Dean of UC Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design from 1976 to 1988, Bender’s real monument is the Berkeley campus itself.
Architecture
Posted inCommunity
Fate of historic Berkeley building (and family home) hangs in the balance as tax debt looms
A new roof on Finnish Hall, owned by a defunct nonprofit and mired in property tax debt, should shore up the structure. But the future of the landmarked building, also the home for 30 years to a family of caretakers, is anything but certain.
Posted inCity
Critic John King: Architectural nostalgia shouldn’t stop change in Berkeley
The SF Chronicle’s urban design critic — and a longtime Berkeley resident — calls for more open minds and less divisiveness during Berkeley’s current building boom.
Posted inCity
New book on Julia Morgan offers an intimate portrait of famed architect
The heavily annotated and picture-rich book incorporates previously unknown details about the architect’s private life, as well as her career.
Posted inCommunity
A Berkeley architect is obsessively tracking the East Bay’s backyard water towers
Aaron Goldstein has been peering over fences to admire the area’s remaining windmill-topped water towers, vestiges of an era before municipal water. Now he’s writing a book.
Posted inBusiness
New bioresearch hub is sculpted from UC Berkeley’s brutalist former art museum
The Bakar BioEnginuity Hub will open in February 2022 in the bunker-like concrete building on Bancroft Way, once home to the Berkeley Art Museum.
Posted inCity
Berkeley’s only landmarked gas station gets a sorrowful goodbye
The 1930s era brick garage at 1952 Oxford St. is slated for demolition to make way for a 772-bed UC Berkeley student housing project.
Posted inCity
Berkeley Rose Garden opens in time for Mother’s Day
The historic garden, which fell into disrepair, was restored to glory through various tax measures and the general fund.
Posted inCity
Finnish entrepreneur’s costly vision to transform historic school gets go-ahead
This week, the Berkeley City Council approved plans by the man behind the “Finnish Amazon” to turn the landmarked Hillside School into a home and artist colony.
Posted inCity
A ‘Moorish-Tudor fever dream’ is unveiled on Telegraph Avenue
It’s been described as a cave dwelling, a wizard’s house and a Moorish palace. A recently unveiled building to house UC Berkeley students has been a long time coming — and its unusual design is causing a stir.
Posted inCity
Former Berkeley school to become 50,000-square-foot home, artist colony
Neighbors are pleased a Finnish tech entrepreneur-turned-artist is improving the site, but some are worried about continued public access.
Posted inCity
Berkeley City Club will be ‘endangered’ unless needed repairs are funded
As the beautiful building designed by Julia Morgan prepares to celebrate its 100th birthday, it is also kicking off a 10-year, $10 million effort to finance long-deferred structural repairs.