ROMA Design Group

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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]

The firm is currently under the leadership of Boris Dramov, FAIA, FAICP, Design Principal and Bonnie Fisher, FASLA, Landscape Principal [4]

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. [5] In particular the firm has long been associated with the transformation of the San Francisco waterfront after the demolition of the Embarcadero Freeway, [6] 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." [7] In 2006 ROMA's 637-foot long Pier 14 was completed, which the San Francisco Chronicle described as "compelling". [8] It designed Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade [9] and other projects in the Santa Monica downtown and Civic Center.

International

Awards

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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. About Us, ROMA Design Group
  5. Unsprawl Case Study, Suisun City, Terrain.org.
  6. Bay Crossings: Boris Dramov, Architectural Visionary and Creator of a new waterfront and gateway to San Francisco
  7. "San Francisco Ferry Terminal Project Lurching to the Finish Line", Baycrossings Magazine, October 9, 2001. Retrieved from archive 2013-08-12.
  8. John King (October 31, 2010) SFGate "The Embarcadero, Extended", San Francisco Chronicle.
  9. Kathleen Rawson Third Street Promenade - Case Study 39, Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Centre.