The Moscone Center Expansion, a project designed for San Francisco Travel and the City & County of San Francisco through a joint effort by Mark Cavagnero Associates (MCA) and SOM, offers both an expansive, light-filled container for the bustling activities of the convention center and a jewel box moment for the city’s public.
The project spans two sweeping blocks on either side of Howard Street, neighbored on one end by the vibrant Yerba Buena Gardens and by the playful Children’s Garden on the other. SFMoMa is a block away, with the Museum of the African Diaspora and the Contemporary Jewish Museum only a few steps further. The Moscone Center is seated firmly in the city’s cultural hub, and the architects centered their efforts on expanding upon that relationship, looking both back to historical studies of the neighborhood and closely at current developments in the surrounding area. The expansion addresses the original 1970s structure, which was built in response to a very different San Francisco from the one experienced today. The original building was closed off from the neighborhood, a “black box” that felt intrusive in what is, today, the rich and vibrant neighborhood of SoMa, home to both the cultural institutions aforementioned and many of the city’s striking new business developments, including the new Salesforce Tower. To do this, the team essentially turned the convention model inside-out: the new structure is transparent and inviting, with wide spans of windows lining a periphery built in close proximity to the busy sidewalk, activating a reciprocal relationship between the users of the space and the city’s public.
Learn More About the Project and Mark Cavagnero Associates
Role: Chief Creative Officer
Scope: The specific content and scope of this project are not disclosed herein as they are strictly confidential and proprietary. Any unauthorized disclosure or use of project-related information is prohibited.
