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I can see pricing for the 01 stack at Museum Parc inching higher as I type.

Could we get the Sacramento design instead?

Someone thinks buildings should look like fettucine in white sauce!

Think salt water taffy.

I like the Sacramento building in the open field. The planaria poop on Folsom, not so much.

In a city where land is at a premium and space is expensive - where the average person is finding life to be increasingly expensive - this sort of design is pretentious.

I'm all for making siginificant architectural statements and creating unique inspired architecture, but this isn't it. I agree with bats, the cleaner lines on the sacramento building work better.

reminds me of a great big piece of chewy calamari, yummy!

it sure is more architecturally unique and interesting than that fugly thing (a few threads down) that they're putting at the corner of Haight and Masonic. would love to know how joe public like me can voice our opinion on this stuff.

"Yah Ramone, that'll happen."

Wow the Fun came to Socket site and DIED!

Skateboarders will come from miles away, that thing is awesome!!

Please let's stop being upstaged by Sacramento!

Please don't build that!!!!!!

What were those buildings formally? (what businesses were there?)

This design is very common in Europe :)

marketwatcher: Your comment that because land is "at a premium and space is expensive" as a reason to denounce this design is the single stupidest thing anyone has ever said on here, and that's saying something.

This design is not pretentious; it may not be to everyone's liking, but we need all the interesting design we can get in San Francisco.

I like it! Even though someone at curbedsf pointed out it's going to be hard to clean the city grime out of those folds.

This design is very common in Europe :)

Not just Europe. The other world class cities all have a design similar to this (Paris, London, Tokyo) so we're clearly behind the times.

It won't be built. Diller Scofidio & Renfro won the competition.

Without a vertical shaft modeled like a toothpick to hold it together, that design just falls apart.

I'm one of the few that likes this better than the Sacramento one. The Sacramento thing looks like a sperm to me. this looks more airy and light and fluffy.

The SF version above looks like toilet paper or perhaps folded towels/sheets. I can almost see the Snuggle fabric softener Bear falling on top of that building and giggling.

in fact, look:
You can see the Snuggle Bear Snuggling with San Francisco's Performing Arts Center... it's in his right arm!

Diller Scofidio & Renfro won huh? They couldn't even get the video screen to work on the Moscone West building.

Love it! SF needs a bit more flare like this!

I think this building is absolutely amazing. What i think is funny is that people on this site complain about boring bland architecture. then when something is truly extraordinary, peple compalian about that too. I would love to see this be built. THis area needs something exciting. We are a second tier city in so many ways (ironically mostly conservative attitudes). this kind of thing helps us to get to tier 1.

Build this and I'll stop calling San Francisco a pleasant and conservative (built environment, that is) Colonial Williamsburg by-the-bay retirement village. In the meanwhile I have to catch my breath.

I love it, so of course something else will be built. Let me guess, another glass slab-sided box?

SOMA: Same Old Mediocre Architecture

The Marinites will have their say and kill our proposal before long. Just like they are trying to do with Transbay.

Topically unrelated but geographically relevant question for the editors/tipsters: What's the deal with the big office building directly to the right of the giant pasta in pic 2 above? That building's been boarded up and vacant for a long time now - huge waste of space, be it commercial or whatever. Any background?

Unofficial reason why this design failed:

Ban in Trans-Fat oil for fried foods.

Fox Plaza is the standard of beauty in this city, everything built must be brown and boxy otherwise it is not worthy of such a sophisticated, creative town *shoots milk out of nose*

Cheese?

This design will work in an open space (for example, golden gate park). However, it doesn't work in that location, especially in the corner.

We need creative architecture... just don't build it in city limits.

"What i think is funny is that people on this site complain about boring bland architecture. then when something is truly extraordinary, peple compalian about that too."

I challenge anyone to come up with one building that no SocketSite reader will kvetch about. There's no way that you can please everyone in a diverse crowd like this.

I like this building even in this cramped site. However like another reader mentioned it will be difficult to maintain that pristine white.

redseca2 gets the LOL award of the day. Maybe an olive shaped garnish on top of that elevator shaft ?

Build this. Please.

[Editor’s Note: And we have a winner (or two). Once again, however, and assuming etslee is correct, this isn’t getting built. Or perhaps it will...]

Topically unrelated but geographically relevant question for the editors/tipsters: What's the deal with the big office building directly to the right of the giant pasta in pic 2 above? That building's been boarded up and vacant for a long time now - huge waste of space, be it commercial or whatever. Any background?

You're killing us Dude. The scoop on the redesign and the reuse of 680/690 Folsom.

This design has amazing flow to it. It would look wonderful with fog blowing by hard as sometimes happens there.

Strange how Arabs build all kinds of crazy stuff in their deserts while the City prefers things even more staid and stiff than Europe. Hopefully our ossified culture has some good expansion joints somewhere.

Diller Scofidio does some creative stuff, too:

http://www.dillerscofidio.com/eyebeam.html

Everybody wants to make the big bucks like [architect] Frank Gehry! The Guggenheim musueum in Bilbao, Spain was designed by Gehry. Before that, Bilbao wasn't a world-class city, and still isn't.

On the other hand, the Getty museum in LA looks like a paint factory.

Diller Scofidio & Renfro's new Contemporary Art Musuem in Boston is mindblowing.

Are taxpayers paying for this? If so, out of which budget?

Here's a great architectural idea for SF: Create programs for the homeless that not only focus on substance abuse - but also focus on giving them serious life skills and job training. Would make all the architecture in SF a better experience. Spending lots of money on expensive buildings in a crummy neighborhood in a down economy with bums assaulting people on the street is like putting lipstick on a pig.

I actually could grow to like the style of the building - but it makes no sense now.

It's about priorities.

Ooops, the competition may still be undecided (until Sept) according to this post by the "director of external affairs" for the museum:
http://digg.com/travel_places/SF_Museum_of_Performance_Design

Or perhaps The Chronicle's design editor Zahid Sardar has insider info?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/30/HOQ211TJ88.DTL

According to a conversation with D. Donald Spradlin, Director of External Affairs for The Museum of Performance & Design, four firms remain on the short-list (down from the 17 that responded), the subcommittee responsible for recommending one of the four to the Museum Board has yet to make its pitch, and the Board’s final vote won’t occur until September 11th. Also noted, an option for the site has been secured and the target opening date is 2012.

Our apologies for any confusion and our thanks to the good natured Mr. Spradlin ("...it’s great to see the Museum generating so much interest!").

Be still my beating heart. Is this love or a hot flash? I adore Mark Dziewulski's design and would be thrilled to see this built in our fair city.

Just because cities in Europe and elsewhere have buildings like this doesn't mean that SF should build one.

I certainly do admit that the architecture isn't exciting in SF and buildings like this would be a step up, but why can't we try something no one else has?

Like it will really happen....

While this is more interesting than the typical uninspired SF architecture, it's cliched yet naive form is in no way in the same league as the best designs by the competing architects (Steven Holl, Diller Scofidio and Zaha Hadid).

"You're killing us Dude. The scoop on the redesign and the reuse of 680/690 Folsom."

Whoops. I do recall that link but didn't put 2 & 2 together - artist's rendering threw me. Sorry.