Pier 70/Building 12 and the Trieste, Italy Waterfront

The panel discussion will explore two international waterfront projects: Pier 70 and Building 12 in San Francisco, along with the redevelopment of the Porto Vecchio area in Trieste, Italy, transformed into a Linear Park. Architects and landscape architects from both cities will share insights on resilient design and other relevant topics related to waterfront development. Their collaboration emphasizes international design principles, making this discussion an engaging exploration of architectural innovation!

The Panelist architects and landscape architects from Pier70 and Bldg 12’s team, will discuss the projects and the collaborative process involved to achieve the design and resiliency goals for the new Pier 70 neighborhood. As they zoom in on specifics around the site and into Building 12, attendees will hear firsthand about the site’s important history and the vision for its future; the project’s strategy for meeting resiliency goals including addressing sea level rise (which included raising the site grades and lifting Building 12 ten feet); and the extensive community outreach program that laid the groundwork for this emerging neighborhood along the San Francisco waterfront.

This will be followed by a similar presentation by the Italian design team on the Linear Park in Trieste, Italy
This waterfront project is one of several designed by Alfonso Femia's studio, with water as an essential element, at the center of the architect's research for years. Femia and his team have been working to transfer a theme, precisely water, which he himself defined as " the true sentinel of climate change”.
With the Linear Park of Trieste, his studio proposes a rethinking of the very idea of the waterfront: how do you try to detach the coastline from a purely technical or functional meaning, to open it up to new uses? In Trieste the desire is to redevelop the Porto Vecchio area, which is enormous and complex.
One of the first interventions is the creation of a linear park of over 3 kilometers, capable of connecting the area to Piazza Unità D'Italia and the rest of the region. At the basis of the park project there is also the idea of bringing portions of the karst landscape back into this continuous strip, so that it also becomes an opportunity for "landscape education".
Participants will be filmed and recorded for possible use in AIAU coursework offerings and AIASF Knowledge Community free learning offerings on their websites.

There will be a reception that starts after the program in which we encourage you to stay.

This event is organized by AIA San Francisco International Practice Knowledge Community and the Center for Architecture + Design as part of the 21st Annual Architecture + The City Festival.

In collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute San Francisco. Under the auspices of the Consulate General of Italy in San Francisco.

Clockwise L-R:
Alfonso Femia, Ariane Fehrenkamp, Francesco Garofalo, Peter Mueller, Seth Rodewald

Alfonso Femia, Founder, Atelier(s) Alfonso Femia

Alfonso Femia was born in Taurianova, Calabria , on 7 December 1966. He graduated in 1992 from the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Genoa . In 1995 he founded the studio 5+1 associated architects, which in 2005 would become the 5+1AA Architecture Agency and from 2017 would take his name, becoming Atelier(s) Alfonso Femia.
He taught architectural design at Kent State University and at the Faculty of Architecture in Ferrara. Alfonso Femia has created significant works of urban regeneration in France and Italy and numerous interventions in various European cities.
Among his best-known projects is the redevelopment of the Docks in Marseille, a historic nineteenth-century complex consisting of four warehouses structured around internal courtyards, six floors high for a development of almost 400 meters transformed into a real urban community project with 50 spaces shops, 20 restaurants, a market, an entertainment space, meeting areas and services open to the community. The Marseille Docks have won numerous national and Biography Career international awards, including the Mipim Award in Cannes, the Leaf Award in London, the Uli Global Award for Excellence in Dallas and The Plan Award.

Ariane Fehrenkamp, Senior Project Manager, Senior Associate, Perkins & Will
Ariane Fehrenkamp is a Senior Project Manager at Perkins&Will with over 20 years of professional experience in architecture and design. She has completed a diverse range of complex project types in the Bay Area, including Building 12 on San Francisco’s Pier 70, the James R. Herman Cruise Terminal on Pier 27, Building O Apartments in the Dogpatch; and 220 Golden Gate Avenue, which rehabilitated the historic Central YMCA in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood. Ariane has spoken at multiple design and sustainability conferences including the AIA National Conference, Greenbuild, ULI and InstaTV Pier 2 Peer. She received her Master’s in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley where she co-authored Bracing Berkeley, a guide to the seismic retrofit of key buildings on the UC Berkeley campus. Prior to her work as an architect, Ariane was a writer for an international art magazine.

Francesco Garofalo, Founder, Openfabric Landscape architecture for contemporary cities, with a special focus on complex social dynamics and public urban spaces.

Francesco Garofalo studied Landscape Architecture in ‘Van Hall Larenstein’ Arnhem, the Netherlands and in ‘Genoa University’ where he graduated ‘cum Laude’ in 2009. Since he founded Openfabric, office for urban landscape architecture, he has lead various awarded competitions and some ongoing commissions, amongst others: a proposal for New Tahrir square in Cairo, Egypt; an AIDS memorial park, New York, USA; renewal of the main boulevard in Genoa –Via ** settembre; Italy (First prize); an urban square, realized in The Hague, The Netherlands (First prize); Landscape vision for Pingdi low carbon Campus in Shenzhen, China; and for Jianshan Landscape City Haining, China; an urban vision for city center Athens, Greece; a vision for urban biodiversity and public transportation shared network in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Openfabric is currenlty active in Albania with 3 projects: an implementation project for the public spaces of Saranda; a riverfront and public space design commission for the Unesco Heritage city Berat; an agro-touristic regional vision for the coastal area of the southern Riviera. Francesco has been co-teaching the studio ‘Colonizing Landscapes’ and the Amsterdam Academy in 2015. He further more has been lecturing and guest critic at MIT (Cambridge MA), Cornell University (Ithaca, NY), RAoB (Rotterdam, the Netherlands), Genoa University of Architecture (Genoa, Italy).

(Moderator)
Peter M. Mueller, AIA

Peter M. Mueller is a local San Francisco architect with a passion for waterfront access. Peter has taken part in organizing the waterfronts programs produced by the AIA SF International Practice Committee. With a broad background of architectural practice in Europe, local grassroots leadership at AIA SF and ongoing tactical coastal interaction globally, Peter has shown an ability to lead dialogue for productive exchange of ideas between waterfront designers and policy makers from different continents and disciplines.

Seth Rodewald-Bates, ASLA, PLA, Senior Associate, James Corner Field Operations

Seth is a licensed landscape architect at James Corner Field Operations with more than eighteen years of experience. His portfolio includes Pier 70, a 28-acre mixed-use development and waterfront park in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood; the recently completed Presidio Tunnel Tops, a 14-acre park on the San Francisco Bay; and ongoing work for NBC Universal’s Burbank campus in Los Angeles. Seth has experience with numerous campus, waterfront, urban, and mixed-use projects throughout the U.S. and abroad, and is adept at both resolving intricate design problems as well as delivering complex, large scale built works. Prior to joining Field Operations, Seth worked at PWP Landscape Architecture, where he assisted with the expansion of Glenstone, a contemporary art museum near Washington, D.C., that encompasses 230 acres of designed landscape experience. While at Spackman Mossop Michaels in New Orleans, Seth worked on a variety of civic, institutional, residential, and hospitality projects. As an intern at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Seth was able to further his passion for large-scale site-specific art. He began his career at Sasaki in Boston. Seth received a Bachelor’s of Science in Horticulture, magna cum laude, from Stephen F. Austin State University and a Master in Landscape Architecture from the Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture at Louisiana State University. He has taught previously at Stephen F. Austin State University, Boston Architectural College, Louisiana State University, and Tulane University.

Learning Objectives (2 LU / AIA)

1. Connection: Attendees will explore the historical significance of Pier 70 and its transformation into a walkable, resilient neighborhood. We’ll also delve into the design strategies behind Trieste’s Linear Park, bridging history, city life, and the sea.

2. Resilience: We’ll discuss sea level rise challenges faced by Pier 70, including raising site grades and reusing historic structures. Additionally, learn about rethinking waterfronts and their functional meaning from Femia’s Studio.

3. Sustainability: Discover adaptive reuse and sustainability measures at both locations. Pier 70’s envelope design connects to the waterfront, while Alfonso Femia’s team research climate change impact on coastlines.

4. Collaboration: Hear how the design team transformed Pier 70 from a dilapidated area to a vibrant neighborhood. Also, explore collaboration between Femia’s studio and the Linear Park landscape architect in Trieste.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Innovit – Italian Innovation and Culture Hub, 710 Sansome Street, San Francisco, United States