S a n F r a n c i s c o
ABOUT
Bio
My architectural practice opened its doors in 1986. It has been focused on new and remodeled single family homes in the San Francisco Bay Area. I like working with people who are thoughtful and care deeply about about the spaces they are building.
Looking over time, the main interior spaces of these homes seem to quietly glow, emanating a sense of interior refuge, a place set aside from the mundane world. Perhaps it's the way light comes in from the outside, or the way space wanders, coming together and expanding as it reaches a central point from which the rest of the home is then sensed in context.
Most of these homes have not had overly generous construction budgets, so space has largely been created by gypsum board and sometimes exposed conventional wood framing.
The Bay Area is blessed with rural, suburban, urban and ocean landscapes in close proximity. I am aware of the context of these homes, how they sit on a hillside or amid neighboring homes. On the one hand, how a home orients to its landscape sets up how it catches breezes, sunlight, privacy, and views. On the other hand, how a home presents itself to its neighbors can lend an element of ease or openness to a rural environment, or add nuanced character to an urban neighborhood, helping it turn a corner, define a streetscape, or enrich a streetscape by providing an intimate entry set between outside and inside.
The photograph above was taken in 2017 on the Great Wall in China. I am a 4th generation Chinese American, born and raised in Berkeley California, influenced by architects in my family who came before me as well as younger cousins who now practice.
My series of video podcasts that delve into various urban, landscape, architecture, and social issues surrounding the built environment are no longer hosted on this site. This is a video podcast series called "HERE: architecture as seen from the San Francisco Bay Region". Look and subscribe to it
on YouTube at:
Education
B. Architecture
University of California Berkeley
1967
Ph. D Social Psychology
Harvard University
1975
Esherick, Homsey, Dodge & Davis
Architects and Planners
San Francisco
1978-1986
Donald Olsen Architect
Berkeley, Ca.
1976-1976
DeMars & Reay Architects & Planners
Berkeley, Ca.
1961-1963