“BAR Architects began as Backen, Arrigoni and Ross in 1966. Since its inception, the firm’swork has been guided by an intellectual rigor, a capacity for critical though and a spirit of inclusivenessthat embraces the process of architectural design within the context of both academic disciplines andopular culture. roughout our history we have been known for work that can be characterized asontrarian, contextual, avant-garde, traditional, respectful and even a bit irreverent.An 80-person architectural, interior design and planning firm, we excel in the design and planning of ixed-use, arts and entertainment venues, wineries, hospitality, educational facilities, restaurants/retailenters and housing of all types.Similar to many firms that trace their origins to San Francisco, BAR’s work began in multi-family housing. Over the course of four decades, our practice has expanded in terms of both projecttypes and geographic focus. To this day, BAR’s work remains firmly grounded in housing. Beginning inarly 1975 – only nine years aer our founding – the firm’s work began to expand to include university,winery, hospitality, historic renovation and adaptive re-use projects, as well as snow country work inolorado and Utah.More complex programs soon followed, including George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch, RobertRedford’s Sundance Institute and the Delancey Street Foundation in San Francisco, e Aspen Insti-tute, Sharon Heights Golf and Country Club and the restoration and re-use of the entire small town of Borlasca, Italy. All the while, the housing work continues, notably including both merchant-built andarket-driven housing, as well as both multi-family and custom homes, and estate properties.But it is not so much the diversity of the body of work that is exceptional, but rather our firm’sbility to execute it within a discipline of critical thought divorced from a preconception of style per se.e founding principals of the firm, Bob Arrigoni, Howard Backen and Bruce Ross, were instrumentaln creating a design approach that continues today; a process where the issues of respecting context versus establishing a new one, of innovation and market-driven work, and of placemaking are influen-tial in guiding the design of each project. As a result of this process, BAR has received over 170 designwards, including a Presidential Citation, and recognition by the American Institute of Architects Cali-fornia Council (AIACC) as Firm of the year 2000, one of the highest honors that can be bestowed uponn architecture firm.Environmental sensitivity has always been a hallmark of our design work, and never more thantoday. Currently more than 50 percent of our architects are LEED accredited and we recently relocatedur own offi ces to the first renovated green offi ce building in San Francisco. Our commitment to per-sonalized service is similarly strong, but most importantly we believe that our clients should enjoy theesign process as much as the result.”
-BAR ARCHITECTS
BAR
HISTORY
&
EVOLUTION
BARARCHITECTS
543 HOWARD STREETSAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105BAR’S OFFICEKOBE TOWERSGREENWOOD RESIDENCE
MATT GOODWIN
FALL 2006_SFURBAN DESIGN INTERNSHIP
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as someone who spent a year as an art history major, i absolutely love this!
great work. Simply love it! well informative.
hello
as someone who spent a year as an art history major, i absolutely love this!
loved it..!!! though nt art major..!!!
hy
looking forward to it..!!