WHAT’S GOOD ARCHITECTURE IN BAKERSFIELD?

Having suggested that the Bakersfield Downtown Architectural Committee commit some written and graphic standards to the preservation of some Bakersfield’s historic buildings, as well as, new developments, here are some thoughts.

Consider first assessing what historic buildings would be worthwhile keeping. Some buildings should be left intact, some buildings should be altered internally and some buildings should be demolished. A cluster of such historic buildings which identify either decades or groupings or distinctive individual period buildings should be declared a “historical district.” The plan for each district should then also integrate the ideas of street closures for majority pedestrian and transit use as well as for mixed use.

Consider also the definition of existing “other districts” such as financial, entertainment, commercial, governmental, ecumenical, educational, arts, housing, mixed-use, medical, parking with park open-space connections. These existing “district themes” will not only be helpful to consolidate future downtown needs, but should identify codes, zoning (density) and economic incentives. Depending on how well these series of “district themes” are identified in a broad sense to a given geographic area, the supporting infrastructure can then be anticipated.

Thus the forecasts for private sector developments can be matched by public fiscal supporting investments. Then communications, (fiber optic, wireless) road, parking, transit, park/open space needs, can match area by area and step by step, the necessary capabilities of being able to objectively support downtowns multiple growth and change patterns.

These above considerations if defined and marketed effectively as a plan should become the essential ingredients for a successful future downtown development framework. The ultimate test of this development framework will occur when the “stakeholders” (property owners) realize that they can take advantage of the proposed public urban redevelopment laws in a context of greater defined certainty.

The awkwardness and sometimes-frivolous marketplace of financing projects can be reduced if a business consensus can be reached about the downtown development framework. The evidence should reveal itself as a downtown that both locals and outsiders wish to happily experience as a unique and indigenous built environment.

All this is most dependent on high-quality architecture and superb land planning. Fine architecture is also a social good, one that more than repays the investment. A combination of exciting forms and careful attention to the scale and proportions of the buildings in relation to their surrounding context should underline all urban design in downtown. This serves to draw people out of their homes in the metropolitan area and into the public realm, encouraging Bakerfieldians to identify with their evolving downtown and become more active in them

Dignified and stimulating public buildings should also help to instill respect, commitment, and--by fostering participatory action--sometimes even a healthy skepticism toward the institutions that they house. All this is geared toward seeking a much “denser” and more richly textured city.

Bakersfieldians vacate in Europe to submerge themselves into an architectural contextual differences. Europeans on the other hand visit American cities. Europeans who come here go to New York City, where they marvel more at the collective height of the buildings than at their individual quality (the CitiCorp Building and a few others notwithstanding). If they go elsewhere, it is often to revel in the spectacle of kitsch architecture at Disney World or to make pilgrimages to the Grand Canyon and Yosemite. Our challenge and mission should we accept to build a marvellous place is to create something different and of quality to attract people from all over the world.

Bakersfield’s built environment should deliver a clear message to citizens and visitors: We should think that high-quality, thought-provoking, innovative buildings--whether institutional or commercial, residential or private--are not a luxury or a frivolity. They should become the norm for all our future building efforts to create a stimulating and worthwhile downtown. Let’s prepare together far better than our Boy Scouts do, before any future venture!

BY Graham Kaye-Eddie – Master Urban Designer.

Makabusi Inc. – Bakersfield – California

Email – makabusi@pacbell.net

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