it is becoming increasingly an ethnic cultural and social center and heart of connections for not only the Japan town residents but also the Japanese and Japanese Americans that have dispersed elsewhere in the region.
2-23 The parade at Japantown Cherry Blossom Festival, May 2013.
2-24 Closing down of Post Street for pedestrians at Japantown Cherry Blossom Festival, May 2013.
Sources: Graves, Donna. San Francisco Japantown Historic Context Statement. Rep. N.p., May 2011. Web. Laguerre, Michel S. The Global Ethnopolis: Chinatown, Japantown, and Manilatown in American Society. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan, 2000. Print. Nikkei Heritage. Vol. 7-4/8-1. San Francisco: National Japanese American Historical Society, 2000/2001. Print.
051 |
2.3 Layers of Japantown
The following part of Chapter 2 will unfold layers of Japantown and introduce the neighborhood’s existing conditions. The analysis mainly focuses on the study area while keeping the regional context in perspective. It includes the following elements: topography and watersheds, demographics, street network and connections, land use and zoning, built form, public space, historic and cultural properties.
2.3.1 Topography and Watersheds
2-26  Mission Creek Watershed (Ramirez-Herrera, M.T., Sowers, J.M., and Richard, C.M., 2006, Creek and Watershed Map of San Francisco: Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA, 1:25,800 scale.)
An Overview of Japantown | 052
Japantown is located at the middle of the saddle between Pacific Heights and Western Addition. It is in the upper half of the Mission Creek watershed. With Geary Boulevard crossing the low point of the saddle, there has been flooding issues at the tunneled part of Geary Boulevard. The saddle landform indicates that storm water from a relatively large area will be gathered towards the lowest central valley and follow the alignment of Hayes Creek (figure 2-26) into the Mission Bay. It poses requirement for future developments to cope with the amount of street runoff. In the meantime it can be regarded as an opportunity to take advantage of the gathering of the storm water for storm water treatment.
2-27 5ft contour map of Japantown and its context area. 2-28 Flooding record in year 2011.
053 |
2.3.2 Demographics
As discussed above, Japantown
of residents of Japanese ancestry remains
has remained an ethnically varied
relatively low (5%).
neighborhood at the turn of the 21-century. By the 2000 census, 53% of the 20,598 total population of Japantown areaare white, 21% Asian, and 19% African American. Although the number of Asians in Japantown has remained stable, the population of Japanese and Japanese Americans is consistently declining over the pass 3 decades. The 2000 census shows that the total percentage of Asians living in the Japantown area has increased by 1% in the past 10 years,
Looking at the demographics of the Bay Area in the 2010 census (figure 2-30), the Japanese and Japanese American population is mainly distributed around south bay. Within San Francisco, Japantown still is the center for the Japanese and Japanese American population with the highest ethic group density. And the area that Japantown is in, including its surrounding neighborhoods, remains a very ethnically diverse area.
while the Japanese and Japanese descent
The income data shows a very sharp
population has declined as much as 11%.
contrast between the area north of and
In the 2010 census, the Asian population
south of Geary Boulevard (figure 2-29) .
has increased to 33%. But the population
An Overview of Japantown | 054
A. PEOPLE
Table 4.1 RESIDENTS OF JAPANTOWN: A STATISTICAL SNAPSHOT*
As discussed in Chapter 2 – Historic Overview, Japantown has been the primary hub for the city and the region’s Japanese American community for over a century, which always maintained a diverse mix of residents and businesses. As shown in Table 4.1, the current residents of Japantown have a diverse ethnicity, age, income, and education. The population of residents of Japanese ancestry is relatively low (5%), meaning that many Japanese Americans and others who see Japantown as their cultural center reside outside of the neighborhood. Nonetheless, its institutions and businesses make Japantown a regional as well as local community center.
Total Residents Age UNDER 18
Meters
40
76
1,400
2,800
4,200
40-64
25%
OVER 65
27%
7%
HMONG
4%
INDIAN
4%
JAPANESE
5%
KOREAN
2%
OTHER ASIAN
LATINO
8%
WHITE
47%
NONE OF THE ABOVE
Median Household Income
70,000 Meters
2-29 Mean income (data from the 2010 Decennial Census)
°
10%
HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA
11%
SOME COLLEGE/ASSOCIATES DEGREE
19%
BACHELOR’S DEGREE
31%
MASTERS, PROFESSIONAL, OR DOCTORATE DEGREE
29%
3
0
-1 11 65 -8 5 46 -6 4 29 -4 5 14 -2 8 0 -1 3
86
Meters
17,500
35,000
52,500
70,000
Meters
30
$35,600
* Data on total residents, age, and race/ethnicity from the 2010 Decennial Census. Data on income and education are estimates from the 2011 American Community Survey.
1
-1
40
76
-1
8,750
$53,900
SOUTH OF GEARY BOULEVARD
70,000
11 2
1
0
$62,800
SUTTER STREET TO GEARY BOULEVARD
LESS THAN A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA
-1
48
-2
17
0
48
-2
-4 9
7
17
24
64
00
°
14
1 33
3 -4
23
26
9
77 -2
10
72
64
27
20
96
25
-2
06
40
4
52,500
AREA OF CONCERN
$53,900
Education
7
-4 24
9
-4 4 26 35,000
16
14
36
50
-1
69
62
9
43
64
3
2
64
71
22
-1
-1
44 26
13 17,500
12
66
03
-8
-1 5
61
86
10
69
51
5 8,750
37
14
14
6 95 -6 2 0
A.3. Lack of Collaboration for Cultural Preservation. Preserving and supporting Japantown’s cultural and social resources requires collaboration and compromise within the community, within City government, and between the community and City. There is concern within the community that the importance of collaboration necessary to realize 2-30 Density of Japanese/Japanese American the JCHESS’s goals may not be sufficiently appreciated. population (data from the 2010 Decennial Census) 00
33 1
9
63 72
23
4
9
3
2
4
4
01 22
-6
-5
2
37
20 01
54
52 22
-5
37
20
54
52
°
LEGEND
Meters
4%
Meters
LEGEND
70,000
8%
5,600
A.2. Not All Age Groups Have an Equal Stake in the Community. Currently, Japantown has substantial resources for children from pre-K through elementary school, and for seniors, as well as businesses and activities that serve older adults. There is concern that young adults and youth outside of formal programs and organizations lack facilities where they can participate fully given their limited economic resources, and that they need to be integrated into the community’s decision-making processes.
°
5%
BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICAN
AREA OF CONCERN
LEGEND
5%
FILIPINO
NORTH OF SUTTER STREET
LEGEND
33%
CHINESE
-1 11 65 -8 5 46 -6 4 29 -4 5 14 -2 8 0 -1 3
48
700
42%
ASIAN
A.1. It is Difficult to Sustain Japantown’s Critical Mass as a Community Hub. The displacements caused by internment and redevelopment (as discussed in Chapter 2) means that the great majority of the region’s Japanese Americans do not live in Japantown. Additionally, there is limited in-migration of Japanese to the United States, compared to other ethnic groups. There is concern that this makes it more difficult to sustain the critical mass necessary to support the businesses and institutions that make Japantown the hub of the city and region’s Japanese and Japanese American community.
86
-1
0
°
5,600
-1
11 2
4,200
-2
00 2,800
1
-4 1,400
7
9 700
14
0
17
24
°
7%
18-39
Race / Ethnicity:
AREA OF CONCERN
LEGEND
11,228
2-31 Data from Japantown Cultural Heritage And Economic Sustainability Strategy (2013)
J a pa n to W n C u Lt u r a L h e r I taG e & e C o n o M I C S u S ta I n a B I L I t Y S t r at e G Y
055 |
2.3.3 Street Network and Connections
As a direct consequence of the urban renewal, Geary Boulevard and Webster Street widen significantly within the Project Area A-1 and A-2. The design of Geary Boulevard along Japantown, especially the tunneled section at the intersection with Fillmore Street, encourages vehicles to speed through and thus result in a very hostile environment for pedestrians. The width of Geary Boulevard is at its widest between Scott Street and Gough Street, reaching 147ft in width and over 10 lanes;
STREET NETWORK
2-32 
An Overview of Japantown | 056
BICYCLE ROUTE AND TRANSIT SYSTEMS
BICYCLE ROUTE MUNI NETWORK
2-33
PEDESTRIAN VOLUME ANNUAL PEDEST RIAN CROSSINGS
2-34
057 |
the tunneled section reaching 168ft
runs along Geary Boulevard ranks #1
Several bicycle routes intersect in the
in width with 12 lanes. Study of the
in the Top 10 Bus Routes by Average
Japantown neighborhood. With the
traffic count along Geary in the past
Weekday Boarding in the Bay Area,
transit resources Japantown has right
50 years shows that the amount of
FY 2007-08, with SF Muni 1 ranking
now and will have in the foreseeable
traffic passing through Japantown
#6, and SF Muni 22 reaching #9. The
future, combining public transit
area is in fact less than other sections
ongoing Geary Corridor Bus Rapid
with better integrated bicycle routes
of Geary with a parcel-line-to-parcel-
Transit Project brings forward several
and stations will be a reasonable
line width of 125ft. Study of the
design schemes for the special BRT
move and will set forth a more
traffic count along Webster Street
node at Fillmore Street, one of which
environmental friendly transit model.
shows similar results and provides
is to cover up the tunnel in order to
support for the narrowing of Webster
have a continuous bus designated
Street between Bush Street and
line in the middle of the boulevard. It
Golden Gate Avenue.
would be one of the most common
Japantown is served by high density of bus lines with some of the busiest bus transit lines in the bay area. Among them, SF Muni 38/38L that
and efficient settings of a BRT route. Multiple bus lines intersecting at Fillmore and Geary also calls for a comprehensive BRT station design.
The popular pedestrian destination and routes can be identified in the map of pedestrian volume at intersections. The map also reveals the particular routes that pedestrians tend to avoid, which marks the inhospitable street frontage and sequential low energy of the street.
An Overview of Japantown | 058 2-35 Traffic count in relation to street width along Geary Boulevard. (data from the SFCTA traffic count data.)
ffic Way Tra o w T d Measure 24-Hour
6955 40067 4
61408
125’ PL to PL
8’ 147’ 16
147’
68’4”
059 |
2-36  View of Geary Boulevard at Fillmore Street Tunnel looking east.
An Overview of Japantown | 060
2-37  View of Webster Street at Geary
061 |
2.3.4 Land Use and Zoing
Japantown is comprised of a mix of land uses, including purely residential blocks, blocks combining a mixture of residential, institutional and commercial uses, and blocks entirely made up of commercial uses Japantown contains about 7,150 housing units. Residential uses predominate in
RETAIL DENSITY
2-38 
SQ FEET PER ACRE 2743 - 4254
the area north of Bush, consisting mostly
0 - 692
4254 - 6507
of fine-grained, single- and two-family
692 - 1586
6507 - 11173
1586 - 2743
11173 - 21782
homes, typically not wider than 25 feet,
An Overview of Japantown | 062
WEBSTER ST
2-39 Japantown land use map. (Japantown Cultural Heritage And Economic Sustainability Strategy, 2013)
POST ST
WESTERN SHORE LN
INCA LN
HOLLIS ST
OFARRELL ST
CLEARY CT
QUICKSTEP LN
ELLIS ST
ELLIS ST
Figure 4.1 Japantown JAPANTOWN Figure 4.1 LAND LandUSES Uses
GOUGH ST
ZAMPA LN
LAGUNA ST
FILLMORE ST
GEARY BLVD
Mixed Use (Residential) Mixed Use (No Residential) Residential Office
Cultural, Institutional, Educational Open Space Production, Distribution, Repair Retail, Entertainment
Hotel, Visitor Services Medical Vacant No Data
1,000 Feet
063 |
and less than 40 feet in height.
Japantown contains over 700
limits, with the height limit being 40
Residential uses south of Bush Street
businesses utilizing over 2 million
feet to the north. To the south, the
include a number of apartment
square feet of space. Many of these
predominant height limits are 40 and
buildings that contain anywhere from
are home businesses and other small
50 feet, although there are several
four to fifty residential units, although
offices. Many of the businesses are
blocks with notably higher height
a few large-scale, apartment
typically retail in nature, including
limits, up to 240 feet.
buildings containing upward of one
many restaurants.
hundred residential units also exist.
The Draft Better Neighborhoods
In terms of zoning, Japantown
Plan (2009) proposed increases to
Japantown contains over 200
includes ten existing zoning districts,
allowed heights at the Japan Center
institutional uses, including
most of which are Residential,
Malls, including three potential
community centers, schools, civic
Mixed Residential or Neighborhood
towers of 200 – 250 feet, as well as
organizations, business associations,
Commercial zones. Bush Street
another tower further east nearer
and religious institutions. These uses
is a noticeable east-west division
to Gough Street, and proposed
are largely interspersed throughout
between residential zones to the
increased height limits along Geary
the community.
north and mixed residential and
Boulevard. The preponderance of
commercial zones to the south. Bush
vocal community views opposed these
Street is also a dividing line for height
proposals on the ground that, in their
An Overview of Japantown | 064
PUBLIC P
PUBLIC
NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL DISTRICTS NC-2
SMALL-SCALE (2 COMMERCIAL STORIES)
NC-3
MODERATE-SCALE (3+ COMMERCIAL STORIES)
NC-S
SHOPPING CENTER (2 COMMERCIAL STORIES)
NCD
INDIVIDUAL (NAMED, CONTROLS VARY)
RESIDENTIAL, HOUSE CHARACTER DISTRICTS RH-2
TWO UNITS PER LOT
RH-3
THREE UNITS PER LOT
RESIDENTIAL, MIXED (HOUSES & APARTMENTS) DISTRICTS
ZONING PATTERNS
RM-1
LOW DENSITY (1 UNIT PER 800 SF)
RM-2
MODERATE DENSITY (1 UNIT PER 60 SF)
RM-3
MEDIUM DENSITY (1 UNIT PER 400 SF)
RM-4
HIGH DENSITY (1 UNIT PER 200 SF)
2-40
perspective, the proposals were inconsistent with preserving Japantown’s cultural legacy and remaining small-scale neighborhood character. This opposition was a significant reason that the Better Neighborhoods Plan process evolved into the JCHESS.
065 |
2.3.5 Built Form
Based on the scale and architectural style, the buildings in Japantown can be roughly categorized into 3 types. Most of the single-family dwellings within Japantown date back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries and most adhere to Victorian-era architectural styles. The most common form of single-family residence in the Japantown neighborhood is the Italianate or Stick style row house. They are typically constructed on smaller
BUILDING FOOTPRINT
2-41 
An Overview of Japantown | 066
BUILDING HEIGHT
2-42
BUILT FORM & TOPOGRAPHY
2-43
067 |
parcels (18–45ft in width), built to the
buildings within redeveloped areas
scaled interfaces between the uses
property line with entrances spaced
were constructed in the 1960s and
and the street. The commercial
less than 30 feet apart. They provide
1970s and most often exhibit a
core of Japantown now is the
a pedestrian-scaled environment
Japanese-inspired Modernist style.
Japan Center, a set of large-scale,
with consistent street walls and
On the blocks where parcels were
commercial buildings constructed
an interesting variety of building
consolidated to allow for larger
during the urban renewal era between
façades. The fine grain texture
developments, the design of the
Post Street and Geary Boulevard. The
and building typology also enabled
buildings were focused on vehicular
three buildings that make up Japan
transitions of the ground floor use
access and circulation rather than
Center are two stories in height with
from residential to retail during the
pedestrian experiences. Several of
massive footprints stretching through
primetime of Japantown by simply
the blocks along Geary Boulevard
three city blocks. The set of buildings,
opening up the ground floor façades
and Post Street are the most obvious
originally named Japan Trade Center,
to become transparent storefronts;
examples of this. The large buildings
was designed to accommodate large
and some of them from retail back
on these blocks are comprised of
showrooms for the first tenants such
to residential again by shielding the
blank walls, with few or no openings,
as: Hitachi, Nissan and Mitsubishi,
indoor area away from public view.
and lack interest at the ground floor
who introduced Japanese electronics
that might otherwise be provided by
and cars to the American market. As
active ground floor uses with human-
a result the Japan Center is “fortress-
Conversely, the commercial
An Overview of Japantown | 068
2-44 Topography and some of the higher heights along Geary Boulevard in Japantown
069 |
like”, as described by the community.
scale” quality. The central plaza was
and maintenance. Depending on
It contains all the commercial uses
framed by two-story commercial
the results of the structural survey,
and activities in a blank envelope, and
structures that tried to incorporate
significant and time-consuming
thus takes all the life away from the
“ethnic character” in modernist form.
reconstruction of the garages may
surrounding streets, and along with
But it also exhibits theme-park-like
be necessary, which would affect the
Geary Boulevard, poses as a major
characters partly because of its
Japan Center and Japantown as well.
barrier between the Japantown and
generic architectural language.
Western Addition neighborhoods.
As mentioned before, many of
After witnessing the massive scale
buildings within redeveloped
of Japan Center and its erasure
areas are reaching the end of their
of historic Japantown, the local
functional lifespan. SFMTA recently
community expressed wishes for
initiated a structural examination
an environment characterized by
of all of the City’s garages. The
an “intimate scale of buildings and
ongoing structural examination of the
spaces.” As a result, Buchanan Mall,
Japan Center’s garages will convey
the central component of the A-2
the scope of repairs that may be
phase, reflected a more “village-
necessary for seismic improvements
An Overview of Japantown | 070
PLAN VIEW
1"=20'
AXONOMETRIC VIEW
2-45  Uoki K Sakai Co., founded just after the 1906 earthquake by a fishmonger named Kitaichi Sakai. One of the most important landmarks of San Francisco's Japantown. The two large symbols can be literally translated as "fish joy".
1"=10'
071 |
2-46  View of the Peace Plaza looking west.
An Overview of Japantown | 072
2-47  View of the Buchanan Mall looking north.
073 |
2.3.6 Public Space
Japantown and its surrounding
Street, improvements on accessibility and
neighborhoods have a good variety of
integrity of the open space network are
public spaces. Japantown’s public
needed. Some recent additions, such as
plazas, Peace Plaza and Buchanan Mall,
the Japantown History Walk interpretive
are the geographic and cultural heart of
signs are useful prototypes. Linking the
the neighborhood. These plazas serve as
destinations in and around Japantown
gathering spaces and location of festivals.
would also improve the clarity of the image
Cottage Row is a lovely example of mid-
of Japantown.
block alley and mini-park. Its intimate scale and sensitive details attract not only the local residents but also visitors. Japantown is adjacent to two large green spaces: the Hamilton Recreation Center Playground and Pool, and the Raymond Kimbell Playground. However, partly due to the lack of street life and pedestrian scale along Geary Boulevard and Webster Street, also along some portions of Post
In 7 city blocks around Japan Center and Buchanan mall, large areas (mid-block space or along Geary Boulevard) are currently utilized as community-owned parking lots. Some of these spaces serve as public open spaces such as beer gardens or markets during festivals. They have great potential as sites for either future development or open space.
An Overview of Japantown | 074
PUBLIC SPACE & OTHER OPEN SPACE
2-48
PUBLIC SCHOOL PUBLIC SPACE & BUILDING
PRIVATE SCHOOL
PARK & PLAZA
STREET
2-49 Buchanan Mall on a usual day and during Cherry Blossom Festival
075 |
2.3.7 Historic and Cultural Properties
Japantown has a rich network of community-serving organizations and institutions. These organizations and
HISTORIC AND CULTURAL PROPERTIES
2-50
institutions provide a range of services and benefits to the local community, as well as to Japanese Americans from around the region.
DESIGNATED PROPERTIES WITH JAPANESE AMERICAN ASSOCIATIONS
HISTORIC PROPERTIES WITH JAPANESE AMERICAN ASSOCIATIONS
PROPERTIES WITH HISTORIC DESIGNATIONS
NON-HISTORIC PROPERTIES WITH JAPANESE AMERICAN ASSOCIATIONS
An Overview of Japantown | 076
2-51  View of Japan Center and Peace Pagoda looking east.
077 |
CHAPTER 3 CASE STUDIES
Case Studies | 078
As shown in the work flow chart in the introduction section, research and study 3.1 Methodology
was carried out from two starting points — theory study and site study, as the two corresponding lines of research continuously provide feedback to each other. 4 sets of case studies were chosen which offer different sets of design criteria that should be taken into consideration in the case of redesigning Japantown. Searching for an architectural language of group form.
set1: “group form”
Cases cited in urban design and architecture literature as examples of good practice that deployed the principles of group form. They share in common the cohesion of loose parts linked by movement and access, dynamic composition of generative elements, and a unifying expression by the use of material and color. ›› Hillside Terrace, Tokyo, Japan. Architects: Fumihiko Maki. ›› Rissho University, Kumagaya, Japan. Architects: Fumihiko Maki. ›› Spiral, Tokyo, Japan. Architects: Fumihiko Maki. ›› Sarugaku, Tokyo, Japan. Architects: Akihisa Hirata. Generative systems that resulted in a basic set of architectural language and a
079 |
set2: generative systems
framework of how they might be amalgamated. They all provide a setting within which the occupants could easily adapt the space to their particular needs and desires. ›› Traditional row houses in San Francisco, USA. ›› Traditional Machiya (townhouses) in Kyoto, Japan. ›› PREVI (Programa Experimental de Vivienda), Lima, Peru. ›› Urban Hybrid Housing winning proposal, Emmen, Switzerland. Architects: MVRDV. Searching for a development model that enables mixed uses of fine grain texture and adaptation of individual users.
set3: fine grain developments
Given the development pattern of today that often requires maximizing investment return by consolidating parcels and reaching higher density, cases are chosen based on the criterion that they are sizable groups of buildings of intimate scale and developed by a single developer, preferably developed in phases through a period of time. They are successful precedents that show how a development of such nature and be commercially feasible. ›› Farmers Market master plan, Los Angeles, USA. Architects: Koning Eizenberg Architecture.
Case Studies | 080
›› Sanlitun Village, Beijing, China. Architects: Kengo Kuma. ›› Daning Plaza, Shanghai, China. Architects: RTKL, SLA. Searching for a new identity for Japantown.
set4: “ethopoles”
As Japantown is no longer an ethic enclave with high concentration of residents of Japanese ancestry, it changes to what Michael Laguerre termed a global ethnopole, a node in a network of sites linking the ethopole to the homeland of its residents and to other diasporic sites (Michael Laguerre, 2000, The Global Ethnopolis). It therefore becomes a milieu of cultural characters and entrepreneurship that is strongly intertwined with the mainstream economy of the host society. The two remaining Japanese ethopoles in the US besides Japantown are studied. ›› Japantown, San Jose.
›› Little Tokyo, Los Angeles.
Lessons learnt from these 4 sets of case studies are incorporated into the strategies and goals in chapter 4. The Hillside Terraces project is selected to be further illustrated, as it is both successful application of group form, and fine grain mix use development developed by a single developer over time, with a changing but coherent set of architectural language.
081 |
3.2 Selected case study: Hillside Terrace in Tokyo
* The full list was Hillside Stage I, 1967-69; Hillside Stage II, 1971-73; Hillside Stage III, 1975-77; Hillside Stage IV (by Makoto Motokura who previously worked in Maki’s office), 1985; Hillside Stage V, 87; and Hillside Stage VI, 1992.
The Hillside Terraces project, which
grew out of, yet differed from, the previous
continued to grow after the commissioning
solution, reflecting variations in building
of the first increment in 1967, provides a
regulations, and the shifting character
remarkable example of Maki’s “sequential
of the external context as the street was
group form” whereby the group form logic
transformed from a quiet area into a
is sustained in a grouping emerging over
bustling and noisy thoroughfare. Taylor
time*. Stretching down both sides of a
described the project as “responding
fashionable street of the Daikanyama
with each new addition to the changing
district of Tokyo, the development is an
structure and significance of the street,
ongoing private commission primarily of
to the lessons learnt from the preceding
mixed residential and commercial and
segments, to the changing spirit and
cultural uses. Although it wasn’t originally
possibilities of architecture, and to the
conceived as a profit-making venture, the
developing ideas of its designer” (Jennifer
economic success of Hillside Terrace has
Taylor, 2003, The Architecture of Fumihiko
brought the development an unexpected
Maki, P26).
degree of popularity, which has changed the scope of the owners’ aspirations for later phases. Each stage of the design
Despite the changes in planning and construction, several themes have
Case Studies | 082
remained consistent throughout the various phases. Maki listed 3 major concerns that unified the various phases of the complex. The first concern has been to maintain an intimate scale for the interior and exterior spaces. Second, much attention has been given to the interaction of the façade and street, conceptualizing the pavement as a place of activity. The broad and varying paths, platforms and stairs in this zone give Hillside Terrace the spacious and dynamic character that Tokyo residents might associate with its Western name. Common pedestrian areas
3-1  Hillside Terrace ground floor plan. (Fumihiko Maki, 2009, Fumihiko Maki, P179)
083 |
3 principles
serve as transitional passages to the shops and rules offers further insight into such grouped around them. At the same time a
architectural language for group form.
concern for the privacy and individuality of
In light of these studies, I shall make an
single apartments on the upper levels has
attempt to describe the application of
been essential in preserving the character
the principles of group form in the case of
of the Daikanyama site. (Fumihiko Maki,
Hillside Terrace.
2009, Fumihiko Maki, P178)
›› Looped routes and penetrating public
Teruyuki Monnai, a Japanese scholar specialized in the study of traditional townscape, commented on the Hillside Terrace project as representing “a process of reexamination of the meaning of individual building design from the
architectural language of group form
perspective of urban design, as well as the creation of a new architectural language for the construction of group form”. His interpretation of the vocabulary
spaces within the development. Throughout Hillside Terrace, the pavement is extended into the hidden or revealed pockets of public and semi-public spaces that compose the cinematic sequences of courts and corridors winding in and out of the buildings along the sloping road. Alternative choice of paths is always offered.
Case Studies | 084
›› Use of views to form a spatial network. The establishment of a most careful series of visual relationships between buildings and landscape resulted in a remarkable cohesion in the grouping. The elements appear to physically acknowledge one another and engage in dialogue across the intervening space. ›› Carefully engineered height differences. Elements are organized at different levels responding sensitively to micro topography and to differentiate subtly different spaces.
3-2 Aerial view from phase I to phase VI. (Fumihiko Maki, 2009, Fumihiko Maki, P181)
085 |
›› Producing oku by layering of space.
phase, to introduce individuality. Maki
A sense of spatial depth composed
wrote, “For each part to be meaningful
of layers (which screen but do not
in relation to the whole, for the whole to
entirely conceal what lies beyond
regulate its component parts, and for
them) is created by the configuration
tension to exist between the two, can be
of height differences, courtyards and
called ideal conditions for architecture.”
arcades, setbacks, use of trees, and
(Fumihiko Maki, 1973, An environmental
transparency.
approach to architecture.)
›› Consistency and variation. An architectural vocabulary such as the 3-3 View along the street from Building A to Building B. 3-4 Transparent facade and height differences both indoor and outdoor in Building A. 3-5 View from Building H towards the courtyard. 3-6 View from the stairs of Building C along the street. 3-7 Corner plaza of Building A 3-8 View along the street from Building A to Building B. (3-5,6,7,8, Fumihiko Maki, 2009, Fumihiko Maki, P186,190)
corner entrance,, round column and human scale, is repeated used to endow the group form with continuity. The expression is modified to suit the varying circumstances. Different materials, colors and details are incorporated, sometimes deliberately within the same
Some of these findings are incorporated into chapter 4, the 6 approaches to group form.
Case Studies | 086
3-3
3-4
3-5
3-6
3-7
3-8
087 |
CHAPTER 4 INTERVENTION FRAMEWORK
Intervention Framework | 088
4.1 Strength and Opportunities
1/ A good variety of culturally
2/ Rich network of community
distinct customer-oriented
serving organizations and
businesses
institutions
The strength and opportunities listed are conclusions of the analysis of site condition, planning documents, and voices from the local community. Item 1 to 3 are important resources of Japantown that should be preserved and celebrated. Item 4 is an existing planning policy that can be used as an aid to both attracting future developments and to establishing planning controls for these
4-1 
4-2 
developments at the heart of Japantown. Item 5 is the ongoing pubic transit project and various discussions on the
Japantown has nearly 250 customer-oriented
Japantown contains over 200 institutional
topic that could be revisited to envision
businesses. These businesses are relatively
uses, including community centers, schools,
a broader future for Japantown in the
small, averaging less than six employees and
civic organizations, business associations,
context of a growing city in the long term.
under 3,000 square feet.
and religious institutions.
089 |
3/ Events and festivals
4/ Japantown Special Use District
4-1 Customer-oriented businesses. 4-2 Organizations and institutions. (4-1,2 Data from JCHESS) 4-3 Open space used in time of events and festivals. 4-4 Japantown Special Use District boundary. 4-5 Bus lines and average weekday boardings, financial year 2007-08. (Data from AC Transit, SF Muni, VTA)
4-4 
4-3 
The Japanese community is renowned for
During some of the largest festival, portions
Established in 2006;
its array of annual festivals, including the
of Post and Webster Street are closed off for
its specific aim is to the protect cultural
Obon (celebration of ancestors) Festival,
pedestrian access; along with the mid-block
character of a specific community.
Nihonmachi (Japantown) Street Fair, Aki
parking spaces on both sides of Buchanan
Matsuri (Fall Festival), JPOP Festival, and the
Mall, they are used as temporary public
Cherry Blossom Festival (Sakura Matsuri).
spaces such as beer garden and market.
Intervention Framework | 090
5-A/ Geary BRT Project Top 10 Bus Routes by Average Weekday Boardings, FY 2007-08 Rank
Route
1
SF Muni: 38 Geary
52,800 (estimated 60,000 now)
2
SF Muni: 9 San Bruno
48,000
3
SF Muni: 14 Mission
42,200
4
SF Muni: 30 Stockton
32,900
5
SF Muni: 49 Van Ness-Mission
29,800
6
SF Muni: 1 California
7
AC Transit: 1/1R Telegraph/International/E/ 14th
21,600
8
SF Muni: 9 San Bruno
48,000
9
SF Muni: 22 Filmore
Average Weekday Boardings
27,900
18,400
BRT Cities22 Eastridge - Palo Alto - Menlo Park 10 in OtherVTA:
4-6
The ongoing Geary Corridor Bus Rapid Transit Project will certainly bring changes
BRT systems in other US cities have attracted new riders with faster, more reliable transit service
to Japantown. The possibility of a BART line
Location/Transit line
that runs from San Mateo to Marina, along
Project Characteristics
Geary and connects to downtown was also brought up and discussed.
16,700
Cities in the US, such as Los Angeles, Boston, Cleveland, and Eugene, Oregon, have implemented BRT systems as a costeffective way to improve transit service. These projects have brought significant improvements in transit travel times and BRT corridors alsoPittsburg/Bay typically benefit from Point investment in street beautification57,100 and reliability, with strong gains in ridership. REF: San Francisco East Bay (BART) Line pedestrian amenities, and in some cases, have prompted new investment and increased economic activity in commercial districts they serve. Sources: AC Transit, SF Muni, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) With its success around the country and abroad, BRT is a key component of San Francisco’s strategy to retain existing and attract new transit riders through improved operating performance. In fact, several other major bus corridors in the Bay Area have already been slated for BRT improvements, including Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco, International Boulevard in Alameda County, and Santa RockFact in Santa Clara County. 4-5 Geary Corridor BusClara-Alum Rapid Transit Sheet (2013)
BOSTON Silver Line (Washington St.)
CLEVELAND Healthline
EUGENE, OR EmX
LOS ANGELES Orange Line
Dedicated side-lane BRT Signal priority (implemented later)
Dedicated lane, configuration varies Signal priority at some locations
Partial dedicated lane, configuration varies Signal priority at some locations
Off-street dedicated right-of-way Signal priority
Travel Time Reduction (opening year)
25% 1
22% 2
4% 3
22% 4
Ridership Increase (first year)
70% 1
31% (after 3 years) 2
90% 3
51% 4
1. Schimek et al, 2005. Boston Silver Line Washington Street BRT Demonstration Project Evaluation, FTA Report. 2. FTA, 2012. Before-and-After Studies of New Starts Projects, Report to Congress 3. Thole et al, 2009. The EmX Franklin Corridor BRT Project Evaluation, FTA Report.
SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY TRANSP
Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report
Geary Corridor B
Geary Boulevard is the most heavily used transit corridor in th of San Francisco. Over 50,000 daily transit riders rely on Geary the route is often unreliable and crowded. To improve travel tim and the user experience, the San Francisco County Transportat (Authority), in partnership with the San Francisco Municipal T Agency (SFMTA), is evaluating the implementation of a bus rap system for the Geary corridor. The Geary BRT project’s goals are to:
• Improve transit travel times and reliability on the Geary corridor. • Attract new riders to stem and reverse the citywide trend toward share loss.
• Re-balance the street to better serve transit riders and non-moto managing traffic impacts.
• Improve pedestrian safety and access to transit service. • Enhance neighborhood livability and community vitality. • Improve consistency with local plans and policies. • Improve the cost effectiveness of transit operations in the corrid
4. Flynn et al, 2011. Metro Orange Line BRT Project Evaluation, FTA Report.
Features of Geary BRT Include:
Project Timeline Environmental Analysis
Construction and Mitigation
091 |
5-B/ Vision Geary Transit Corridor
which would greatly increase its
4-7  San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit System Plan (1961)
As one of the major bus lines
service load capacity and improve
that serve the increasingly dense
on-time performance. It would also
Richmond district, which is the only
mean that Geary Boulevard will
district in the city of San Francisco
be a transit corridor of increasing
that is not connected by rail transit,
importance to the city; the Fillmore
38 Geary has around the same
station, currently an important node
average weekday boarding as the
of the bus transit system and bike
BART Pittsburg/Bay Point line. Taking
path network, will take on a more
a long-term perspective on the public
crucial role in the future as a multi-
transit system in the region, it is
transit-mode station and contribute
reasonable to project that the future
greatly towards promoting lower-
Geary BRT line could and should be
impact modes of travel in Japantown
later developed into a light rail line,
and its surrounding neighborhoods.
Design of the Core Area | 092
4-8
4-9
CURRENT RAIL AND FERRY TRANSIT
GEARY TRANSIT CORRIDOR (Proposed)
POPULATION DENSITY
SHORT TERM: MID TERM: LONG TERM:
Geary BRT Geary Muni Metro Light Rail connects to Central Subway Extension to Marin County connects to SMART train
by 2020 (SFMTA) by 2050 (proposed) distant future?
093 |
6/ Tourism potential
The bus 38, as the major way to get to Japantown from downtown San Francisco, runs at 14mph and has one of the worst on-time performance. As painful to get to as Japantown is today, it still is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Bay Area. This shows enormous tourism potential of Japantown when the transit conditions will be improved. The local community has also expresses wishes to extend the cable car line further west to attract tourists. Extending the cable car line along California Street from the current terminal at Van Ness Ave to Fillmore street will improve the connectivity of future integrated Fillmore– Japantown retail district.
LOCALS AND TOURISTS MAP BY Eric Fisher (2010) 4-10 “Blue pictures are by locals. Red pictures are by tourist. Yellow pictures might be by either.” (Courtesy of Eric Fisher.)
Intervention Framework | 094
4.2 Weakness and Challenges
between Japantown and Fillmore Street is
1/ Lack of affordable housing +
also an area of concern. The future Fillmore
lack of space for organizations +
transit station will be an opportunity to link
limited space for cultural
the two strong retail areas together. Item
activities +
3 emphasizes on the consequences of the
under utilized land
The weakness and challenges listed
urban renewal project. Geary Boulevard and
are some of the main issues found in
the city blocks along Geary with massive
the site analysis combined with the call
buildings form a physical and psychological
of local community and consideration
dividing line between the African American
for regional urban growth. Item 1 is the
community to the south, where public
conflict between need for various spaces
housing projects intended for low-income
and under utilized land. It shows that
populations were built, and the more affluent
even by the current demand and under
communities of European ancestry to the
the current zoning requirements, there
north, with Japanese Americans located at
is development capacity and potential
the “grey area in the middle”. 50 years after
in Japantown. Item 2 is focusing on
the urban renewal, changes are already
the interfaces between businesses
taking place spontaneously. Some of the
and the public realm. Either to make
apartments and condominiums built south
Japantown a more attractive urban place
of Geary (utilizing the height limits that is
The map shows the parcels that are under
or to increase its economic viability and
a legacy of the Redevelopment era), are
utilized even by the current zoning control
sustainability, it would require future
targeting at a higher income population.
of 40–50ft. They are either occupied by
developments to be better integrated
Retail uses along Fillmore Street are also
buildings less than 3 story high or currently
with the public realm. The disconnection
extending beyond Geary to the south.
partly used as parking lots.
4-11
095 |
2/ Single-use large parcels + lack of pedestrian scale + unfriendly segments of pedestrian frontage + concerns about attractiveness of shopping district
SCALE OF COMMERCIAL AND PUBLIC USES
4-13
COMMERCIAL AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS
4-14
ORIENTATIONS AND STREET FRONTAGE ALONG FILLMORE, POST AND BUCHANAN
4-15
Intervention Framework | 096
3/ Man-made barriers between neighborhoods
NORTH-SOUTH STREETS
4-16
EAST-WEST STREETS
4-17
BUILDING FOOTPRINT
4-18
097 |
4/ Conflicts of interests
Go ugh Oc
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B
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NORTH-SOUTH SECTIONS
Ste
4-19
STREET GRID (FILLMORE TUNNEL NOT SHOWN)
r
4-20
na
n
a
ia
Intervention Framework | 098
The Draft Better Neighborhoods Plan (2009) proposed increases to allowed heights at the Japan Center Malls, including three potential towers of 200 – 250 feet, as well as another tower further east nearer to Gough Street, and proposed increased height limits along Geary Boulevard. Both at that time and over the ensuing course of community review, the preponderance of local community views opposed these proposals on the ground that, in their perspective, the proposals were Ca er
lifo
in
Pin
rnia
inconsistent with preserving Japantown’s
S
te
e
or
e
Bu
F ill
m
sh
er
Su
W
eb st
tte
an an
Po ary
La
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a
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cultural legacy and remaining small scale neighborhood character. It is also recorded that the community in Pacific Heights oppose the proposals with concerns that the new developments will block their view to the south. Therefore the existing land form and building
EAST-WEST SECTIONS
4-21
heights are studied to understand the current condition and to find out height limits that may be more acceptable to the local communities.
099 |
4.3 Objectives and Principles
1/ Maximizing infrastructure investment value (transit, streets, storm water management)
The construction of Geary BRT as a
bicycle lanes and a bike station, a new
piece of transit infrastructure would
park and an important piece of the
require a different configuration of
storm water management system.
Geary. To maximize the benefits
The extension of the cable car line
arising from investment made for the
on California Street will supplement
Geary Boulevard, the Proposal will
the plan and bring tourists to the new
integrate the BRT project with the
Fillmore-Japantown retail area. The
transformation of Geary streetscape
Proposal will ensure the investment in
and installation of street side bio-
infrastructure and landscape act as a
swales. The transformation of
catalyst for regeneration throughout
Webster Street on both sides of Geary
the Japantown and its surrounding
will also be a part of the infrastructure
neighborhoods.
plan to provide new designated
Intervention Framework | 100
2/ Increasing integration
Targeting at the existing
and south side of Geary, and integrate
disconnections and segregation, the
Japantown commercial areas with
Proposal will build on the new Geary
the neighboring Fillmore Street
Boulevard and California Street
commercial corridor. It will seek to
transit connections and develop new
create compact neighborhoods with
local links to integrate Japantown
an open, legible network of local
with its surrounding neighborhoods.
walking, cycling and public transport
The proposed land use and building
routes to enable a radical shift
heights will encourage transit-
towards lower-impact modes of travel
oriented developments around
and maximize access to the area’s
the Fillmore transit station. Both
amenities and cultural resources for
commercial and recreational
all residents, workers and visitors.
connections will reconnect the north
101 |
3/ To restore mixed communities with vibrant cultural scene
be provided to satisfy the need for spaces of various organizations and cultural activities. New office spaces are proposed to attract employment opportunities with the
The Proposal will seek to restore
advantages of transit resources
mixed communities while ensuring
and proximity to downtown.
the distinctive characters of
The Proposal will adopt the
Japantown. A range of housing
recommendation in JCHESS of
types will be provided to enable
creating a “named� Japantown
Japanese/Japanese American
Neighborhood Commercial District
population who have long wished
to enable more fine-tuned controls
to move back to Japantown to
over commercial uses, physical
resettle in the neighborhoods. The
building characteristics, and
variety of affordable units will also
other important considerations,
enable people who work in the local
which could reflect the particular
businesses to live closer to their work
characteristics of the neighborhood
location. Spaces of smaller scale will
and community goals.
Intervention Framework | 102
4/ Developing closely interconnected public and private spaces of pedestrian scale
5/ Evolve the framework plan
As an important part of the thesis
The Proposal will take a long-term
proposition, the Proposal seeks to
perspective for the development
activate the neighborhoods with a
of the site and will actively engage
broad mix of uses and articulated
with the resulting challenges. The
interfaces between uses by the
Japantown neighborhoods will allow
specifications of parcelization,
for managed, longterm regeneration
detailed zoning guidelines and a set
over several development cycles,
of architectural language generated
ensure buildings are designed to
from the principles of group form.
encourage the evolution of more
The goal is to create humane
diverse, flexible patterns of use and
environments and conceptualize the
are adaptable to changing workplace,
common pedestrian areas as place of
retail and housing trends to support
activities and transitional passages.
long-term regeneration.
103 |
3/ Developing public and private spaces that would be closely interconnected
4.4 6 Approaches to Group Form
The interaction between the street frontage and street 1/ Response to elevation changes Terraced massing to emphasis landform
Utilizing micro topography
2/ Maintain an intimate scale for both the interior and exterior spaces
Looped pedestrian routes made up of varying walkways, platforms and stairs
Intervention Framework | 104
4/ Inbuilt capacity for change
5/ Use of views to form a spatial network
Allow for different interpretations and uses of space
Borrowed view/created view
6/ Subtle layering of space by
Transparency Elevation changes Interplay with trees Ambiguous boundary between indoor and outdoor space
Provide a basic skeleton within which the occupants could easily adapt the space to their needs
Prospect-refuge theory
105 |
CHAPTER 5 DESIGN OF THE CORE AREA
Design of the Core Area | 106
Public Office Residential-condominium Retail/dining/leisure Residential-large unit Mix-use (residential/commercial) Organization/institution or residential Organization/institution or retail Parking
107 |
* Illustrative Masterplan
The core area is chosen based on
The area shaded in pink strips are
adjacency to the future transit
proposed communication space
stations along Geary Boulevard,
which includes the sidewalk area, the
currently under utilized parcels,
Buchanan pedestrian axis, and other
and significance towards linking the
patches of public and semi-public
disconnected pieces together. The
space. Together they serve as a
resulted area of design includes
basic skeleton for the composition of
roughly 10 city blocks and their
buildings and a network of movement
surrounding streets. The streets
that connects the existing and
shaded in gray in the illustrative
proposed open spaces, commercial
masterplan are the key connector
areas, cultural resources, and
streets in the neighborhoods and
amenities.
will take on different roles and characters.
Design of the Core Area | 108
Raymond Kimbell Playground
109 |
1/ A long-term perspective on public transit
5.1 Re-envisioning Infrastructure
Recognizing the strategic importance of the Fillmore station as a future MUNI Rail station and the development potential in its radius, the Plan propose to concentrate new developments of higher density around the station.
le car C
n of cab
extensio
line
Design of the Core Area | 110
2/ Optimizing street configuration and incorporating storm water management
The proposed reconfiguration of Geary Boulevard and Webster Street frees up spaces for developments, pedestrian activities, bike facilities and bio-swales that will be able to treat street runoff from a large area shown in the map below.
PL to PL
125’
111 |
Reconfigured Geary Boulevard
Reconfigured Webster Street
A standard configuration of Geary
space will be reserved for both
40ft of space along the east side
Boulevard will have an central
sidewalk extension and linear green
of the widened section of Webster
boarding platform/planting island of
space made up of planting areas and
Street (as a result of the urban
20ft, 12ft of BRT designated lanes
bio-swales. On both side of Geary, an
redevelopment project) from Bush
on both side of the island which will
additional 8ft of street side parking
to Hayes Street, will be reclaimed
enable it to be transformed into a
between sidewalks and traffic lanes
for either future development (on
light rail line in the future, and 4
will be spaced by curb extensions that
the block between Bush and Sutter
lanes of traffic. Along the currently
are framed by bio-swales, to raise
Street), public open space (on the
tunneled section (parcel line to parcel
awareness of pedestrian crossing
block between Post Street and Geary
line 168ft), 20ft of Geary Boulevard
points and shorten the crossing
Boulevard, or to accommodate bike
will be reclaimed and joined to the
distance. The reconfigured Geary will
facility (on the block between Sutter
existing parcels as developable land.
have the same curb to curb width as it
and Post Street), with at least 5ft wide
On north side of Geary between Scott
is now west of Scott Street, 100ft.
of bio-swales and two 6ft wide bicycle
Street and Gough Street (street width
(See section on next spread)
designated lanes.
147ft PL to PL), 36ft wide of sidewalk
Webster Street
Design of the Core Area | 112
Post Street
250ft
113 | Utilizing micro topography
Looped pedestrian routes made up of varying walkways, platforms and stairs
Provide a basic skeleton within which the occupants could easily adapt the space to their needs
AMPHITHEATER
PLAZA / PLAYGROUND AT YMCA
GEARY BOULEVARD
JAPANTOWN PLAZA
Prospect-refuge theory
MUSEUM (GF) AN PERFORMANCE (rehearsal space
Interplay with trees Ambiguity boundary between inside and outside
outes walkways, s
Provide a basic skeleton within which the occupants could easily adapt the space to their needs
MODIFIED PARCELIZATION Prospect-refuge theory
maintained existing mid-block connection partitioned Japan Center parcels based on current ownership partitioned current mid-block parking space to better utilize land
MID-BLOCK CONNECTION / BUILD-TO LINE
TOWER SET-BACK LINE
height of podium should be enough to ensure clear height for shops along northsouth alleys, typically 15-25 feet
identify the mid-block connection zone width: 8-12 feet establish build-to zone for all ground floor building frontage
on top of podium, towers should be setback from major courtyards and alleys, typically 8-12 feet
CHERRY WALK AMPHITHEATER
ZA
Design of the Core Area | 114
CHERRY WALK MID-BLOCK CONNECTION (modified)
MUSEUM (GF) AND PERFORMANCE CENTER (B) (rehearsal space)
POST STREET
BUCHANAN MALL
0
10
20
115 |
5.2 Framework of Communication Space
1/ Establishing the pedestrian connections Key connector streets are identified as commercial connections (shown in salmon) and recreational connections (shown in jade green). Secondary pedestrian connections are proposed based on current parcelization and location of mid-block open space and alleys (commercial connections in red, recreational connections in orange). They reestablish connections across Geary Boulevard, sew together the Fillmore Street retail and Japantown retail, and ensure connectivity of the area to transit resources.
Design of the Core Area | 116
2/ Curving the blocks
3/ Composing the courtyards
Perimeter street wall is proposed to create strong
At the intersections of commercial and recreational
commercial frontage. The network of communication
connections, the communication space is slightly enlarged
space curves through the blocks and informs the
to provide open spaces for interaction and activities.
maximum footprint of the buildings, which is subject to
Because of the micro topography of the site, most of
change but generally allows larger developments to line
them are gifted with a scenic view towards east and south
Geary Boulevard and smaller buildings to line Post Street.
through the mid-block alleys.
117 |
4/ Redesigning the Peace Plaza blocks
views from different perspectives. The Peace Plaza is redesigned into an amphitheater with a grand set of
The communication space in the two blocks along Peace
steps embracing the Peace Pagoda and the stage, leading
Plaza is designed in detail to demonstrate the overall
pedestrians down to Geary. To make use of the parking
quality that the Proposal endeavors to achieve. The height
space below, a performance center is proposed, together
difference between Post Street and Geary Boulevard is
with the new museum on the west side of the Plaza
broken down by a series of activity platforms at different
serving as an entrance to the underground performance
levels, connected by stairs, ramps, stepped alleys and
center, making the Plaza a new cultural focal point of
terraces along the sloping terrain. Changes of level and
Japantown. Openings are made in the Plaza at Post street
direction contribute to the laying of space and shifting
level to let in natural light. (See section on P115-116)
Design of the Core Area | 118
119 |
5.3 Orchestrating Forms and Activities
1/ Proportioning density to transit resources, sun and shadow, topography, views, and sense of scale Composition of the built form is based on the following principles: › Higher density around future light rail stations. › Buildings step down to the Peace Plaza to form a visual corridor and activity spine. › Building heights and locations are coordinated with the existing higher heights to minimize impact on views. › Terrace massing to emphasis landform when possible. › Maintain a human scale by tower set back and podiums less than 35ft high.
Design of the Core Area | 120
2/ Overlapping activities and permitting changes
Uses and access on lower levels are generally determined by the type of connections they frame (commercial/recreational). Uses
ROOF USE green roof private garden public roof garden
in the smaller buildings are given a degree of flexibility to permit changes. A mix of different unit types and office space is placed in the towers to enable mix communities and ensure the neighborhood is active through out the day. Parking structures with ground floor commercial uses are proposed to free up open space currently used for parking.
BUILDING USE public office residential-condominium retail/dining/leisure residential-large unit mix-use (residential/commercial) organization/institution or R organization/institution or C parking
121 |
5.4 Implementing and Evolving the Framework Plan
MODIFIED PARCELIZATION Maintain existing mid-block connection. Partition Japan Center parcels based on current ownership. Partition current mid-block parking space to better utilize land.
1/ Principles for guidelines
MID-BLOCK CONNECTION / BUILD-TO LINE Identify the mid-block connection zone. Width: 8-12 feet. Establish build-to zone for all street level building frontage.
TOWER SET-BACK LINE Height of podium should be enough to ensure clear height for shops and restaurants along sloping north-south alleys, typically 15-25 feet. On top of podium, towers should be set back from courtyards and alleys, typically 8-12 feet.
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2/ Parcelization and phasing Current parcelization is modified according to current land and property ownership to incorporate spaces reclaimed along Geary and Webster, utilize midblock open space, and to ensure the establishment of some of the mid-block connections. Phase 1 of the project will be the rebuilt of Japan Center and PARCELIZATION modified parcel / new parcel rebuild on existing parcel newly build on current parking lot 11 blocks project area
Kabuki Theatre as they are reaching the end of their functional lifespan. The development on Safeway site on the current parking lot is also in phase 1. Rebuild and renovation of the buildings along Buchanan Mall will be encouraged, within the confine of current parcelizaion, in order to maintain its fine grain texture.
EXISTING BULDINGS AND PHASING phase 1 - replace phase 2 - replace phase 3 - consolidate parcels renew / renovation
Blocks around the Fillmore station will be developed in the last phase, as the consolidation of parcels would more likely to be accomplished when the BRT/ MUNI Rail project is in place, which will also justify the higher density on those blocks.
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2/ Cultural and economic strategies The Proposal adopts some of the valuable recommendations in JCHESS in terms of cultural and economic strategies to facilitate the implementation of the Proposal. ›› Leverage the Japantown Special Use District to Cultivate and Attract New Businesses Appropriate to Japantown. ›› Negotiate Benefits Agreements with Major New Developments.
›› Utilize Funds from San Francisco Grants for the Arts. ›› Utilize Japan Center Garages’ Capital Improvement Funds. ›› Create a Japantown Neighborhood Commercial District. ›› Create Japantown Design Guidelines.
›› Create a Japantown Community Benefit District. (San Francisco Planning Department. Japantown Cultural
Heritage and Economic Sustainability Strategy, draft. July 2013.)
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Appendix - Posters for the Final Design Review
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