Category Archives: San Francisco

Round Table Discussion on Urbanist Trends for the 2020s

September 3, 2020Adam Mayer, aesthetics, Architecture, California, Cities, coronavirus, Culture, DECAY, Economics, John C. Portman Jr, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Malls, Mass Transit, New Urbanism, New York, Oregon, Portland, Postmodernism, Reno, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Silicon Valley, Skyscrapers, Suburbia, Urbanism, Zoningrobertstark

Robert Stark is joined with San Francisco based architect, Adam Mayer, and Oregon based urbanist commentator, D E C A Y, to discuss urbanist trends that we can expect to see as a result of the pandemic and economic transformation this year.

Topics:

Whether the outdoor dining trend is permanent
The Retail apocalypse, with a decline in small businesses and foot traffic
The remote work exodus and The Rise of Work-From-Home Towns
How the urban exodus could be beneficial for the creative class
Interior Urbanism as a reaction to urban decay
Why we will see less skyscrapers and mega projects in the 2020s
The new suburbanism: learning from past mistakes by Retrofitting Suburbia
Ski Lodge urbanism: rustic charm with urban amenities
The Missing Middle trend
The need for pragmatic zoning reform, political polarization of the issue, and why YIMBYs sometimes push too far
Dead malls being re-purposed(ex. Horton Plaza)
Why Every City Feels the Same Now: Glass-and-steel monoliths replaced local architecture
Whether we’ll see a shift away from 2010s minimalism towards a regional kitsch aesthetic(ex. Rustic Industrial)
Building fire resilient communities
Whether mass transit will remain viable and Kamala Harris’ husband’s involvement in a NIMBY lawsuit to stop the subway under Beverly Hills
Conclusion that we will see a population and economic shift to 2nd tier cities but not the total demise of cities
Adam’s upcoming blog on missing middle infill

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Robert Stark interviews Sam and Gian from the Twink Rev Podcast

July 18, 2020aesthetics, Aimee Terese, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Alternative Left, Architecture, capitalism, censorship, Class, coronavirus, Culture, Donald Trump, Economics, George Bush, Homosexuality, Incels, income inequality, Joker, Leftism, Liberalism, Marxism, Morality, Neoliberalism, Oligarchy, Political Correctness, Politics, San Francisco, Sexuality, Socialism, TFW NO GF, The Perfume Nationalist, Twink Revrobertstark

Robert Stark talks to San Francisco Bay Area based podcasters Sam and Gian about political trends on the left. Check out their podcast on politics and gay culture, their articles on the Twink Rev blog, and follow Twink Rev on Twitter.

Topics:

LGBTQ identity politics neglecting material needs
The Insidious Class Project Behind Queer Eye
Woke culture as corporate branding
Why the Left needs a material based mindset
The appalling attitude of much of the Left on White poverty and deaths of despair
The Bellows: Nearly a third of [DSA] members (29%) earn over $100,000 a year
Why AOC is part of the same neoliberal project as Biden (AOC’s apology for Cancel Culture)
The Left’s divide over cancel culture, the Harper’s Letter, and hypocrisy of some of the centrist signatories
Cancel culture as a workers rights violation and product of privatization
The feasibility of a left/right alliance against neoliberalism
Why Joker would have been a leftist film if released during the Bush era
How neoliberal resisters’ opposition to Trump is primarily about decorum rather than policy (ex. rehabilitation of Bush)
The woke moral hysteria about age gaps between consenting adults
Sharia Vegas and the politics of aesthetics

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Round Table discussion on the long term ramifications of the Pandemic

June 14, 20202020 Riots, Anatoly Karlin, Asia, Black Lives Matter, Brazil, California, China, Cities, Class, coronavirus, Corporations, Crime, Culture, Dain Fitzgerald, demographics, Donald Trump, Economics, England, Hong Kong, Immigration, India, Joe Biden, Peter Turchin, Police, Police Brutality, Police Corruption, Police State, Political Correctness, Politics, Rachel Haywire, Russia, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Social Justice Warriors, Suburbia, Urbanismrobertstark

Robert Stark is joined with Moscow based Unz Review columnist Anatoly Karlin and Bay Area based blogger Dain Fitzgerald who has written for Spliced Today, Rachel Haywire’s Trigger Warning, and The American Spectator. Follow Anatoly and Dain on Twitter.

Topics:

Going back to Anatoly’s initial predictions on the pandemic from February
The short term modest economic recovery due to the stimulus but not sustainable long term
How the pandemic has been neglected due to the rallies
Spike after re-opening and limits of quarantine capital
Asia’s hard lockdown vs the West’s potential epidemic yo-yo of cyclical lock downs
Peter Turchin published a paper in 2010 predicting political, economic and social instability would peak in 2020
Protests overseas as American Cultural Imperialism
The culmination of the Great Awokening
How conservatives are naive to think that wokeness only thrives under prosperity
Whether woke capital really is a deliberate plan to subvert class consciousness
How de-funding police might be purely symbolic but, if true, we’ll see more private security and gated communities
The oncoming urban exodus due to remote work, the pandemic, economics, and rising crimes rates
Fertility and Immigration trends
UK may grant refugee status to residents of Hong Kong
Breaking of the Chimerica arangement?
Biden’s advantage as a perceived return to normalcy
Speculating which nations will fare the best economically and containing the pandemic

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Robert Stark interviews Rich Houck

May 19, 20201980's, aesthetics, American Culture, Animal Cruelty, animals, Archeofuturism, Architecture, arcology, Art, Cities, Class, Communism, coronavirus, Crime, Culture, demographics, Diversity, Economics, education, Environment, Fascism, Futurism, gentrification, Historic Preservation, Immigration, income inequality, Japanese Culture, Journey to Vapor Island, Los Angeles, Malls, Mental illness, Nationalism, Neoliberalism, Neon, New Urbanism, New York, Philadelphia, Photography, Political Correctness, Politics, Psychology, Retro Futurism, Rich Houck, Robert Putnam, San Francisco, Skyscrapers, social capital, Social Isolation, social trust, Toronto, Traditionalism, Urbanism, Zoningrobertstark

Robert Stark talks to Rich Houck about urbanism, aesthetics, and the need for social capital. Rich is a recent law school grad and you can check out his blog on Patreon and his Twitter account.

Topics:

Rich’s interest in photography
Rich’s patronage of independent artists
Interest in both traditional and Retro-Futurist aesthetics
Neon nationalism: reclaiming the future we should have had
80s nostalgia: the 80s as a going away party
The Last Mall Rat OR The Decline and Transformation of The American Mall
The importance of communal spaces, whether it’s Interior Urbanism or a traditional village space
How urban planning models and density relate to social cohesion
Does Diversity Create Distrust?
Crime prevention through environmental design and A New Way of Understanding ‘Eyes on the Street‘
Impression of San Francisco, how it could have been an American Paris with a uniquely American European aesthetic
The spring COVID-19 took from me
How the pandemic is exposing a wide range of problems from open borders to factory farming
Robert’s novel Journey to Vapor Island’s lesson about taking the best from all sides
Symbolism of the Neon-Raccoon

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Checkout Robert Stark’s Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, Stark Truth TV, and novel Journey to Vapor Island

Robert Stark interviews Mark Mollineaux about Georgism & Urbanism

December 27, 2019aesthetics, Architecture, Class, Disneyland, Economics, Georgism, income inequality, Mark Mollineaux, Mass Transit, Middle Class, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Suburbia, Taxation, Urbanism, Wealth, Zoningrobertstark

Robert Stark talks to Mark Mollineaux about Georgist economic theory and its implications on urbanism. Mark is the host of The Henry George Program hosted by Stanford University’s Radio. Follow the show on Twitter.

Topics:

Ideological roots of Georgist thought
Georgist view on property ownership
How to better incentivize efficient land usage
How Georgism can facilitate better urbanism and prevent sprawl
The difference between a land value tax and general property tax
How a land value tax relates to zoning regulation
Concerns for land foreclosures
The issue of the middle class being forced to invest all their income into real estate
The Singapore Land Authority
The concept of having a local currency tied to the cost of living
Bay Area Housing Crisis
Disneyland as an urban model

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Checkout Robert Stark’s Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, Stark Truth TV, and novel Journey to Vapor Island

Mount Diablo Photo Album

June 16, 2019California, Lafayette CA, Mount Diablo, Photography, San Francisco, Travel, Walnut Creek CA, Wildernessrobertstark

Brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings, Stark Truth TV, and his novel Journey to Vapor Island

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Robert Stark interviews SF based Artist Merkley???

December 10, 2018aesthetics, Architecture, Art, California, Cities, conformity, Conservatives, Culture, Dain Fitzgerald, Donald Trump, Economics, Fashion, Gender, Historic Preservation, humor, Immigration, Leftism, Liberalism, Libertarianism, Merkley???, Morality, Mormonism, Music, Philosophy, Photography, Political Correctness, Politics, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Social Justice Warriors, Social Media, Urbanism, Utahrobertstark

Robert Stark and Dain Fitzgerald talk to SF based artist and photographer Merkley??? Check out Merkley??? on Twitter.

Topics:

Merkley’s ex Mormon background, and the role of art, creativity, and philosophy within religion
SJW culture as a religion with the state as the figure head
How traditional religion is now more tolerant in comparison
Being a political outsider in the SF Bay Area
The fusion of SJW culture and Neoliberalism
Conservatives adopting liberal ideas from the past that stand the test of time
Merkley’s view that multiple identities will lead to radical individualism
Merkley’s response to the argument that identities provide a sense of social cohesion
Left Wing Puritanism
Using nude photography to poke fun at photoshop, advertisement, and the fashion industry(objectifying the objects)
Bay Area Housing Crisis, Airbnb, supply and demand, and historic preservation concerns
The impracticality of open borders
Merkley’s Ska Band and friendship with Gwen Stefani
Singing the wisdom of the Luddites

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings, Stark Truth TV, and his novel Journey to Vapor Island

Robert Stark talks to Adam Mayer about San Francisco Architecture

December 1, 20181960's, 1970's, 1980's, Adam Mayer, aesthetics, Architecture, arcology, Art Deco, Beverly Hills, Brutalism, California, Cities, Culture, Danville CA, Economics, Environment, Futurism, gentrification, Historic Preservation, History, John C. Portman Jr, Los Angeles, Los Gatos CA, Mass Transit, Matthew Pegas, Mid-Century Modern, Mount Diablo, Neon, Oakland, Postmodernism, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Silicon Valley, Skyscrapers, Suburbia, Urbanism, Wilderness, Zoningrobertstark

Robert Stark and Matthew Pegas talk to architect Adam Mayer about San Francisco’s architectural history and current trends. Check out his Twitter, Instagram, and Architectural Portfolio.

Topics:

Robert’s meetup and architectural tour with Adam in Downtown SF
Ghirardelli Square and the Cannery
SF Neon TOURS
Beaux-Arts Palace Hotel
Art Deco highrises Sir Francis Drake Hotel, Shell Building, and Pac Bell Tower
Mid Century Modern Joseph Eichler highrises, the Fairmont Hotel, and the Hilton
William Pereira’s Transamerica Pyramid and Louis Kahn’s use of concrete inspired by ancient monuments
Underappreciated 80’s post modernism, Art Deco revival, Marriott Juke Box, and Crocker Galleria
Philip Johnson’s 101 California Street and Union Square Neiman Marcus
The John Portman designed Embarcadero Center, it’s attributes of a self contained city and urban oasis, and the JW Marriott
Portman’s uniqueness in being both an architect and real estate developer
Jonathan Segal’s project ‘Architect as Developer’
SOMA highrise boom, Central SoMa Rezone, 5M development, and, Caltrain redevelopment
New Transbay Transit Center
SOMA skyscrapers 181 Fremont, Salesforce Tower, and Rem Koolhaas’ Tower
The end of the high-rise boom cycle
The Missing Middle Housing
Addressing the housing crisis while respecting historic preservation and aesthetics
Current trends in architecture and marriage between modernism and post modernism(meta modernism)

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings, Stark Truth TV, and his novel Journey to Vapor Island

Robert Stark interviews Sven Kirsten about Tiki Culture

October 19, 20181950's, 1960's, 1970's, aesthetics, American Culture, Architecture, Art, Art Deco, California, Culture, Disneyland, Film, Historic Preservation, History, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Mid-Century Modern, Neon, Photography, San Francisco, Sven Kirsten, Tiki, Travelrobertstark

Robert Stark talks to Sven Kirsten about Tiki Culture. Sven Kirsten is a Director of Photography, urban archaeologist and self-admitted “visual junkie.” Sven has spent over 20 years researching and documenting the world of Tiki and Polynesian Pop. Sven’s four books on Tiki include The Book of Tiki, Tiki Pop, Tiki Modern and The Art of Tiki.

Topics:

Sven’s background as a cinematographer and his work on music videos for Madonna, Bill Joel, and The Cramps(IMDB Filmography)
The West’s fascination with Tiki, originating in Polynesia, from the explorer James Cook to the artist Paul Gauguin
Tiki’s popularity in Southern California in the Film Industry and in 50’s design
The Current Tiki revival
Sven’s favorite bar Tiki Ti
History of Trader Vic’s, the venue at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich, and Sven’s upcoming book
The handcrafted wood carvings of Tiki venues
Tiki Neon and the building as a sign
The difference between Tiki and Hawaiiana
Devolution of Tiki style to the “Fantasy Island”/Fern bar style in the 70’s
Historic preservation losses and victories
The Tonga Room in San Francisco, it’s preservation, and the Tiki lounge as an urban oasis
The Tiki Room and defunct Tahitian Terrace at Disneyland
Exhibition at the Musee de Quai Branley in Paris
Sven’s upcoming book “Aztec Hotel” about Art Deco Mayan and Aztec revival