san francisco
summer 2026
- course
- MUD Summer Studio, UC Berkeley
- my role
- Section collage; Rhino model of the fence line
- tools
- Rhino, Google 3D Tiles, Photoshop
planning brief / 03
Portsmouth Square, often called Chinatown’s living room, is fenced off for a two year rebuild. Where does everyday life go in the meantime?
methods + data
- Site visits and photos along the construction fence on Walter U Lum Place
- A section cut through Google’s 3D city model in Rhino, showing the homes, shops and halls around the square
- Precedents, including SWA’s section drawings for the renovation
- A site model of the fence line and walk built from CadMapper data
what we found
- 01The square is closed from summer 2026 until mid 2028.
- 02The fence along Walter U Lum Place became a dead zone between construction workers inside and residents outside.
- 03The square’s everyday uses, like games, resting and meeting friends, had nowhere nearby to go.
what we recommend
- 01Treat the construction fence as a temporary civic edge instead of a blank wall.
- 02Line Walter U Lum Place with seats, planters, trees and a Connect Four wall.
- 03Make interim public space a required part of long park closures, so neighborhoods keep their routines.
03.1
the fence line
Portsmouth Square, the heart of Chinatown, is fenced off for a two year rebuild. The fence along Walter U Lum Place has become a dead zone between workers inside and residents outside.
The proposal makes it a temporary civic edge: seats, planters and a Connect Four wall that keep the square’s everyday life going until the park reopens.
next / 04
who gets the curb?
berkeley, ca · fall 2026