ROMA Design Group

Last updated
ROMA Design Group
ROMA Design Group Logo.jpg
Practice information
Key architectsBoris Dramov, FAIA, FAICP, President
Bonnie Fisher, FASLA, LEED AP
Principals: Marian Sam, CFO
Ivana Micic, AIA
Founded1949
Location San Francisco, California
Significant works and honors
Buildings Santa Monica Third Street Promenade
San Francisco Waterfront Piers, Promenades, and Public Space Design
Mid Embarcadero Transportation and Open Space
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
AwardsPartners for Livable Communities Investors in America Award; Ferry Building Plaza, National AIA Urban Design Award of Excellence

ROMA Design Group is an interdisciplinary firm of architects, landscape architects, and urban planners based in San Francisco, California, USA. It was founded in 1968 by American architect George T. Rockrise.

Contents

History

ROMA Design Group was founded in late 1968 by George T. Rockrise, FAIA, ASLA, AICP. Rockrise was an architect with a strong interest in landscape and site design. He began his career in Panama during World War II, and then returned to New York City, working for Edward D. Stone and Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (United Nations). Rockrise then worked in California, for the landscape architect Thomas Dolliver Church. [1]

In 1950 he established his own practice in San Francisco; George T. Rockrise, A.I.A. In 1968 Rockrise formed George T. Rockrise and Associates with Robert A. Odermatt, Robert C. Mountjoy, and James J. Amis becoming principals. The firm later became Rockrise, Odermatt, Mountjoy, and Amis, and ultimately ROMA Design Group, as it is known today. [2]

In the 1980s Boris Dramov, Bonnie Fisher, and Jim Adams became Principals, having met at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Jim Adams later went on to open ROMA's offices in Austin, Texas.

In 2000, ROMA's design for the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C. was selected as the winning submission in an international architectural design competition. [3] [4]

The firm is currently under the leadership of Boris Dramov, FAIA, FAICP, Design Principal and Bonnie Fisher, FASLA, Landscape Principal [5]

Notable projects

Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica Santa Monica Third Street Promenade, Jane Lidz.jpg
Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica

Since the 1950s ROMA Design Group has become known for a wide variety of architecture projects, including San Francisco's Cathedral School, the Bahrain's U.S. Embassy in Manama, the Domaine Chandon Winery in Yountville, California, Oregon's Sun River Resort, and the Inn at the Tides in Bodega Bay, California. [1]

ROMA Design Group has become known for revitalizing declining urban districts of at least 25 cities, [1] for example Suisun City, California. [6] In particular the firm has long been associated with the transformation of the San Francisco waterfront after the demolition of the Embarcadero Freeway, [7] ROMA's new Ferry Terminal was welcomed by the Baycrossing Magazine, saying the terminal created new hope for the city. According to Boris Dramov, "The effect is intended to speak to the role this space has as a gathering place, counter-pointing the modern and the traditional. You see it with the granite portals through which passengers pass to enter the floats. The stainless steel on floats’ canopies recalls the new trolley stops." [8] In 2006 ROMA's 637-foot long Pier 14 was completed, which the San Francisco Chronicle described as "compelling". [9] It designed Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade [10] and other projects in the Santa Monica downtown and Civic Center.

International

Awards

Related Research Articles

George Hargreaves is a landscape architect. Under his design direction, the work of his firm has received numerous national awards and has been published and exhibited nationally and internationally. He was an artist in residence at the American Academy of Rome in 2009. Hargreaves and his firm designed numerous sites including the master plan for the Sydney 2000 Olympics, The Brightwater Waste Water Treatment Facility in Seattle, Washington, and University of Cincinnati Master Plan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Art Agnos</span> American politician

Arthur Christ Agnos is an American politician. He served as the 39th mayor of San Francisco, California from 1988 to 1992 and as the Regional Head of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1993 to 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embarcadero (San Francisco)</span> Waterfront and roadway along San Francisco Bay

The Embarcadero is the eastern waterfront of Port of San Francisco and a major roadway in San Francisco, California. It was constructed on reclaimed land along a three mile long engineered seawall, from which piers extend into the bay. It derives its name from the Spanish verb embarcar, meaning "to embark"; embarcadero itself means "the place to embark." The Central Embarcadero Piers Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 20, 2002.

The Embarcadero in San Diego, California is the area along the San Diego harbor on the east side of San Diego Bay. "Embarcadero" is a Spanish word meaning "boarding place". The Embarcadero sits on property administered by the Port of San Diego, in the Columbia district of downtown San Diego.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ghirardelli Square</span> United States historic place

Ghirardelli Square is a landmark public square with shops and restaurants and a 5-star hotel in the Marina District of San Francisco, California, United States. A portion of the area was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 as Pioneer Woolen Mills and D. Ghirardelli Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California State Route 480</span> Former highway in California

State Route 480 was a state highway in San Francisco, California, United States, consisting of the elevated double-decker Embarcadero Freeway, the partly elevated Doyle Drive approach to the Golden Gate Bridge and the proposed and unbuilt section in between. The unbuilt section from Doyle Drive to Van Ness Avenue was to have been called the Golden Gate Freeway and the Embarcadero Freeway as originally planned would have extended from Van Ness along the north side of Bay Street and then along the Embarcadero to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Francisco Ferry Building</span> Ferry terminal in San Francisco, California

The San Francisco Ferry Building is a terminal for ferries that travel across the San Francisco Bay, a food hall and an office building. It is located on The Embarcadero in San Francisco, California and is served by Golden Gate Ferry and San Francisco Bay Ferry routes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Third Street Promenade</span> Pedestrian mall shopping complex

The Third Street Promenade is a pedestrian mall esplanade, shopping, dining and entertainment complex in the downtown area of Santa Monica, California which originally opened as the Santa Monica Mall on November 8, 1965. It is considered a premier shopping and dining district on the Westside and draws crowds from all over the Greater Los Angeles area. Due to easy access to Downtown Los Angeles via the Big Blue Bus rapid transit service, E Line's terminus station and the Pacific Coast Highway-Santa Monica Freeway Interstate, the neighborhood's north-south thoroughfares connecting to Muscle Beach, Venice Canal Historic District, Marina del Rey, Ballona Wetlands and Los Angeles International Airport, and its proximity to historic U.S. Route 66, Santa Monica Pier, Palisades Park, Tongva Park, Santa Monica State Beach and the Pacific Ocean coupled with Los Angeles's mild mediterranean climate, it is also a popular tourist destination.

James Corner is a landscape architect and theorist whose works exhibit a focus on "developing innovative approaches toward landscape architectural design and urbanism." His designs of note include Fresh Kills Park on Staten Island and the High Line in Manhattan, and Domino Park in Brooklyn, all in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Embarcadero Piers Historic District</span> Historic district in California, United States

The Central Embarcadero Piers Historic District is a Registered Historic District in the city of San Francisco, California, United States. It consists of Piers 1, 1½, 3 and 5, which form one of the largest surviving pier complexes along San Francisco's Embarcadero waterfront road. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embarcadero Plaza</span>

Embarcadero Plaza, previously known as Justin Herman Plaza from its opening in 1972 until 2017, is a 1.23-acre (0.50 ha) plaza near the intersection of Market and Embarcadero in San Francisco's Financial District, in the U.S. state of California. It is owned by Boston Properties, who acquired the neighboring Embarcadero Center office, hotel, and retail complex in 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Savage Bolles</span> American architect

John Savage Bolles was an American architect. He was most active in San Francisco, and the designer of Candlestick Park. He was a founding partner of the architecture design firm Ward & Bolles.

David A. Wallace FAICP, AIA, PP was an urban planner and architect who co-founded, with Ian McHarg, the firm of Wallace Roberts & Todd (WRT).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter J. Hood</span> American designer (b. 1958)

Walter J. Hood, is an American designer, artist, academic administrator, and educator. He is the former chair of landscape architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, and principal of Hood Design Studio in Oakland, California. Hood has worked in a variety of settings including architecture, landscape architecture, visual art, community leadership, urban design, and in planning and research. He has spent more than 20 years living in Oakland, California. He draws on his strong connection to the Black community in his work. He has chosen to work almost exclusively in the public realm and urban environments.

<i>Vaillancourt Fountain</i> Fountain in San Francisco, California, U.S.

Vaillancourt Fountain, sometimes called Quebec libre!, is a large fountain in Embarcadero Plaza in San Francisco, designed by the Québécois artist Armand Vaillancourt in 1971. It is about 40 feet (12 m) high and is constructed out of precast concrete square tubes. Long considered controversial because of its stark, modernist appearance, there have been several unsuccessful proposals to demolish the fountain over the years. It was the site of a free concert by U2 in 1987, when lead singer Bono spray painted graffiti on the fountain and was both praised and criticized for the action.

The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (RBA) was established in 1986 by Cambridge, Massachusetts architect Simeon Bruner. The award is named after Simeon Bruner's late father, Rudy Bruner, founder of the Bruner Foundation. According to the Bruner Foundation, the RBA was created to increase understanding of the role of architecture in the urban environment and promote discussion of what constitutes urban excellence. The award seeks to identify and honor places, rather than people, that address economic and social concerns along with urban design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mai Kitazawa Arbegast</span>

Mai Haru Kitazawa Arbegast (1922–2012) was an American landscape architect, and professor based in Berkeley, California. She was a professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture at Berkeley. She was the first acting director Blake Garden after its gift to the UC Berkeley Department of Landscape Architecture . As a professional landscape architect who specialized in planting design and her work included estates, wineries, and large scale residential gardens, as well as public, commercial, and educational projects. Projects of note include the Hearst Castle planting restoration, California Palace of the Legion of Honor renovation, and the UC Davis Arboretum.

Mia Lehrer, born Mía Guttfreund is a Salvadoran American landscape architect. She received a B.A. from Tufts University with a degree in environmental design and a Master of Landscape Architecture degree from Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. Lehrer is one of the first professionals to incorporate both of her degrees to design sustainable landscapes.

EDAW was an international landscape architecture, urban and environmental design firm that operated from 1939 until 2009. Starting in San Francisco, United States, the company at its peak had 32 offices worldwide. EDAW led many landscape architecture, land planning and master planning projects, developing a reputation as an early innovator in sustainable urban development and multidisciplinary design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George T. Rockrise</span> American Architect

George Thomas Rockrise, FAIA, ASLA, AICP was an American architect, landscape architect, and urban planner of Japanese and English descent based in San Francisco, California. During his career he practiced both nationally and internationally, had a distinguished career in public service, and received numerous honors and awards.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Jim Doyle (July 14, 2000) "George T. Rockrise", San Francisco Chronicle.
  2. George T. Rockrise Collection
  3. Jesse Hamlin (October 10, 2000). "SFGate: A Dream Written in Stone / S.F. firm designing Martin Luther King memorial in Washington".
  4. Magazine, Smithsonian; Gambino, Megan. "Building the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2024-06-20.
  5. About Us, ROMA Design Group
  6. Unsprawl Case Study, Suisun City, Terrain.org.
  7. Bay Crossings: Boris Dramov, Architectural Visionary and Creator of a new waterfront and gateway to San Francisco
  8. "San Francisco Ferry Terminal Project Lurching to the Finish Line", Baycrossings Magazine, October 9, 2001. Retrieved from archive 2013-08-12.
  9. John King (October 31, 2010) SFGate "The Embarcadero, Extended", San Francisco Chronicle.
  10. Kathleen Rawson Third Street Promenade - Case Study 39, Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Centre.