Horton Plaza
The redevelopment of Horton Plaza into The Campus at Horton deserves an Onion for its unfortunate failure of urban design and civic responsibility. The project has left a vital downtown space in a state of […]
Onion
Gaylord Pacific Resort & Convention Center
The Gaylord Pacific Resort & Convention Center looms over the Chula Vista Bayfront as a 22-story, billion-dollar behemoth that seems entirely disconnected from its coastal surroundings. Despite its ambition as a regional economic catalyst, its
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Plans to Demolish The SDMA West Wing (Panama 66)
One of San Diego’s most iconic, elegant and successful mid-century modern buildings is the SDMA West Wing addition designed by Robert Mosher in the 1960’s. The open-air sculpture court, which houses Panama 66 within a
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Topaz Student Housing Apartments
I’m all for density and providing student housing in the right places, which I think this is, but this is about as drab & dreary as it gets. Yes the building is big, it has
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IQHQ – RaDD paseo
Once was promised a beautiful paseo to off-set the effects of large buildings on the waterfront, the result is a barren, unused, windy place that while visually nice, is not inviting and certainly not a
Scottish Rite Masonic Center of San Diego
This is what happens when the designer is told to create a “classical style” building, but all they can think to do is align some rectangular windows, slap on some columns, paint everything white and
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Royal of Rancho Penasquitos Apartment Complex Expansion
An addition to an existing apartment complex showing no flair or imagination. No attempt to blend with neighborhood. No decorative accents. No attempt to match the existing and recently renovated building. Bare white walls within
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San Diego City’s Stormwater Infrastructure & System Management
The City of San Diego has had a stormwater infrastructure problem for years. A 2021 memo from the city’s stormwater department says, “Like all infrastructure, the system has aged and deteriorated. The impacts of these
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30th Street Bike lane
The 30th Street bike lane was added to support the expansion of San Diego’s bike transportation network. The bike lane was intended to create a protected space for bikers to commute. However, nearly all of
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MTS Massive Monstrosity at Gaslamp Trolley Station
Nomination 1: MTS installed this gigantic triangular video billboard at the the entry to the Gaslamp Quarter, at the foot of Fifth Avenue, opposite the Convention Center. MTS gets a cut of the advertising revenue
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City’s policy to unconditionally expedite re-design of a city owned park: improving private revenue concert venue but degrading neighborhood use without public input or outside professional review.
Gallagher Square is a city owned park, leased to Padres L.P., located outside Petco Park stadium. As promised to the taxpayers, G.S. (originally Park at the Park) was designed as an urban green refuge, for
San Diego High School “Whole Site Modernization Project”
I nominate that San Diego High School’s “Whole Site Modernization Project” receive an Onion for Historic Preservation. San Diego High School is described as “San Diego’s oldest high school” according to the article with “140
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