Albany Bulb
Albany Bulb
Albany, CA
2015.
Helvetica Light is an easy to read font, with tall and narrow letters, that works
Eyes aligned to bridges’ I-beams, back to which it was born, the Albany Bulb + this intervention reflect on + rollick in the conditions that created it. An unruly site drafted from the demolition of other structures, the Albany Bulb is a 2,000 acre landfill of cleaved concrete + steel sinews.
A study in attention to detail,
the proposed intervention makes space:
to revel in a moment + make a ruckus in the next.
To make history hallowed through a hollow,
a formal gesture cuts
into the plane.
An interjection into the land invites guests to step into history: to view + review the Bulb’s story, + provide room to write their own. Scale derived by physical drawings, the intervention’s triangular depression is tall enough by tiptoe ( 7’ ), deep enough to leap ( 7’ ), + long enough to lie ( 20’ ). Its interior adapts to its contents, comfortable for both one and eleven. Existing riprap continues its role as both seat + table setting, while vistas of the San Francisco skyline + Albany city limits nourish the soul.
Adrift amongst golden grasses, the intervention floats in a clarified landscape. A fresh trail journeys visitors from glassy grey-green waves, through gravel gradations, + into elevated points of view.