On and off campus, architectural doings in Berkeley

Sunset, May, 1984

The Roman architect Vitruvius considered the key elements of architecture to be usefulness, fitness, and beauty. You can decide for yourself what qualities make a good building by visiting Berkeley this month. Exhibits, walks, and a house tour are all scheduled.

May 5 and 6, "A Berkeley Affair: A Festival of Arts and Commerce" takes place in Martin Luther King Park, at Allston Way and Milvia Street. Besides arts and crafts exhibits, food booths, and entertainment, a photographic history of Berkeley's development will be on view in the lobby of the old city hall at 2134 Martin Luther King Way (formerly Grove Street).

The Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association leads walking tours of recently restored downtown buildings on Saturday at 1 and 3 and Sunday at 11 and 2. On Sunday, the art Deco Society of California also gives downtown tours, concentrating on buildings of the 1920s and '30s. Each walk lasts about an hour. For details, call the office of the fair coordinator at (415) 486-0850.

May 12, UC's College of Environmental Design celebrates its 25th anniversary by holding open house from 10 to 5. Past and present student work will be exhibited in the ground-floor lobby of Wurster Hall (at Bancroft Way and College Avenue on the south side of the campus).

In 1959, at the urging of William Wurster, dean of the School of Architecture, the disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture, and city and regional planning were brought together in one college. When its present skyscraper-like building was completed in 1964, it was the largest structure in the United States to use precast concrete as a major structural element. A new terrace cafe along the west facade was designed by two graduates of the college, architects Richard Fernau and Laura Hartman.

May 20, the Berkeley. Architectural Heritage Association offers a self-guided house tour from 1 to 5. Residences by Julia Morgan and four other women architects who practiced between 1900 and 1930 are the focus this year. The houses range from a woodsy Bay Region cottage to a Mediterranean-inspired villa. Tickets are $15; call 845-6591 weekdays between 1 and 5.