The Doxa

In an earlier blog post we wrote extensively about our habitat restoration project on Año Nuevo Island. On the island – one of only a handful off the coast of California – Rebar collaborated with a broadly interdisciplinary team, including Oikonos Ecosystem Knowledge, Año Nuevo State Reserve, Go Native, the artist Nathan Lynch and the California College of the Arts ENGAGE program. Our aim was to rehabilitate the habitat of the Rhinoceros Auklet, a state-listed species of concern. On the island, which resembled a ruin more than a state park when we first arrived, Rebar designed a set of ceramic nest modules for the Auklet, as well as a habitat ridge made from harvested eucalyptus logs that would separate sea lion habitat from Auklet habitat. The restoration project was supported by generous grants from the Luckenbach Council Trust and the Creative Work Fund and would not have been possible without the help of an army of skilled and dedicated volunteers. Thanks to you all!

The "central terrace" of Año Nuevo Island - before habitat restoration

The "central terrace" of Año Nuevo in April 2011

We are pleased to present this video update of the project, which – along with the photos above – shows how much the island has changed in six short months since we finished the restoration. The video was produced by Peck Euwer and Swell Pictures, Lloyd Fales and Michelle Hester. Enjoy the show!

Mint Plaza is featured in the July issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine.  CMG’s Willet Moss and Scott Cataffa are the lead designers of the project, which was awarded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Award for Smart Growth Achievement in 2010. Rebar’s John Bela worked on the project as landscape designer while at CMG. Its great to see CMG, Sherwood Engineers, and Micheal Yarne (formerly of Martin Building Company) receive recognition for this groundbreaking project that pairs robust ecological function with a vibrant, socially diverse public space reclaimed from a former derelict and underutilized street.

From the article by Lisa Owens Viani

“One block of San Francisco’s Jessie Street is no longer. It was once a decrepit alley where drug deals and porno films were made and tour buses idled for hours. In its place lies a clean, European-style pedestrian plaza surrounded by upscale lofts and restaurants, coffee shops, and the “Granite Lady,” the Old Mint, an 1874 Greek Revival building with National Historic Landmark designation. Designed by CMG Landscape Architecture and Sherwood Design Engineers, the revitalized alley—now known as Mint Plaza—has spurred the successful redevelopment of the historic warehouses that lined the alley into housing, offices, and commercial spaces, and provided the city with a prototype for treating stormwater in tight urban areas.”

Tomorrow lunchtime….the state capitol…

Whoa, day 2 has been huge! Many of our volunteers have commented that they’ve done more ironing in the last day than in their whole lives. It’s strange that architecture and ironing….two ends of the domestic spectrum…are converging in the making of the Sho-Globe. We have 26 long sections (each, coincidentally, 26 feet long) seamed together to form the two concentric shells of the Globe.

We’ve had – again – a great volunteer turnout, and many curious passersby stopping by to ask when we’ll be deploying Sho-Globe on the streets and squares of Juneau. Just a few more hours…

By the end of the day, all of our major sections were put together and we’ve scoped out several potential sites around town to launch. Karen, Adam and Blaine also did a radio interview with James on Juneau’s KXLL.

Day 1 saw a busy volunteer turnout at our storefront workspace at 118 Seward, with all the panels cut for Sho-Globe, power system up and running, and getting ourselves organized at our new space. That took less time than we thought…which is good, because the next step is sealing the panels together which can be a tricky process. Thanks to the many folks in Juneau who came in to help Monday!

Created for the Alaska Design Forum’s Common Space program in Juneau, Alaska, Rebar’s “Sho-Globe” is a portable inflatable structure that redefines urban common space. Inclement weather often nullifies the functions of outdoor public space–however, with the “Sho-Globe”, any space can be transformed into a soft, warm ephemeral shelter. With a form originally derived from a seed pod (hey it’s almost spring here!), this emergent space provides a venue for meeting, sharing, relaxing, playing and meditating. It also serves as an ideal venue to host jam sessions and socializing around the Alaska Folk Fest, which is happening in Juneau all week.

Starting today, construction of the Sho-Globe begins in Juneau, Alaska. We will be building it with the help of volunteers at 118 Seward St., please come and stop by! Construction will be completed on the 13th and we will be taking the “Sho-Globe” to key locations around the city of Juneau. Please be sure to follow us on Twitter @rebargroup to find out where we’ll be. Or keep checking ADF’s Common Space website for more updates and volunteer information.

Last week we submitted our invited proposal for the San Francisco Arts Commission’s public artwork at the Palega Recreation Center in the Portola neighborhood…and were proud to make what we think is pretty strong use the letter Z in a project name….and the wind conditions across the site! Check out the proposals page online. This is a bit of a departure from Rebar’s usual public art direction (form-wise) but nevertheless is part of our ongoing exploration of interactive site elements that engage the public with their social and physical environment. From the description…

Zephyros is a wind-activated sculpture in the form of a helix composed of reflective panels braided around a tall aluminum mast. Three unique, tapered  spirals—clustered in the landscape at the crossroads of park pathways—will gently spin at varying speeds, revealing wind patterns that may be unnoticed at ground level. The reflective stainless steel panels will capture light and mirror the activity in the park and in the surrounding neighborhood.

Zephyros is both an environmental art piece that captures and reveals wind patterns in the sky, and a social sculpture that literally reflects the park and the neighborhood. Looking at the piece from below, the visitor sees her own reflection, but also the neighborhood and the sky in an ascending collage high above. The movement in the sky will be made visible on the ground as the sun casts dynamic, undulating shadows across the landscape.

The gently warped panels are made of a light, mirror-finish stainless steel sheet with a reinforcing rib. The design process will test various finishes to identify the best option that shimmers and reflects the sky and light, but does not produce unwanted glare. The panels are light enough to be activated by the wind, but durable enough to withstand the elements. Because they are attached to a single sleeve around the mast, they will turn in sync and use their combined wind force to add to the overall motion.

As the culmination of its Pavement to Parks parking space pilot program, the City of San Francisco will soon (late summer/early fall) make a permit available for businesses wanting to convert the on-street parking spaces in front of their storefronts to pedestrian plazas, mini-parks, or “parklets”. Rebar has prototyped a plug-and-play, modular system that will be available for businesses to specify as their design of choice when the City releases the application. To connect with Rebar about purchasing Walklets for your storefront when the City permit becomes available, contact us by email.

The Hayes Valley Farm–a Rebar project created in collaboration with the SF Permaculture Guild and others–occupies an urban site where San Francisco’s Central Freeway once touched down. It’s been recognized alongside the High Line, the Tate Modernand Lima, Peru’s Ghost Train Park as among seven of the world’s best “recycled architecture” projects by the Huffington Post. Rebar has been busy finishing up the modular greenhouse, which is made from recycled scaffolding and water-filled highway barriers.

We’re covering this a little late on our own blog, but in case you haven’t caught on a posting elsewhere, Rebar’s prototype for modular, extensible, iterative public space in the parking lane is now in use in the Mission District. This is the latest installation for San Francisco’s Pavement to Parks program. See it for yourself at 22nd Street and Bartlett Street, in front of Cafe Revolution, Escape From New York Pizza, and Lolo.

Perhaps these guys say it best… Streetsblog SF, San Francisco Chronicle, the Design Blog, Yelp, Trendhunter Magazine, PSFK. And we also say it on the SFMOMA’s blog.

We are developing “Walklet”–a plug-and-play system that makes it easy to instantly create a pedestrian public space in a parking lane (which San Francisco is developing a new permit for as we write). Retail inquiries welcome as we are going into production now. Email us through the product’s new website.