HAZY SHADE OF WINTER IN SAN FRANCISCO (or, as Ron Ramsey at North Dakota State University, used to say, "STAN FRAN'S DISCO")
Welcome to C loset Exit's whirlwind winter wonderland tour of San Francisco. After being bilked out of 156 quid for seafood and squid at the Franciscan Crab restaurant (another hombre from the office was with me), we decided to track down a couple of Sa-weet projects using the AVIS GPS system and, of course, the AVIS SUV that we rented. WAIT! I move too quick. Stop the Trailblazer and let's back up for a moment. If you are ever flying US AIR into San Francisco, be aware that for the time being, parts of the airport are under construction and some of the signage for BART (light rail to the rental car joint) are misleading. Of course, what do you expect from a city with a light rail named after Homer Simpson's kid. (Just kidding.) Anywho, we jumped into the Chevrolet Trailblazer and proceeded to scare the crap out of the locals on the street until we found Saint Mary's. Man! What a church. This big beauty was done by Pietro B. with Nervi. Or, if you like, by Nervi with help from former Portland, Oregon resident, that crazy Italian himself, Pietro B. (If you ever get a chance to see his dance up near Duluth, do so. Another really nice church.) They were wrapping up services and had a sign posted that said NO TOURS. The ballsy kid from the office (also an architect buff) walked right in and snapped off a couple of nice shots. If he emails them to me, I will post them. Think Marcel at St Johns in Minnesota or Oscar in Brazil. This place has some brutal qualities and some cantilevered corners that are truly Awesome. The interior footings of the massive concrete ribs and the interior itself are worth the price of admission... or in this case, the guilty little twinge i felt due to the people in the church looking at us while my coworker snapped some shots. "Sorry -architecture types." The metal work was, to quote some guy in the mission district, "Simply Fabulous."
We then went to the VC Moris shop... now called Xanadu. (Olivia Newton John comes to mind when I see that word right now-strange.) At any rate, parking was a real bear. All these shoppers downtown at Macy's and Neiman Marcus... if only they knew that they can get three t-shirts for ten bucks down by the wharf... At any rate, we finally found a parking spot on a small alley like side street very similar to Maiden Lane... the street that VC...er, Xanadu Newton John is on. Three kids were smoking pot in a doorway down from the backdoor of Barbizon Modeling. They pissed themselves and ran when they saw us. Evidently two guys over 6'-3" in an all white 2007 Chevy Trailblazer with a GPS Unit stuck to the windshield evokes this response. Who knew? We left the rig parked half on the curb and made our way quickly through the throngs in thongs and leather and fur and jeans... and made our way to Frank's San Francisco love child. She's a sweet baby and I wish the interior shots would have turned out. I am surprized the exterior shots did because this is a PHONE CAMERA with night mode on... it was dark out, believe it or not, when I snapped that puppy. But hey, I digress. This one little gem alone is enough to have you mumbling Johnson Wax, Falling Water and other Frank-inventions in your sleep. I mean, I am really, really sick of Frank, but you have to give credit where credit is due... this little shop (now gallery) rocks! Frank was a master -even if he couldn't balance a checkbook or keep his Free Willy in the holding pond.
We then jetted over to the SFMOMA. The night shots of this look like crap. I was going to attempt pithy banter and compare them to chocolate chips on brown suede, but that is just stupid and, let's face it, we all have enough stupidity in our life. SO, the coworker and I slipped into the gift shop (the museum was closed) and admired Mario's handiwork. Of course, we gravitated towards the architecture books and stayed their muttering pseudo-sex noises while fondling titles like "THE NEW MINIMALISTS" until some Ramones-following young lady walked over in her knee high doc martins and said, "The museum shop is closing in two minutes. Take your purchases to the front register." Of course, we were so shocked that our moment of free architectural eye candy was over that we left without buying a thing... not even a postcard. However, we have TWO MORE DAYS in Stan Fran's Disco and we intend to soak up the architectural sun here as much as the clouds, rain and knee-high doc martin types will allow us to. Stay tuned.
Disclaimer: The blogger in control of this site does not hold malice or ill-intent towards anyone including but not limited to: former professors of architectural history, church going folk, thong wearing goddesses on sidewalks, the Ramones, Olivia Newton John or the memory of Frank Lloyd and his long history of shagging other people's spouses. The blogger in control of this site does not necessarily condone such behavior as shagging other people's spouses or appearing in horrible movies such as Xanadu either. Please read these posts at your own risk.
