California architect designing hospitality-inspired homes + multifamily residential. Los Gatos Planning Commissioner. Beauty, character, and aesthetics matter.
San Francisco Bay Area
Joined August 2011
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Welcome back, mutuals—it’s your tile-and-natural-stone-obsessed architect.
I believe every project should make everyday life feel like a five-star stay: thoughtful, tactile, beautiful, and designed around how you actually live.
A few spaces from my portfolio ↓
Adam Mayer retweeted
Another project I designed in China: a gym and fitness center. I was producing so many concepts back then that it felt like architecture school on fast-forward.
Adam Mayer retweeted
That price difference means there should be plenty of alpha to PAY A CLEANER.
Surprising that you’d need to explain this out to a “successful airbnb owner”
Adam Mayer retweeted
🤨
I visited Wurster Hall at UC Berkeley today. It was designed by, and currently houses, the architecture faculty.
The UC Berkeley website notes that "Wurster is often voted Berkeley's ugliest building."
I visited because I was curious about whether it would in person seem as unattractive as it does in photos. And, in short: it does. It's gaunt, austere, and filmed in grime. On an elysian campus, it stands out for its bleak hostility. It reminds me of the German submarine base in Bordeaux.
The UC Berkeley page agrees that it was never designed to be attractive, quoting the curator of their design archives: “Wurster and his handpicked architects didn’t want anything romantic, or sentimental — they hated the idea of ‘making pretty buildings. They wanted a serious building.”
I guess we have to concede success relative to their stated goals, but it does make one wonder what it all says about architecture as a discipline.
Adam Mayer retweeted
Smart people, particularly smart STEM people, tend to over-extrapolate.
The real world is not that stable. The farther you move from your starting point, the more impact latent variables have. Latent variables are invisible at the start, that's why they are called "latent"!
Adam Mayer retweeted
Lowell high school is one of the crown jewels of San Francisco (that for some reason San Francisco politicians keep trying to dismantle)
God bless Michele Bronson!
A 35-year-old SF venue was set to close. Then a music superfan stepped up. sfgate.com/sf-culture/articl…
ALT A 35-year-old SF venue was set to close. Then a music superfan stepped up.
“Do you have experience with the codes in my city?”
I get this question often from prospective clients. It’s fair—but a permit history in your ZIP code isn’t the whole measure of an architect’s qualifications.
California has a statewide building code, with local amendments. Zoning varies by jurisdiction, but the questions are familiar: How much can you build? How tall? How close to the property line? FAR, lot coverage, setbacks, height limits.
The answers change. The skill is knowing what to ask, where to look, and how to turn those constraints into a good design.
Every city has its quirks. Experience there helps. But there’s always a first permit in a new jurisdiction.
Hire a licensed architect. Knowing how to navigate unfamiliar requirements is part of the job.
Another project I designed in China: a gym and fitness center. I was producing so many concepts back then that it felt like architecture school on fast-forward.
Another throwback to my China days - this is a double mixed-use towers proposal I led the design for in Chengdu that is inspired by the Chinese scroll (similar to the 2008 Beijing Olympic torch). Unfortunartely we got second place but I am still proud of this design.
Good news - Bottom of the Hill lives on!
SF’s Bottom of the Hill will live on under a new owner in 2027, with a longtime patron taking over the business and pledging to preserve its independent spirit, while the original owners will keep the building to help ensure it remains a music venue.
buff.ly/tMHwiZl
Adam Mayer retweeted
What is the point of defending the West when the leaders of the White American Right behave like primitive third worlders.
🚨NEWS: Pete Hegseth wanted a priceless World War II-era globe used by Dwight Eisenhower displayed in his Pentagon office, but instead of waiting for professional curators, his staff attempted to move the historic artifact themselves and DROPPED IT, puncturing the globe near Antarctica and breaking its mounting, according to The Washington Post. The Pentagon confirms the damage.
Throwback to 2010 to an office complex I designed in Chengdu, China, just off the Airport Expressway near Shuangliu Airport.
Congrats @GabrielQuinto17!
About a decade ago, I worked on massing and feasibility studies for the Caltrain 4th & King Railyard redevelopment.
Back then, we were looking at around 3.5 million square feet of mixed-use development. Great to see the latest proposal nearly double that!
One of San Francisco's largest redevelopment projects could completely transform nearly 19 acres of land near Downtown.
Plans are moving forward for the redevelopment of the Caltrain Railyards at 4th and King in SoMa.
The project could include:
• Up to 5,834 apartments
• Up to 5.6 million SF of commercial space
• 160,000+ SF of retail
• A completely rebuilt Caltrain station
• More than 4 acres of public open space
• Multiple skyscrapers reaching 350 to 600 feet
• A potential 850-foot tower
This land is currently occupied by railroad tracks, platforms, maintenance facilities and the existing Caltrain station.
The proposal would modernize the transit infrastructure, relocate train storage and maintenance, and create an entirely new mixed-use neighborhood above and around the station.
Thousands of people could be living, working, shopping and spending time in what is currently a massive rail yard.
And all directly connected to one of the Bay Area's most important transit corridors.
The project is now entering environmental review, with construction potentially starting in 2029 and taking 15 to 20 years to complete....
There's obviously a long road ahead, but I love seeing developers think this big about underutilized urban land.
This could completely reshape SF.
📍San Francisco
There have always been beautiful women in San Francisco. Where does this myth that SF has no attractive women come from exactly?
SF’s dating pool was once, as an Egyptian founder put it to us, “drier than the desert in my homeland.”
Now, gorgeous women are flocking to the city.
Why? As AI gets cheaper to build, companies flush with venture cash are hiring beautiful women to charm investors and clients.
Enjoy it while it lasts, gentlemen. As @nicolewizman1 writes: paying hotties 6 figures to get drunk with your business prospects feels like a pretty good sign we’re in a bubble. 👇
