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This plan recommends incorporating the original historic Beaux
Arts 1912 design for the San Francisco Civic Center and rearticulating
it for the 21st century by creating many opportunities for creative
expression, learning, and participation by all sectors of the
community, through Community Research Mentoring Teams,
while integrating the past, present and future. Proposed for the
four quadrants of the main Civic Center Plaza are themed gardens
with integrated community programs, curricula and products, that
express in the landscape what is occurring in the surrounding
architecture, such as a Government, Law & Justice Garden;
a Civic Center, San Francisco, California History Garden;
a Garden of the Arts; and an Ecology -- Health Garden.
Also proposed to delineate the main axis from Market Street to
City Hall, reminiscent of the bosquets or garden rooms from the
17th century French formal gardens on which the Beaux Arts style
is based, are International - Multicultural Gardens involving
and representing the cultural diversity of the San Francisco community.
Additionally proposed, underground in Brooks Hall, is a mixed
use—commercial / educational / cultural development showcasing
international multicultural products and programs.
The Assyrian Garden, shown here, shows the Mesopotamian
culture, past, present and future through its many elements. One
enters through the Multimedia Digital Gateway, displaying the
Multimedia Archives showing the past, present and future cultural
and ecological diversity of the Mesopotamian culture or a live
feed to that part of the world, or other places or resources.
The existing statue is King Ashurbanipal, an Assyrian King, who
founded the first library in the world. This library was made
of clay tablets with the cuneiform language incised in them. The
statue is holding such a tablet. The wet clay was always incised
with reeds which are part of the garden. Also included, are lotus
blossoms, signifying "eternity" and palm trees and pomegranate
trees signifying the "tree of life" to the Assyrians. Herringbone
pavers are also typical design features. This garden, as the others
in the plan, would be developed by Community Research Mentoring
Teams, involving all sectors of the community, including the schools,
K-College. For example, every sixth grader in San Francisco, studies
ancient Mesopotamian culture as part of the curriculum. This garden
provides an exciting project-based learning opportunity for the
students and many of their parents. The Board of Education voted
unanimously to support these pan, as did many other sectors of
the community.
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