Oakland, CA
I was strolling around Oakland & came across this building in the city at 17th & Harrison. Tucked among larger buildings, I immediately felt attracted to its proportions. If you’ve been around Oakland lately, you’ve noticed the city is rapidly transforming into a tall urban landscape filled with cream and gray stucco apartments with empty ground floor storefronts. However, it wasn’t just the scale that was attractive - the brick, the arches, and the composition were just right. The bricks were appealing not only because of its contrast to its neighbors, but it appealed to my senses - I could hold the brick, and therefore the building, in my hands. Not literally of course, but the building made sense. I could comprehend it, not just as an architect, but as someone walking down the street. As irrelevant as that might seem, being able to relate to our surroundings impacts how connected we feel to our neighborhood. When the built environment (aka anything that’s not natural) is so generic, it feels divorced from the culture and context that it sits in. Needless to say, I appreciate this little gem & hope it sticks around.
The building is currently occupied by Oakland Housing Authority, probably built around 1966.
#architecture #arches #blackarchitects #architectureappreciation