CityScape: As a New World Design Capital, San Diego Could Benefit from a Chief Design Officer

Helsinki was the World Design Capital in 2012 and fulfilled one of its WDC legacy missions in 2016 by creating the post of chief design officer within city government. Today, that post, held by Hanna Harris, is a vital part of the design and planning process, helping to advance the city’s objectives with good architecture built into them. Harris also brings tons of international attention to her city as a design center thanks to her many interviews with newspapers, design publications and even the BBC

San Diego and Tijuana just completed their yearlong run as World Design Capital 2024 and San Diego design professionals hope that our WDC legacy will include a chief design officer. After all, we had a city architect from 1988 to 1992, and there is a fresh opportunity to up our architectural game and boost the design identity of the nation’s eighth largest city.

San Diego architects Heather Ruszczyk and Megan Groth have written extensively about architecture and design as central to city governance. They emphasize that “architecture” is not just what buildings look like — it encompasses urban planning, energy efficiency, social well-being, economics and the environment, all part of an architect’s training. Good architecture is good for everyone.

In 2022, they wrote a letter to Mayor Todd Gloria on behalf of the American Institute of Architects San Diego urging him to create and fund a position of chief design officer within his office, as part of our own WDC legacy. They named Seattle, Los Angeles, London, Denver and San Francisco as cities where architecture has a vital presence within local government.

By their account and that of many others in the design community, in spite of many invitations to discuss the idea, Gloria has not been very responsive. To his credit, he and the city council approved a $3 million contribution to World Design Capital. But the mayor’s office did not respond to requests to comment for this article.

At the moment you can’t blame Gloria for putting the chief design officer idea on hold. He has more pressing concerns, such as the city’s $258 million deficit, the focal point of his Jan. 15 state-of-the-city address. But one hopes he will find bandwidth to explore the idea in his new four-year term.

San Diego could learn from Seattle, a city where design is central to governance.

Private projects there go through design review boards in eight districts that advise the city during the permitting process. Public projects are scrutinized by the Seattle Design Commission of 10 design professionals.

“No matter what kind of development, public or private, the city has prioritized urban design and architecture as a holistic part of planning and development,” says Michael Jenkins, executive director of the design commission.

Closer to home is Ric Abramson, West Hollywood’s city architect since 2019. He is setting an example of how a design professional within city government can help advance a city’s mission and raise public awareness. Abramson heads the city’s in-house Urban Design + Architecture Studio, with a staff of three including another architect.

One project of which Abramson is especially proud is the proposed San Vicente Streetscape, a makeover of a block of San Vicente Boulevard near Melrose Avenue.

The block would become an inviting public space that seamlessly integrates cars, pedestrians, bike lanes and landscape to create a sort of multi-purpose urban park, shaded by giant plant-like “sky sanctuaries” that seem to sprout from the ground to serve as shade structures. The proposal is headed to a city council subcommittee later this month, and with the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics in sight, Abramson is optimistic that it will be funded and approved. It would be a spectacular venue for 2,000-3,000 to attend Olympics-related events.

By contrast, decades after Mike Stepner’s four-year stint as San Diego’s city architect, architecture and design are virtually invisible within our city government.

In the mayor’s cabinet, Senior Policy Advisor Christopher Ackerman-Avila has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in urban planning, and he put his education to good use helping to lead a commission appointed by the mayor to create a new plan for the civic center. But his official assignment is land use and planning.

Jonathan Glus, executive director of the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs (with a staff of seven), under the mayor, often represents the city in various design contexts. He is a seasoned arts professional who played a leading part in drafting the Creative City plan unveiled last year, intended to shape the future of arts and culture in San Diego. Glus studied architectural history, among other subjects, at the University of Illinois — but still, seven arts types and no architect in the mayor’s office or high up in city government?

Meanwhile, since his time as city architect, Stepner has spent decades working relentlessly on behalf of good architecture and design. As result, last November, the American Institute of Architects San Diego recognized his contributions by giving him the Robert Mosher Lifetime Achievement Award, its highest honor.

At 84, Stepner is still pounding nails to build up architecture and design. He has contributed opinion pieces to local publications on “why design matters,” has frequently lectured on his favorite topics and has joined Groth, Ruszczyk and many other design professionals in determined advocacy for a chief design officer.

“Good architecture is critical to our mental, physical and social well-being,” he says. “The surgeon general recently pointed out the country’s epidemic of loneliness and isolation.”

Whether it’s a small building or a large development, indoor or outdoor space, park or trolley station, “places to gather and interact are critical,” Stepner says. Thoughtful architecture makes a difference and architects deserve a seat at city hall tables where the city is shaped.

Not long ago, it looked like design was again emerging as a priority at city hall. Seasoned architect Jennifer Luce was hired to lead the Civic Center Revitalization Committee organized by Mayor Gloria. The result of many meetings and months of work was a thoughtful “manifesto,” a vision for 8-acre civic center that was delivered in 2023.

Since then, the document has not gained much traction. It has not been implemented as policy, partly because a request for proposals for the civic center yielded no viable responses, and late last year, the mayor put the redevelopment project on hold.

Like many other great visionary San Diego plans drafted over the years, the manifesto could get buried in a bottom desk drawer (or deep on a city server). But, Luce hopes it will live on as a guiding force for a future chief design officer or dedicated design oversight within the mayor’s office or elsewhere in city government.

“From the standpoint of community-building, beauty, and appropriateness to changes in the natural environment, the homelessness issue, the uptick in residential development, and in light of the disastrous fires in Los Angeles [raising questions about how to design and rebuild that we may eventually face], and just the future of our city, it seems appropriate that we’d have informed leadership guiding the future physical persona of San Diego,” she says.

Dirk Sutro has written extensively about architecture and design in Southern California and is the author of architectural guidebooks to San Diego and UC San Diego. His column appears monthly in Times of San Diego.

CityScape is supported by the San Diego Architectural Foundation, promoting outstanding architecture, landscape, interior and urban design to improve the quality of life for all San Diegans.