This UC Berkeley Environmental Design Archives Gallery Talk will explore the transformation of the craggy, windswept hills of San Francisco’s Diamond Heights to a Modernist neighborhood unit in the 1960s and 1970s. Drawing from several EDA collections, the talk will highlight the idealistic Diamond Heights Redevelopment Project master plan by Vernon DeMars, the Red Rock Hill design competition with entries by high profile architects such as MLTW and Mario Ciampi, an unusual tract designed by Claude Oakland for Eichler Homes, and a sculptural playground by Robert Royston.

Hannah Simonson is an Architectural Historian/Cultural Resources Planner at the firm Page & Turnbull. She received a Master of Science in Historic Preservation at the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, where she wrote her thesis on Diamond Heights. She currently serves as the President of the Northern California Chapter of Docomomo US and gives walking tours of Diamond Heights as a member of the non-profit, Glen Parks Neighborhood History Project.

LIGHT REFRESHMENTS 6:30 - 7:00 pm: Environmental Design Library, Wurster Hall room 210

LECTURE 7:00 - 8:00 pm: Wurster Hall Auditorium, room 112

If you have any questions about the event please contact: designarchives@berkeley.edu

Source:: https://archives.ced.berkeley.edu/events/gallery-talk-modern-diamond-heights

Between 1961 and 1978, Diamond Heights was transformed from rural, craggy hills to a new Modernist residential neighborhood built on principals of architectural quality and economic and racial diversity. Yet, many proposals were left on the cutting room floor. Join architectural historian Hannah Simonson to discover the unbuilt history of Diamond Heights and imagine what could have been – from skyscrapers to a Mel's Diner – and the ambitions, values, hopes, and dreams of San Francisco residents, planners, and designers by comparing projects that might have been built with those that were.

Part of the Glen Park Neighborhoods Project walking tour series. RSVP required at http://glenparkhistory.wixsite.com/glenparkhistory/events. 

Note | If you have been on my Modern Diamond Heights tour, this is a completely new tour route! There will be some overlap in background information, but the vast majority of the content and sites will be completely new.

[Photograph: Unbuilt project for Red Rock Hill by Mario Ciampi, Jan Lubicz-Nycz, and John Karfo, 1961. San Francisco Redevelopment Agency Archives.]

Farewell to Christopher Playground sponsored by Friends of Christopher Park.

Local Diamond Heights historian, Hannah Simonson, will lead a 40 minute walking tour of Red Rock Hill, discussing the development of Diamond Heights and its unique Modernist public art and play sculptures. We will begin at the Christoper Park Playground and walk to the Diamond Heights Safety Wall, stopping at several points along the way.

Christopher Park Playground is about to undergo a year long renovation which will result in the “modernization” of this iconic Midcentury Modernist playground and landscape. While many of the Modernist features will be demolished, Friends of Christopher Park—with the help of local advocates such as Docomomo US/Northern California and Glen Park Neighborhoods History Project—has worked with the city to rehabilitate and reinstall three of the Modernist play sculptures by Jim Miller-Melberg and David Aaron. This tour will be one of the last chances to see the original Robert Royston design of the park—so don’t miss out!

Between 1961 and 1978, Diamond Heights was transformed from rural, craggy hills to a new Modernist residential neighborhood built on principals of architectural quality and economic and racial diversity. Yet, many proposals were left on the cutting room floor. Join architectural historian Hannah Simonson to discover the unbuilt history of Diamond Heights and imagine what could have been – from skyscrapers to a Mel's Diner – and the ambitions, values, hopes, and dreams of San Francisco residents, planners, and designers by comparing projects that might have been built with those that were.

Part of the Glen Park Neighborhoods Project walking tour series. RSVP required at http://glenparkhistory.wixsite.com/glenparkhistory/events. 

Note | If you have been on my Modern Diamond Heights tour, this is a completely new tour route! There will be some overlap in background information, but the vast majority of the content and sites will be completely new.

[Photograph: Unbuilt project for Red Rock Hill by Mario Ciampi, Jan Lubicz-Nycz, and John Karfo, 1961. San Francisco Redevelopment Agency Archives.]

Between 1961 and 1978, Diamond Heights was transformed from rural, craggy hills to a new Modernist residential neighborhood built on principals of architectural quality and economic and racial diversity. Yet, many proposals were left on the cutting room floor. Join architectural historian Hannah Simonson to discover the unbuilt history of Diamond Heights and imagine what could have been – from skyscrapers to a Mel's Diner – and the ambitions, values, hopes, and dreams of San Francisco residents, planners, and designers by comparing projects that might have been built with those that were.

Part of the Glen Park Neighborhoods Project walking tour series. RSVP required at http://glenparkhistory.wixsite.com/glenparkhistory/events. 

Note | If you have been on my Modern Diamond Heights tour, this is a completely new tour route! There will be some overlap in background information, but the vast majority of the content and sites will be completely new.

[Photograph: Unbuilt project for Red Rock Hill by Mario Ciampi, Jan Lubicz-Nycz, and John Karfo, 1961. San Francisco Redevelopment Agency Archives.]

As part of the Glen Park Neighborhoods History Project's meeting, I'll give a brief presentation about the so-called "Moderate-Priced Private Housing" developments in Diamond Heights. Less remembered than the neighborhood's Eichlers, these homes were celebrated in their day as "architecturally-interesting" and for helping to create an economically and racially diverse community. Initiated before state of federal housing non-discrimination policies, the project stirred some controversy but was ultimately considered a success by residents and neighbors. A three-dimensional architectural scale model of the entire neighborhood, including the proposed Moderate-Priced Private Housing, was built as an outreach (and part-marketing) tool to explain the benefits of the project to surrounding neighborhoods. The developments are extant today and are still cooperatively owned and/or provide low-cost housing to eligible residents.

[Photo Courtesy of San Francisco Public Library]

Source:: http://glenparkhistory.wixsite.com/glenparkhistory/events

Join the Glen Park Neighborhoods History Project and Diamond Heights Community Association for a special meeting on June 17, 2017. In addition to updates from the GPNHP about the plaque California Historical Landmark No. 1002 in Glen Canyon, we will have guest lecturer, Hannah Simonson, present "Modern Diamond Heights." Hannah's talk will address the planning and design of this Modernist neighborhood, as well as avenues of stewardship to celebrate the unique character of Diamond Heights.

Reimagining the gridiron paper streets of the hills above Glen Canyon, Bay Area architect Vernon DeMars designed a master plan for the future Diamond Heights neighborhood for the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency in 1950. Carefully placed on the steep slopes around winding roads to preserve spectacular views, DeMars planned a mix of different sized homes and apartments connected by public stairways to parks and the canyon, in order to address the needs of modern families still interested in living in the city. Eventually developed from 1961 to 1978, Diamond Heights contains unique examples of Bay Area regional idioms of Modernist architecture—including the Second Bay Tradition, Third Bay Tradition, and local variations of Mid-Century Modernism—as well as Brutalism and Neo-Mansard styles. In addition to nationally recognized architects and builders such as Joseph Eichler, Beverly Willis, Joseph Esherick, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, many local architects warranting further discussion were involved as well.

Photo courtesy of UC Berkeley Environmental Design Archives.

Conference Panel: Open Spaces, Public Interest and Private Power

• "Challenges of Protecting the Open Spaces at Sunnyside Gardens, Radburn, and Chatham Village" | Kristen E. Larsen, University of Florida

• "Modern Diamond Heights: The Grid, The Hills, and The Neighborhood Unit in Midcentury San Francisco Redevelopment" | Hannah Simonson, University of Texas, Austin

• "State, Regional and Civic Sector Planners Debate the Original Portland Urban Growth Boundary" | Sy Adler, Portland State University

Chair & Comment: Fallon Samuels Aidoo, University of New Orleans

http://sacrph.org/conferences-2017

[Photo Courtesy of College of Environmental Design Archives, UC Berkeley]

Source:: http://sacrph.org/conferences-2017

“Join DOCOMOMO Northern California for our monthly board meeting tomorrow, September 12. This month, we'll have a guest lecturer: Hannah Simonson, author of the San Francisco Planning Department's Historic Resource Evaluation of Diamond Heights. Her talk will address the planning and design of this Modernist neighborhood, and avenues of stewardship to celebrate the unique character of Diamond Heights.”

[Photo Courtesy of San Francisco Public Library]