Cultural

The design for the SMUD Museum of Science and Curiosity (MOSAC) – formerly the Powerhouse Science Center – re-envisions the historic riverfront structure as a hub for science education, exploration and promotion in the City of Sacramento. On the banks of the Sacramento River, the museum grows out from an abandoned power station building.

The expansion of residential suburbs in the 1960’s and 1970’s left our central city with stately but underutilized school facilities. Fremont School is one of 10 examples in the area that was designed by Dean & Dean. It is a beautiful brick and terracotta building in the Spanish Revival style on a quiet Midtown street. It […]

Sacramento artist Bryan Valenzuela came to Dreyfuss + Blackford after being selected by the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission to design and create a work of public art inside Golden 1 Center. He gave us his vision and drawings of a suspended river of 400 handmade glass spheres ranging in size from 12-20” in diameter. A […]

The Upper Quarry Amphitheater at UC Santa Cruz was designed in the mid-1960s by landscape architect Robert Royston inside of a natural stone quarry on campus. Graduations, protests, lectures and concerts were held in this 2,000 seat amphitheater until it deteriorated to the point it could no longer be safely used. Both a renovation and […]

The Bookery is a solution designed to respond to an international ideas competition requesting portable reading room designs incorporating bicycle parking, book storage and seating. The solution represents a layering of opportunities and a multitude of possibilities; it caters to perusal, reading and appreciation of books and also encourages communal development and the exchange of […]

“Section”, a suspended structure designed by Jason A. Silva and Ginger Thompson at Dreyfuss + Blackford, is the centerpiece for Sacramento’s three-week-long ArtStreet event. ArtStreet, an ongoing arts program, takes place in an abandoned 1950’s warehouse at Sacramento’s The Mill at Broadway, a neighborhood south of Downtown Sacramento. The event is a three-week art exhibition […]

Old Sacramento is the last remaining area in the city with direct access to the Sacramento river. Although the historic buildings in the district have been preserved, the vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian pathways throughout are confusing and disjointed. With previous installations of the Transcontinental Railroad’s western terminus, river levees to prevent flooding, and a major […]

Made up of over 1,000 individually folded sections of corrugated paper board, SHIFT’s planks are stacked and angled to make narrow entry tunnels opening into a large interior gathering space before spilling out into the exterior courtyard. Internally lit throughout, it provides an exploratory experience, guiding visitors through the 6,400-square-foot pavilion. SHIFT is about veiled […]

Sacramento is known for trees. While a great benefit for the hot climate and livability, the tree canopy unknowingly affects the future of the urban community. The detail of the tree obscures the forest’s horizon. River Lookout Towers seeks to engage local inhabitants with the natural landscape and increase spatial awareness of the Region. With a […]