Winners of the Bay Book House BaBH San Francisco ideas competition

The synthesis of the proposal has been specially valued, concretized through a system, based on the transmission of knowledge in the technological era.

The diffuse strategy of the intervention capable of transcending the physical delimitation of the dock as a formal pattern is valued. The geometric mesh condition of liquid evocation as an infinite vortex, without form and dimension, is superimposed on the city-sea border space as an effective strategy for dissolving the boundary. The redefinition of the program in the same terms is also valued: as a diffuse field where knowledge is housed in the poles / interfaces that manage access to information.

It is necessary to think about architecture and public spaces from something that is already inevitable, that is, the incorporation of technology. Access to information in an accessible, unlimited and interactive way can only be through the internet. And in this proposal we find it, creating a public space with architectural elements that are technology and provide information. And, at the same time, the same elements give us as a result a very powerful visual proposal and in harmony with the context.

The approach to the concept is valued from a historical reading of the city, which leads to a daring, poetic and eminently contemporary solution, which questions the current role of the library type building to transform it into an element of "street furniture" that moves away from the traditional concept of a built landmark, generating an urban space of interaction and knowledge that is truly public and friendly with the coastline.

It is interesting the design that transforms the data, which are non-physical objects instantly transmitted, in waves (as if it were the surface of the water). However, the data does not fix your physical condition in the form of poles. For example, what would happen if the height of the lights could be controlled individually by an LED lighting system while the height of each pole remains the same? It would be a place where people can experience the real time beat of the huge animal society, such as variable economic values ​​and presidential elections, on a larger scale.

It is a solid conceptual idea that offers people a beautiful landscape where to walk while in contact with the bay. It has a poetic profile, especially seen from above in the afternoon, when it resembles rings in the water.

The iconic light poles create a powerful space, creating a unique urban knowledge landscape.

The ability of the project to inhabit its own artificial horizon is valued, a horizon that acts as an interstice in the section that is oriented from front to back with the formula of converging roof and floor. Likewise, the iconic condition of the piece and its interaction with the water level is valued given its ability to be invaded by it, thus varying its morphology.

The irruption of the piece, as a spring that rises, generates a new place under it, a topography that introduces the tides as part of the project, diluting the boundary between the city and the sea. The bridge-shaped piece sifts the view of the sea with the reflections of the city behind, showing an uninterrupted view of the bay. However, despite the delicacy in the treatment of the abandoned dock, it lacks a certain depth in the proposed project topic, leaving the purpose of the program relegated to the background.

The project makes the inhabitants of the city remember Mother Nature through the rhythm of the change of tides. In other words, it is a construction that serves to make "nature" appear, which displaces them to an environment beyond the city, being itself an artificial environment.
The urban space appears / disappears according to the change of tides.

The change of tides was used to control the currents. Its wealth comes from the inconvenience that comes from abandoning the right to control the connection / disconnection with nature. It will provide a place to relax in the urban space, which usually requires being connected ... I remember Mount Saint-Michel.

With its restrained architecture, the project creates a horizontal building that is closely related to water, becoming a scratch-water. The pier merges with water at the intermediate point and acts as a catalyst for social relations. It becomes an amphitheater that has water as the main element, from where you can see the bay through the frame defined by the superimposed ray.

A monumental pier, well integrated with the coastline, which offers users a new dimension.

The members of the jury have selected this project, with the third prize, for the innovation of the proposal, which performs the reconstruction of a landscape, a topography, by means of a system, based on the transmission of knowledge in the technological era, and at the same time time is sensitive to sustainability in favor of clean energy.

The reinvention of free space is valued by the proposed system of posts, authentic plant avatars that redefine a public space of interaction with the proposed program. Also the diffuse mesh configuration of the program in the covered floors, which acquires authentic ability to evoke urban complexities at scale.

The project starts from a powerful initial idea, the reinterpretation of the quay structure as information points that generate a landscape. However, it is lost in details that subtract from the approach, leaving the proposed object as a mere element within a set and not as a protagonist piece.

The project also studies the "physical space" that assumes responsibility for "non-physical data". The interesting thing is that it creates an element of space with a particular appeal using natural / artificial weather conditions such as fog and mist, in addition to the terrestrial landscape.

However, too many objects show data. It is difficult to perceive the delicate environment of the climate and the terrestrial landscape through these strong impressions. The multiple ponds / pools and the terrestrial landscape can make the docks interpreted as "material to improve the urban climate", an extremely interesting question.

Interesting concept that creates an urban landscape disconnected from the relationship with the city.

- BaBH 1079. Cristian Ríos Abello, Santiago Álvarez Arteaga and Carlos Andrés Ramírez Bohorquez.
San Buenaventura University, Colombia.

- BaBH 1087. Alejandro Sánchez-Guijo. Higher Technical School of Architecture of Malaga, Spain.

- BaBH 1113. Marco Caporaletti, Francesco Tricarico and Felix Varaschini. Politecnico di Milano, Italy.

- BaBH 1153. Carlos Mateo Soto, Felipe Santamaría and Sofía Hinestrosa. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia.

- BaBH 1182. Maria Michnowska, Aleksandra Kozlowska, Nelly Malinowska and Maria Kaczorowska.
Lodz University of Technology, Poland.