3rd Street Flashlight
- CLIENT \\
SF Museum of Craft & Design - LOCATION \\
San Francisco, CA - SIZE \\
3 parking spaces
Small and large are a matter of context. The 3rd Street Flashlight is an important place in a San Francisco district with no public space. Commissioned by a design museum, the flashlight claimed space from a busy street to create a safe place for people, social interaction, and events in a rapidly transforming postindustrial district. The flashlight uses a long faceted perimeter wall to engage the kinetic movement of the street and create a safe zone for people. From the sidewalk, the flashlight presents an unexpected offering of seating and social spaces. Lighting, high quality materials, and excellent detailing pack this public space with subtle but potent purpose. While physically small, it asserts big picture results and demonstrates how urban complexity can be engaged and manipulated by design to enable life in the most forbidding circumstances.
As viewers pass by on the street, the long faceted perimeter wall engages the kinetic movement of the street and apparently changes color instantly.
Masts above angle their lights towards the public space for a warm glow welcoming visitor’s attention and use after dark.
The seating is arrayed with choices-adjustable bar stool or one with a back, towards the street or away, with leg room to spare or in a wheel chair. Multipurpose arm rests offer drink holders and laptop tables.
Deep volumes of soil in the structured planting assure root health and consistent moisture.
