FOOD TOURS

Celebrate San Francisco's culinary richness by embarking on unique tasting experiences throughout the city with local experts and designers.

The Port Walk: An Eating Tour
September 16, 3:00 - 5:00 pm

This walking tour along San Francisco's waterfront will highlight several new restaurants within converted pier buildings along San Francisco's Embarcadero that are helping revitalize this edge of the city where the land meets the Bay. Starting at the Ferry Building-the heart of it all-the tour will migrate north around the bayside of the Ferry Building, continuing around the perimeter of Piers 1.5, 3 and 5, before stopping at LaMar and ending at The Plant, named the "greenest cafe in the city." At each restaurant, the tour will meet with the chef and/or owner of the venue, discussing what drew each operator to the waterfront, and what challenges they faced by moving into these historic spaces. The evening will be filled with light food and drinks at each stop, showcasing the culinary talents of each featured chef.

Other Food Tour includes:

WALKING TOURS

On these weekly tours, explore San Francisco as only a pedestrian can- with all of your senses.

Pavement to Parks: The Evolution of Public Space
September 14, 3:00 - 5:00 pm

This tour, showcasing examples of the city's best pocket parks, pedestrian alleyways and one of the newest Pavement to Parks projects, highlights the growing efforts to take back city streets for public use. It begins at 23rd & Harrison Street, the site of a thriving pocket park designed by local architect Jane Martin, principal of Shift Design Studio and founder of Plant*SF. The walk continues to the home office of Urban Interstice Gallery, former studio of Interstice Architects, where principals Andrew Dunbar and Zoee Astrakhan have staged the exhibition "Public Networks of Urban Access," which showcases the emerging network of pedestrian access and pedestrian-centered environments that have been designed, built and improved upon in the last two decades in San Francisco. The tour concludes at the new Guerrero Park, one of the latest Pavement to Park's projects where Jane Martin designed a contemporary interpretation of a sylvan landscape-connecting to the history in San Francisco by use of trees felled from the 1870s initial planting of Golden Gate Park-to create a botanical garden of 60 climate-adapted and native species.

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FILM SERIES
Free, Wednesdays at 6:00 pm

In collaboration with AIA San Francisco and the Center for Architecture + Design screen classic, contemporary and documentary films that celebrate the built environment, the architectural and design professions and the ever-mythical architect's ego.

The Last Wright
September 1

In 1908, when Frank Lloyd Wright was considered the most innovative architect in Chicago, he traveled to Mason City, Iowa, to design a unique, mixed-use city block-a bank and an adjoining hotel facing a park. Soon scandal and tragedy would ruin his career, but the Park Inn Hotel would remain as one of his last Prairie style structures. Through rare archival footage, period music and a look at stunning Wright masterpieces, this film offers a provocative, ironic tapestry of an American century, tracing the life, death and rebirth of a Midwest downtown through the prism of The Park Inn. During the 20th century, The Park Inn faced alterations and degradation while Mason City dealt with a Dillinger Bank robbery in the 1930s, an economic downturn in the1960s and the label "Porn City" in the 1970s. In an effort to promote heritage tourism, the city struggled to fund renovations of The Park Inn in the 1990s and attempted an economic revival with a $20 million tribute to the musical comedy, "The Music Man," based on Meredith Willson's boyhood in Mason City.

Other Films include:

LECTURES

Caterpillar: Dynamic Solutions to Energy Efficient Residential Design
September 14, 6:00 pm

The Caterpillar Residence was the first to earn the distinction of LEED Platinum for Custom Homes on the Central Coast. As such it presents the opportunity to discuss environmentally conscious design decisions including water catchment, solar PV panels, rammed earth walls, passive solar heating and cooling on a spectacular site located within the Santa Lucia Preserve near Carmel. In a discussion moderated by Amanda Dameron, Digital Content Director for Dwell magazine, Jonathan Feldman, Architect; Michael Heacock, LEED consultant; David Easton, Rammed Earth Works; and David Knight, Monterey Energy Group will present the challenges and opportunities available to residential architects and homeowners who seek sustainable solutions in new construction.

Other Lectures include:

EXHIBITIONS

Water for a Sustainable City: Hetch Hetchy and San Francisco
August 19 - October 29
Opening Reception September 2, 6:00 pm
AIA San Francisco/Center for Architecture + Design Gallery
130 Sutter Street, Suite 600, San Francisco

AIA San Francisco and Center for Architecture + Design, in partnership with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, present Water for a Sustainable City: Hetch Hetchy and San Francisco, an exhibition exploring the development of San Francisco's water system through the lens of architecture and design.

Water for a Sustainable City: Hetch Hetchy and San Francisco will tell the complicated story of San Francisco's relationship to the Hetch Hetchy Water and Power System and further examine everything from the typical San Franciscan's water usage, to the city's growing dependence on alternative energy and water. Represented through maps and photographs, the exhibition will showcase how far the typical San Franciscan's water travels-from glacier to watershed to faucet.

Rich with commentary from experts in the field, including architects, engineers and architectural historians familiar with the system, and sustainability experts focused on the future of recycling and conservation programs, Water for a Sustainable City: Hetch Hetchy and San Francisco will comprehensively investigate how the city's water system has been organized to adapt to the larger urban fabric. Information on innovative sustainable initiatives and programs that have been created by the SFPUC will also be presented.

Other Exhibitions include:

FAMILY PROGRAMS

iSpy Architecture: Photo Scavenger Hunt
September 18, 11:00 am

This interactive event allows families to participate in a visual scavenger hunt together! Each family will need to supply their own digital/or disposable cameras in order to participate. Each family will be provided with a list of architectural spaces or landscape elements to photograph within a one hour period. The photos will later be shared and posted on a common photo site, such as flickr.

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SPECIAL EVENTS

Scavetecture: A Digital Scavenger Hunt
September 25, 11:00 am

Explore the past, present, and future of San Francisco design through the lens of your camera phone with Scavetecture: a citywide crowd-sourced design tour and multimedia scavenger hunt. Download the mobile app at format-ds.com/scavetecture, which, on September 25, will lead you to hotspots with access to design tour tidbits, local market freebies, and clever clues unfolding a cash prize. Sharing clues with your social network increases your chances at winning. The app utilizes augmented reality technology, which combines your smartphone camera, GPS, and compass to enable access to hidden information in your immediate environment.

Other Special Events include:

AIA SAN FRANCISCO
Serving the Bay Area for more than a century, the American Institute of Architects, San Francisco Chapter (AIA San Francisco) is one of the largest of the AIA's 300 chapters. Headquartered in the historic Hallidie Building—one of the world's first glass-curtain-wall-buildings, designed by Willis Polk and completed in 1917—AIA San Francisco is the Bay Area’s premier destination for architecture and design. Representing more than 2,300 members in San Francisco and Marin County, our mission is to improve the quality of life in the Bay Area by promoting architecture and design. We further this goal through community involvement, education, advocacy, public outreach, member service, and professional excellence.

CENTER FOR ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN
As one of the first centers of its kind on the West Coast, the Center for Architecture + Design enhances public appreciation for architecture and design both locally and internationally through exhibitions, lectures, tours, film series and other programs that aim to reveal the richness of the design arts. Founded by the American Institute of Architects, San Francisco chapter in 2005, the Center for Architecture + Design celebrates the larger diverse design community and is a collaborative environment where design organizations and affiliates share not only space, but ideas.

ARCHITECTURE AND THE CITY FESTIVAL
Celebrating San Francisco’s unique built environment and design community, Architecture and the City is the first festival of its kind in the Bay Area to feature architectural tours, film screenings, exhibitions, design lectures and more. Created in 2003, Architecture and the City has now grown into the nation’s largest architecture festival, showcasing San Francisco's diverse architectural talent and presenting a forum to promote new ideas for innovative design and development in the city. Whether festival participants are looking to become involved with the local architecture and design community or simply want to learn more about the city in which they live, Architecture and the City offers an unparalleled opportunity to experience San Francisco.