George Lucas's $700M museum may have been chased off to Chicago, but big, potentially starchitect-led changes are nevertheless headed to the Presidio Parklands, as the 13 acres of land sandwiched between Crissy Field and the parade ground at the Presidio's Main Post will henceforth be known. Last April, the Presidio Trust selected five design teams to come up with ideas for the new landscape that will be created when the Presidio Parkway (née Doyle Drive) tunnels underground in 2016. Today the teams' visions for the soon-to-be-born open space reconnecting the Main Post with the bay have been revealed.
James Corner Field Operations, of NYC's High Line fame, imagines a sweeping amphitheater tucked into artificial bluffs, while Snøhetta, of Warriors Arena and SFMOMA repute, proposes a park with a natural, gentle transition from the Main Post to Crissy Field. The proposals from Olin, West 8, and CMG Landscape Architecture also make use of the space in imaginative ways, and all feature learning space for children—a big, $30M string attached to the funding support of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.
Will any of the designs actually be built as currently rendered? Probably not. The designs are ambitious and visionary, and will be refined according to funding constraints and community input as the process lurches imperfectly forward. The trust plans to select a winner this coming January, at which point it can get the ball rolling on detailed designs and (eventually!) construction.
Tonight at 7 p.m., the five teams will present their designs in a public forum at the Presidio's Observation Post. Tomorrow, a gallery exhibition of the proposals goes on view at Presidio Trust HQ.
· Unveiled: 5 visions for landscape above Crissy Field [SFGate]
· Soldier Field Parking Lot to Transform in to Lucas Museum [Curbed Chicago]
· On Rebound from Lucas Fracas, Presidio Tries a New Approach [Curbed SF]
· Public Presentation [New Presidio Parklands Project]
· Gallery Exhibition [New Presidio Parklands Project]
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