Project 0753: San Francisco Ballet Building

Scope and content:

Project entailed building design, construction drawings and construction supervision for a new 4 story, 96 foot-high building in San Francisco's Civic Center.

Extended Description: In the design of the building for the San Francisco Ballet Association, Willis was preoccupied with how the design could reflect the total fabric of a dancer's life. Located in the city's Civic Center, the site for the modest project of some 65,000 feet was surrounded by such monumentally-scaled buildings as the Opera House, Symphony Hall, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and City Hall.

To be compatible with the Civic Center's Neoclassical context, Willis used a tripartite horizontal ordering system derived from Renaissance principles on the facade. Breaking with classical tradition of symmetry, the entry was located on the corner, the curvilinear wall suggesting physical movement and offering a unique identity for the growing ballet company.

As the dancers were required to spend six hours per day in the facility, the desire for natural light and outdoor air is reflected in the interior. In the large airy spaces visually accessible to the outdoors, Willis developed a mirror system to provide unbroken images of lifts and jumps, as well as a fluorescent lighting system free of the stroboscopic wavering that causes dizziness during practice. The building includes rehearsal, instructional, and administrative spaces along with food service, locker rooms, and lounges.

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