Farewell to Gae Aulenti, Visionary Architect

Gae Aulenti in the Asian Art Museum’s North Court during building.

The Asian Art Museum family is saddened by the news of the passing of Gae Aulenti, the visionary Italian architect who in 2003 was responsible for transforming San Francisco’s former Main Library into the museum’s expanded home. Ms. Aulenti was 84.

“The world has lost an immensely talented creative spirit,” said Jay Xu, director of the Asian Art Museum. “Gae Aulenti was in a class of her own, an artist able to transform historic structures into dynamic public spaces that reflect a balance of traditional and modern sensibilities. Her work creating the museum’s home has brought new life to a time-honored building, bringing joy to those who visit. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family, friends and colleagues.”

In 1996, the Asian Art Museum chose Ms. Aulenti—a highly regarded designer specializing in the conversion of historic structures into museum spaces—as the design architect of its new facility at San Francisco’s Civic Center. Her award-winning projects include the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, which was created from an enormous turn-of-the-century railway station; the Palazzo Grassi in Venice, a refurbishment of an eighteenth-century Venetian palace; and the National Museum of Catalan Art in Barcelona, a renovation of the National Palace, the building created for the World Exhibition of 1929.

Former Asian Art Museum director Emily Sano writes:

“Gae Aulenti’s deep understanding of classical architecture as well as the requirements of a modern museum were key to her work at the Asian Art Museum. The imposing facade of the former Main Library building led her to envision a light-filled interior that refreshed the sipirt of visitors as they entered, and the circulation pattern she devised through three floors of galleries, led visitors to comfortably encounter art as they moved through space. I am proud the Asian Art Museum will stand as testament to Aulenti’s enormous talents.”

On March 20, 2013, the Asian Art Museum will celebrate its 10th anniversary in the space Aulenti transformed, an ideal home for the interaction of traditional and contemporary art.

Baseball, Japan, San Francisco: A Short & Biased History

Willie Mays & Joe DiMaggio at the Asian Art Museum in Golden Gate Park

Every morning on my way to work, I cast a glance at City Hall to remind myself that I’m not dreaming.  The Giants flags still fly, the banners proclaiming victory remain, and the Lone Star flag that once flew above Civic Center Plaza has yet to be replaced, an irresistible target for fans.
The air has been a little sweeter, the populace friendlier.  Upon the heels of history, reminiscing is in order.

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The Other Shanghai: Oakland?

photo courtesy of Bunky's Pickle © used with permission

Although 1940s Shanghai had lost considerable luster courtesy of occupation, war, and revolution, another Shanghai was angling to take its place.  In the same fashion that Hollywood had been responsible for inspiring glamor the world over, nightclubs in search of their own golden era underwent a certain Shanghai-ification.  The city offered a powerful syllogism, an invocation that promised delight and unparalleled decadence.  Even pre-Castro Cuba with its tropical,  imperialist-friendly allure was home to a theater christened “The Shanghai.”

And then there was Oakland. 
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A little San Francisco Civic Center history

One of the first questions I get when people come in the door is, “What was this building before it was a museum?” Well, it was the main branch of the San Francisco Public Library, which opened to the public in 1917. But with the help of Rick Prelinger and his archives, we can see back even further. In this film from 1914, government officials are fighting the opium trade …

It is cool to see the building of city hall in the background, and just by the amount of opium pipes being burnt I can’t imagine what a wild west city this used to be.