CAMO Studio | for Friends of Jessie Street | planned construction summer 2021
500 Jessie Street, San Francisco, CA
The Jessie Street Skateable Parklet combines the varied needs of the area's stakeholders and responds to the vibrant cultural richness of San Francisco's Transgender District to create a safer street in a busy urban area and promote the growth of community.
With several high profile skateboard companies nearby, such as Thrasher, Create, and Supreme, this parklet had a unique design challenge reflecting these businesses by using arrangements and materials suitable for skaterboarders to use as well as for patrons of the cafe. The parklet also had to be very durable and low-maintenance in this area of the city, and it was desired that any seating should be removable after hours.
A design to meet these needs was developed using precast concrete barriers and a pipe structure. With a light appearance, the sturdy pipe structure can frame spaces, show off existing murals, provide a safe barrier, be used for skating, and even offer a way to incorporate hanging plants without the maintenance required with larger planters. The materials and structure also support a high degree of flexibility and customization by users, particularly with removable seating features such as nesting and hanging benches.
Where nearby residents currently try to congregate on an unprotected street in a highly trafficked area and many others come to visit the skate shops or enjoy the cafe, this design will help reshape the alley as a safe and enjoyable space that's an asset to the neighborhood.
Schematic Plan, April 2021
Earlier Iterations and Site Analysis
The initially submitted design features ideas to transform Jessie Street into a walkable alley.
Through slowing traffic flow, adding plantings, protected eating areas, skateable features, and even a dog care station, as well as design styles to reflect the culturally unique transgender district of San Francisco, this plan intends to magnify the area's cultural richness and build a safer area for community to grow in an otherwise high-traffic area of the city.
Inspired by the preexisting Jeffrey Cheung murals and the culture of the transgender district, a flesh concept that looked to precedents from Ligorio's 16th century Sacro Bosco in Bomarzo to Gustav Vigeland's 1947 park in Oslo was developed and applied to various design features such as planters and program division walls.
Design features incorporating the flesh concept included a skateable wall planter and dog tunnel.
Examples of site analysis as part of the project proposal include mapping out of existing conditions along the street, potential layout of proposed features, and a progression of less to more permanent stages of how the design might be applied in phases to address the areas needs.
