This coming weekend, the San Diego Architectural Foundation (SDAF) will present its annual Open House San Diego (OHSD) program, a sprawling showcase that will open up 84 architecturally significant sites across the city for public viewing.
The ever-expanding geography of OHSD will run March 24 and 25 and will encompass sites located throughout the city’s core downtown neighborhoods like Barrio Logan, Gaslamp Quarter, and the waterfront, as well as locations in several peripheral areas like Bankers Hill, Balboa Park, and the newly-added Point Loma neighborhood. This year’s OHSD program is spearheaded by SDAF honorary event co-chairs Gordon Carrier of Carrier Johnson+ CULTURE and Jennifer Luce of Luce et Studio.
OHSD founder Susanne Friestedt explained to AN, “We are hoping to elevate the city’s aesthetic and design tastes with the number and diversity of OHSD sites,” explaining that the broad mix of projects and venues represented a cross section of the city’s history and social make-up.
Included on that list are the Balboa Park cultural complex, the studios of RJC Architects in Bankers Hill, the John Rhoades Federal Judicial Center downtown, the new Makers Quarter in the East Village neighborhood, the Woodbury University School of Architecture campus in Barrio Logan, and Point Loma Nazarene University in Point Loma. Various architectural offices will also be open to the public this weekend, including studios for Gensler, BNIM, and AVRP Skyport.
The Open House concept began in London in 1992 with the goal of promoting a finer understanding for that city’s urban architecture among the general public and to spur debate on the nature of development, architectural design, and urban planning, generally speaking. In the years since, Open House events have spread around the world and now take place in over a dozen cities, including New York City, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, and Melbourne, among many others. Efforts are currently underway to start a Los Angeles showcase, as well.
For more information on this weekend’s festivities and tours, see the OHSD website.
