For three days in April 2015, San Francisco’s Market Street was the site of the Market Street Prototyping Festival, which transformed the area into a public platform, showcasing exciting ideas for improving our famed civic spine and how we use it. Our design, Street Sketch, was one of 50 designs selected from over 200 entries from around the world.

The project was a partnership between the San Francisco Planning Department, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and the Knight Foundation.

The core of the 12 x 12 ft. structure was a free standing wall. The wall’s sidewalk-facing side served as the primary drawing surface, while the other three sides contained information about the project that encouraged people to be a part of the San Francisco creative community. This wall also created a barrier between the traffic along Market street. The chalk surfaces were devoted to drawing, generating a welcoming sense of place and made the area more conducive to social interaction.

The structure was constructed using volunteer work from peers and students from San José State University and California College of the Arts.

Based on the prototypes success it was selected to become a permanent structure in San Francisco and a new prototype was designed. The goal of the new design was that it be more sculptural, be able to withstand the elements, and accommodate visiting artists who would periodically paint murals on its surface.