In San Francisco, architectural art, designers' enclave

Sunset, Oct, 1988

"A city is not a work of art," wrote the famous urban planning historian Jane Jacobs, meaning that cities are more than abstract street plans and sculptural highrises. But works of architectural art certainly do help shape a city's identity.

In San Francisco this month, you can view a major architectural show at the Museum of Modern Art, in the Civic Center, and view a smaller, intriguing exhibit in a developing architectural enclave across town.

"Chicago Architecture: 1872-1922" chronicles the rebuilding of Chicago after the great fire of 1871. With about 200 drawings, models, photographs, and pieces of furniture, the museum exhibit illustrates the "City Beautiful" vision exemplified by the city's 1893 world's fair, and also charts the growth and development of the skyscraper. Similarities with San Francisco abound: both cities rose from ashes and looked to Paris for inspiration.

The show runs October 6 through December 4. Hours are 10 to 5 Tuesdays through Fridays (until 9 Thursdays), 11 to 5 Saturdays and Sundays. Admission is $3.50, $1.50 seniors and children.

A new architectural neighborhood is developing in an industrial area at the intersection of Bryant and Second streets, just south of the Bay Bridge. Through November 17, the just-opened 2AES: The Art and Architecture Exhibition Space, at 340 Bryant, is showing drawings, models, and furniture by the avant-garde Los Angeles firm Morphosis. Hours are noon to 6:30 Wednesdays through Saturdays (until 8 Thursdays).

Across the street, at 333 Bryant, the sixmonth-old Postmark store specializes in chairs, lamps, rugs (including one designed by Gae Aulenti, architect of the Musee d'Orsay restoration in Paris), and tables by contemporary Italian designers. Hours are 10 to 6 Tuesdays through Fridays, noon to 6 Saturdays.

Nearby, between Bryant and Brannan streets, lies South Park, an attractive lozenge-shaped square laid out in the 1850s and now undergoing a renaissance. At 501 Second Street, note the carefully matched three-floor addition to the top of a 1930s terra cotta clad building. Many architects and designers meet at the South Park Cafe, 108 South Park Avenue.