Esoteric Survey

I drive by this building almost once a month and finally stopped to get a closer look.
The East Bay Center for Warehouse Union (1965) was designed by Oakland architect Herbert T Johnson (1909-1989).

The two parabolic arches support the center section of the structure.

The mosaic panels are by Beniamino "Benny" Bufano.


There's also a Bufano inside.
Source: Yelp


It still operates as the Warehouse Union Local 6


I don't know the story on the totem.

Herbert T Johnson was born in Alameda. He worked for Irving F Morrow on the Golden Gate Bridge project, which was completed in 1937. Johnson is credited with designing the original toll plaza. In 1942, he set up his architecture practice in Oakland and continued working on projects in the Bay Area. 
Source: Open SF History
Johnson designed the Leona Lodge in Oakland.
Source: Leona Lodge
He was at it again with the exterior roof supports.
Source: Leona Lodge
Source: Leona Lodge

Johnson designed this single family house in 1952…

Finn Juhl ice bucket, Roy McMakin table for Domestic, Martz planter and an Arne Norrel chair
Greta Grossman table for Glenn. Yes, there are leaves for it. 
Gerald Thurston for Lightolier "Cricket" lamp
More books
JB Blunk and Espenet ephemera

If you haven't seen  Gaps in the Record: Vanguard Print Culture in San Diego, your time is almost up. It closes on September 2nd. 
Gaps in the Record: Vanguard Print Culture in San Diego documents the overlapping literary and visual art practices and independent publishing activity within San Diego’s mid-twentieth century creative community. The exhibition centers on a small group of painters who were also writers: Don Dudley (1930), Guy Williams (1934-2004), Richard Allen Morris (1933), Malcolm McClain (1923-2012), John Baldessari (1931), and Fred Cooper (1939).
Curated by Dave Hampton





The show is deep, so even if you have been, you should probably go back again.

Landes Mfg. Company of California
Smalls - Soleri bell and Robert Maxwell
Ephemera stack
Tony Hill catalog 

Living with Clay: California Ceramics Collections August 25 – November 17, 2018 Opening Reception: Saturday, August 25, 2018, 5–8 pm
California State University, Fullerton presents Living with Clay: California Ceramics Collections. Curated by Rody N. López, this exhibition pays homage to distinguished collectors that have amassed impressive collections of ceramic artworks from some of the most respected artists in the field, all reflecting an insatiable passion for clay. 
The exhibition includes: Jerome Ackerman, Rudy Autio, Ralph Bacerra, Tom Coleman, Josh Deweese, Carmen Dionyse, Betty Davenport Ford, Viola Frey, David Furman, Julia Galloway, Shoji Hamada, Robin Hopper, Jeff Irwin, Sergei Isupov, Tony Marsh, Beverly Mayeri, Alleghany Meadows, Gertrude and Otto Natzler, Vincent Palacios, Don Reitz, Kevin Snipes, Paul Soldner, Robert Sperry, Jindra Vikova, Peter Voulkos, Patti Warashina, Varda Yatom, Ward Youry, and many more.
While on campus, don't forget to check out the architect…

Eames with a pink bikini and a Cees Braakman TM-03
Herman Miller Textiles-Objects, Alexander Girard
Charles Counts

When thinking of Bordeaux, futuristic modern architecture probably isn't the first thing to come to mind. Similar to the slum clearance movement that was happening in the United Staes in the 1960s,  Bordeaux city leaders, under a plan by city architect Jean Royer (not that Royer), began creating a series of high rise residential and commercial buildings in the working class neighborhood of Mériadeck. Although some building happened in the early 1960s, substantial construction under a modified plan by Royer did not start until the 1970s.

Allianz (Originally AGF) SCPA Arretche-Karasinki and Marcel Nouviale  (1983)
 Joël Gourvellec and Victor Maldonado (1983)
There is a network of pedestrian bridges over the streets connecting the buildings. This modernist scheme turned out to be a great way to effectively kill street vitality.  Compared to almost everywhere else I visited in Bordeaux, Mériadeck is dead.
Le Ponant by Jacques Salier, Adrien Courtois and Patrick Fouquet (1979)

Caisse …