The sorrows of finance capital
Two opposite poles of university investment, dividing ideas of the city.
- As you can see, the shocking news was first reported by Chris Hawthorn: Michael Maltzan of Los Angeles has been awarded the project for a new performance center at SFSU. There is also a flythrough of the project...
- I was initially intrigued to learn that "SF State alumni Manny Mashouf and Neda Nobari made a $10 million gift to SF State in 2007 towards the building, the largest private donation in SF State history." Where did the other $258 million come from? The Architect's Newspaper answers...
- And what caught my eye the most was the bit about the necessary state bond (read: the "broken" or "broke" state of California will turn to Wall Street).
- In the article referenced above, we see the lavish new plans for a building housing five performance halls for San Francisco State University. It would seem contradictory that the university can build a $268 million building, while contemplating cuts in majors, faculty, and even two campuses on the chopping block! (Archpaper says $250 million but the correct figure is $268, as confirmed by Nan Broadbent, spokesperson for SFSU).By the way, to get an idea of the values here, $250 million is half of the amount of the proposed budget cuts coming from Jerry Brown. "The governor's current proposal for 2011-2012 would cut $500 million from the California State University system, with SFSU anticipating a $32 million loss."But are the finances that bad? Not according to an outside auditor...
- Ah, the truth comes out...(Outside auditor) Bunsis said the university's strong reserve fund can be used to overcome any short-term financial problems.He said there are $20 million of unrestricted net assets and $78 million of restricted but expendable net assets available, both of which can be used to maintain the level of faculty on the SFSU campus.One can deduce, then, that savings from the university's cuts and restructuring as a quasi-private institution have obviously made a $200 million bond a Wall Street miracle.But follow the link above to see that, while the university can borrow concrete-truck volumes of financing, it must still obey orders from the bankers. (Yeah, like lay off state workers. Sounds familiar?) What else is on the chopping block?"It's an outrage that the priority of this university is not in favor with the students," said Jessie Fernandez, an SFSU senior who attended the meeting. His major, urban studies and planning, is currently threatened by the plan. (emphasis mine)Urban Studies, of all things! So, Michael Maltzan, that's the crux of the neoliberal frenzy here in California. Where does architecture step in? Do we proceed with bloated buildings as the idea of what an open, accessible city is, or do we defend the spaces of our own discipline?Unless, of course...
- Update 1: Who is Manny Mashouf anyway?
- Update 2: New stories about the building are also available as of today, including a predictably glowing review from John King of the SF Chronicle...
- Update 3: A good comment in defense of the project comes via Greg Walker in Archinect news, but I think it comes up short. There are still many questions about the project, and even larger questions about the role of architecture and its media authors, after all. See below:
- All the renderings are also available at:
Bustler: Designs Unveiled for SFSU’s Mashouf Performing Arts Center by Michael Maltzan ArchitectureBustler is all about architecture and architecture-related competitions.- Update 4 Kazys Varnelis has a very nice write-up about universities and investment capital bubbles that also asks what is the newer role that architecture writers, embedded as they are in the bubble-prone built environment, could be playing. If you have arrived at this piece through Kazys's article, I also have done some extra reporting, investigating, and opinionating in a follow-up post here...
