At a tough time for downtown districts, we visit San Francisco and Seattle to find out how the urban centres are trying to encourage more footfall and appeal to the public during work and leisure hours. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Hello and welcome to the Urbanist, Monaco's program all about the built environment.
I'm your host, Carlotta Rabello.
Coming up, this whole idea that people are going to work from home and the office is dead is another ludicrous idea for a simple reason.
They it's not human nature.
Human nature is about being together.
We are heading downtown in the United States to see the difficulties facing American urban centers and to find out what they are doing.
To try to combat these challenges, we head to a major new renovation project in San Francisco to see how one piece of the urban environment can help the entire city wrestle with the issues it faces in its downtown district.
And we are in Seattle too, where we find out how attempts are being made to bring foot traffic back to the city centers during both work and leisure hours.
That's all coming up over the next 30 minutes right here on the Urbanist with me, Carlotta Rubello.
We start today in San Francisco at the opening of the Norman Foster led renovation of the Transamerica Pyramid, which the developer Michael Schwo bought during the pandemic and is trying to use as a beacon to revive the city's downtown.
Monaco's Chris Lord was at the opening and got some time with Bud, Michael and Lord Foster to speak about not only this new project, but also the state of downtown San Francisco now and the hopes for its future.
And I am so grateful that we.
Are not that planning department of 1969.
That's San Francisco's Mayor London Breed, addressing the city on a milestone day in its history.
On September 12, the Transamerica Pyramid, a landmark of San Francisco's skyline, reopened after an extensive renovation care of Lord Norman Foster and his Foster and Partners firm.
Built in 1972 for the insurance firm the Transamerica Company, it was designed by futurist architect William Pereira and was not popular when it was first erected.
Nevertheless, it has since become an indivisible part of this city as much as the Golden Gate Bridge and its century old cable cars.
But the renovation and reopening of the Transamerica Pyramid is doubly significant right now.
Four years ago, when Michael Chabot made.
This investment, it was an extremely challenging time in this city.