Teorema 006: Section sketch, UCSF Mission Bay Campus Community Center, San Francisco, California, by Ricardo Legorreta, late 90’s
Teorema 006: Section sketch, UCSF Mission Bay Campus Community Center, San Francisco, California, by Ricardo Legorreta, late 90’s
This concise image is a sketch for the University of California, San Francisco Mission Bay Campus Community Center. The building was created to bring the campus community together with a gymnasium, swimming pools, food services, auditorium, and retail space. Built in 2000, the structure is organized around a central atrium that will serve as an orienting point, assembling the different spaces and helping the users to establish a visual connection within the building.
Rendered in ink with yellow and violet felt tip pen, this sketch is a study for the 400 seat auditorium.
The space has been articulated with a flat roof and a vaulted skylight. The sketch appears to be an early exploration since the final solution does not show this type of roof. The interior features blocks of tiered seating on both sides. The right side of the sketch shows the auditorium in elevation, viewing the front of the barriers. Legorreta has included people for scale; the seated audience have been suggested with brief dots for heads. On the right is a passageway forbackstageor exit/entrance accessibility. On the left side of the sketch is a section representing the rise of the stairs.
The stair’s location has been guided by a sloped line overlaid with a wavy line to replicate steps. The far edges of the seating boxes are minimally indicated as horizontal marks. In the center of the sketch stands both a tall central feature and a scale figure on the stage. Lines have been drawn from the figure’s head to the top tier of the seating and the vaulted ceiling. These arrows suggest
Legorreta’s concern for acoustics and sight lines within the space. A pale yellow arrow waves down from the ceiling, possibly indicating the admittance of sunlight.
The lines of the sketch are minimal and considered. It appears the single line thickness for exterior walls was reinforced with a heavier pen. Drawn relatively slowly, the lines undulate slightly with the movement of the instrument. They suggest Legorreta was holding the various pens quite loosely, concentrating on the accuracy
From Kendra Schank Smith, Architects Drawings, Architectural Press, Oxford, 2005
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