Cosponsored by Mechanics’ Institute, American Institute of Architects (AIA), and San Francisco Historical Society
Free for members of Mechanics’ Institute, AIA, and SFHS; $15 for others.

The San Francisco Civic Center is considered in both design and materials one of the finest achievements of the American reformist City Beautiful movement, an urban design movement that began more than a century ago. In his book, James W. Haas meticulously unravels the Civic Center’s story of perseverance and dysfunction, providing an understanding and appreciation of this local and national treasure.

Haas will appear in conversation with John King, urban design critic of the San Francisco Chronicle.

James W. Haas is an author, attorney, and expert on San Francisco’s Civic Center history and politics. He has lived in San Francisco most of his life and spent more than 40 years engaged in civic projects, including the restoration and completion of San Francisco’s Civic Center.

John King is the San Francisco Chronicle’s urban design critic. He joined the paper in 1992 and has been in his current post since 2001. His writing on architecture and urban design has been honored by many groups, and he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 2002 and 2003.