the bold italic imagines san francisco with victorian-style skyscrapers
all images courtesy of the bold italic

 

 

 

the bold italic, a san francisco-based online magazine, has imagined their city’s skyline as a sort of architectural paradox. digital enhancement allows for the vision of new buildings, which pay homage to the details of san fran’s trademark design, with victorian-style skyscrapers piercing the urban landscape. the colorful and ornately decorated residents are completely distinct in their character and quirky quality, and are starkly different from the colossal glass developments being built up around them. the series of images responds to current architectural trends and asks for a greater degree of creative thinking from designers in the field today.

the bold italic imagines san francisco with victorian-style skyscrapers
victorian-style skyscrapers piere the urban landscape

 

 

 

‘generally, I’m not anti-development in san francisco given the right circumstances.’ writes jessica saia about the project. ‘it breaks my heart to see gorgeous old buildings torn down to make room for huge new ones that lack any version of character, but I like the idea of people 100 years from now fawning over the iconic architecture of the early 21st century. but will they? my biggest beef with the influx of new buildings is how uninspired most of them are. every time scaffolding comes down on market street or a new rendering is released on the internet, I shake my head and think, ‘really? you were given the opportunity to design a building in one of the most beautiful cities in the world and this is what you came up with?’

the bold italic imagines san francisco with victorian-style skyscrapers
a san francisco-based online magazine, has imagined their city’s skyline as a sort of architectural paradox

the bold italic imagines san francisco with victorian-style skyscrapers
digital enhancement allows for the vision of new buildings, which pay homage to the details of san fran’s trademark architecture

san-francisco-victorian-style-skyscrapers-designboom-06
these colorful and ornately decorated residents are completely distinct in their character and quirky quality

the bold italic imagines san francisco with victorian-style skyscrapers
the scene imagines nearby construction workers overlooking a victorian-style tower

the bold italic imagines san francisco with victorian-style skyscrapers
a series of ornately-decorated skyscrapers peek above the clouds in san francisco