Faculty Profile

Mark Kessler
Emeritus Professor of Design

January 29, 2013 M. Arch. Harvard Graduate School of DesignB.A. Columbia University

Background

Mark is a registered architect and was a founding partner of the architectural firm FACE. His work has been published in leading design journals, including Progressive Architecture, Metropolis, and Home. A house constructed of rammed earth appears in the book Weekend Houses, by Penelope Rowland (Chronicle Books, 2000). From 2003 through 2005, Mark left the design field to work as a union organizer for SEIU Local 1000.

Research

He researches common utilitarian buildings in the city.

Publications and Work

He has published a book, The Early Public Garages of San Francisco: An Architectural and Cultural Study: 1906-1929 (McFarland, 2013).
A recent article appears in the “Vandalism” issue of the preservation journal Change Over Time, and his essay on the Don Lee Cadillac Showroom in San Francisco is forthcoming in Archipedia, an online survey of American architecture.
His post, “Early San Francisco Parking Garages,” published on the Preservation Leadership Forum Blog of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, provides a synopsis of Mark’s research into this underappreciated building type.
Mark is the curator of Elegant Pit Stops, an exhibit of Sharon Risedorph’s photographs of historicist garages that has appeared in the SF EcoCenter, the San Francisco Museum, and Sacramento State University.

Teaching

Mark Kessler teaches studio classes in interior architecture.

(530) 754-2603

Room 231, Cruess Hall

mdkessler[remove-this-and-replace-with-at]ucdavis.edu

Exhibition

A Site for Convergence and Exchange: Designing the 21st Century Art Museum
January 9 – April 23, 2017

January 9, 2017 Mark Kessler

Designed by SO – IL and Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, The Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art brings a fresh architectural vision to UC Davis. At once iconic and iconoclastic, the building breaks with convention and symbolizes this university’s stature as a progressive public institution–one that draws strength and inspiration from the geography and culture of the Central Valley.

Announcement

Design Students Contribute to a Special Cafe Project

January 19, 2016 Mark Kessler

Four Design students are contributing to the creation of a new cafe that will be staffed by differently-abled adults. Named “Mosaic Coffee & Tea,” this nonprofit venture is being spearheaded by the Davis Community Church, which will provide a space for the cafe on its downtown Davis campus. Mosaic will not charge its patrons a fixed amount for food and drinks, but simply, will ask them to “gift” what they can.

Profile

Q&A

January 6, 2016 Mark Kessler

How long have you been with the Design department?
Since 2006.

What other, if any, professional work positions have you held?
I am a licensed architect and was a founding member of the architectural firm FACE. Also, for a two-year period between professional practice and teaching, I was a union organizer for SEIU, Local 1000.

Lecture

Automobiles and Arches at the PPIE
Nov. 21, 2015

November 18, 2015 Mark Kessler

Associate Professor Mark Kessler will give a lecture marking the centennial of the San Francisco World’s Fair of 1915 at the Civic Center branch of the San Francisco Public Library. The lecture is entitled, “Automobiles and Arches at the PPIE.” Admission is free.

Please view the attached flyer “Architecture and the Fairs” for more information.

Course Description

DES180A: Adv Interior Design: Institutional Spaces (4)
Fall 2015, 3D scanning

October 22, 2015 Mark Kessler

In Fall 2015, DES 180A offers some truly relevant and cutting-edge educational opportunities. The first assignment is the interior design of Cruess Hall, Phase II.This project is currently being developed by campus planners, but so far only a schematic diagram has been created. Student work will contribute to the “real” discussion of what Ph II contains and how it will look.

Announcement

Preservation Leadership Forum Blog
"Early San Francisco Parking Garages"

August 20, 2015 Mark Kessler

San Francisco plays host to a fine collection of early garages, unusual in their ornamented and composed facades. Mark Kessler, who wrote the book on these buildings, explains their significance on this blog published by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Mark Kessler Emeritus Professor of Design

Background

Research

Publications and Work

Teaching

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Mark Kessler
Emeritus Professor of Design