Taking Shape
The buildings, neighborhoods and public spaces reshaping San Diego, documented as the city takes shape.
ExploreLatest
A record of the built city. Restored landmarks, shared spaces and the neighborhoods around them — one story at a time.
The Botanical Building: architecture that lets the garden lead
Read Balboa Park’s Botanical Building through its redwood lath, restored arcades and living collection, with a practical guide to looking beyond the postcard.
At the Salk Institute, the space between buildings does the work
Explore Louis Kahn’s Salk Institute through its courtyard, adaptable laboratories and carefully handled materials, with official guidance for planning a visit.
Santa Fe Depot: a civic room built around arrival
Look beyond Santa Fe Depot’s tiled towers to its arcades, waiting room and railway history, then plan a downtown visit using the operator’s station information.
Little Italy’s public rooms: a piazza is more than paving
Read Little Italy through Piazza della Famiglia and Amici Park: seating, active edges and different kinds of shared space, beyond the restaurant itinerary.
Geisel Library: the silhouette and the building beneath it
Understand Geisel Library through William Pereira’s concrete structure, Gunnar Birkerts’ quieter addition and the practical demands of a working campus library.
Sunset Cliffs: designing for the coast means knowing when to stop
Read Sunset Cliffs as a coastal landscape, not an empty site: habitat, trails and erosion shape how public access should work along the western edge of Point Loma.
Buildings & ideas
Architecture
A closer reading of the modern city, from East County churches to the research campuses of La Jolla.
Modern San Diego: a 17-stop architecture guide
Seventeen modern architecture stops across five San Diego regions, revisiting Darren Bradley’s 2020 Design Week tour with historical context, source notes and visiting cautions.
Five regions. Seventeen stops.
A complete, carefully attributed companion to San Diego Design Week’s 2020 itinerary. Historical observations sit alongside their source notes, not in place of present-day access information.
Projects & proposals
Development
Nine profiles of a changing city. Published plans, dated evidence and the distinctions that matter.
East Village Green
A phased public park adds recreation rooms, outdoor play areas and gathering space to East Village. City pages describe both a broader park concept and a smaller initial construction area.
Phased construction; opening not verified
Seaport Village Redevelopment
Seaport San Diego is 1HWY1’s proposal for a mixed-use waterfront district, not a completed redevelopment or a construction-ready approval. The Port’s project page identifies environmental review as the current phase.
Proposed; environmental review and future approvals
Manchester Pacific Gateway
The Manchester Pacific Gateway name covers a redevelopment history, not one new project to count alongside RaDD. Manchester’s hotel website promotes One Broadway Hotel & Plaza, while a 2020 announcement documents the Navy building’s completion and IQHQ’s acquisition of much of the site.
Hotel proposal; Navy building completed; RaDD separately delivered
Neighborhoods
Every project belongs somewhere. Browse by the part of town it is shaping.
