Mission Florence

onion
An 18 unit multi-family housing project that fell on design hard times. An unusual conglomeration of indefinable 'styles' and pastiche. Describing this building as ugly would do an injustice to an articulate explanation of what happens when schlock meets Hillcrest. The bulk and scale of the structure fits on Washington Avenue like an 800 pound gorilla in a hobbit house. From arches that appear to have no function and seem to be forced, window openings that do not make any sense on the facade, difficult looking connections between materials, two foot long metal railings that make’s one has ask, why did you even bother, to an out of scale pitched roof that rivals the out of place looking roof of the Hillcrest Medical Center Building, the building couldn't have tried harder to be out of place. It seems not a cliché decoration was left out. The 70's called and said they don't what their design style back. The larger problem is that this structure will be around a long time and we all know the only thing worse than a good design is a bad design. A missed opportunity for sure. You know you have a design problem when the signage isn’t even consistent.
Project Information
Project Address: 
3972 Albatross Ave., San Diego, CA 92103
Project Owner/ Developer: 
Mission Florence L.L.C.
Project Architect/ Designer: 
Bejan Arfaa, 2900 4th Ave., San Diego, CA 92103
Image
Mission Florence.jpg
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Comments:

Good Call- It's as ugly on the outside as it is on the inside.

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 12/07/2010 - 06:50.
The outside of this building definitely deserves an Onion award, but too bad the inside couldn't receive one as well. I was looking at a unit and there is no recycling, tenants told me of constant garage break-ins, and even if you have a smart design above retail space, it's been empty for over 2 years. Thank you for recognizing the good design AND the awful onions of San Diego I hope it will inspire architects to build better, safer,innovative and more sustainable structures.

ONION ONION ONION

Submitted by Veritas on Wed, 07/29/2009 - 15:34.
Yeech! This thing could provide enough Onions to keep In & Out Burger supplied through 2020. What a stain on the community!

Progress not perfection

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 08/10/2009 - 16:36.
Seemed like a great idea at the time, the community needed something new and this is what they got. Considering the run down condition of the neighborhood this building was an improvement. Possible and proposed upgrades were torpedoed by economic necessity brought about by the catastrophic plunge of the real estate market. Eric J

Progress not perfection

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 08/10/2009 - 16:32.
Seemed like a good idea at the time, the community needed something new and this is what they got. Considering the run down condition of the neighborhood this building was an improvement. Possible and proposed upgrades were torpedoed by economic necessity brought about by the catastrophic plunge of the real estate market. Eric J