Architecture is the most pervasive kind of public art. When I say public, I'm not talking about the source of its funding, but the fact that it can be seen from the street. Most buildings are privately funded, after all. For better or worse, it's buildings that give streets their character.

Like most public art, buildings are capable of  stirring up controversy.  However, unlike paintings or sculpture, people's objections aren't so basic. We seldom say "Call that a building?"  We don't dispute that a building is a building, only whether it's ugly or beautiful.

At the start of Chico's Artoberfest, Gallery 1078 hosted an exhibit that displayed the work of 10 Chico architects and architectural firms. When I found out this was going to be part of the month that focuses on the arts community, I thought it was a great idea. Architecture is an overlooked form of art and architects' achievements often go unnoticed. My only gripe is that this exhibit lasted just four days. I wish it had run the entire month.

Exhibits come and go, but buildings last. The designers' work is always on view. In this post and the next, I'm going to show you one example each of the work of the 10 featured architects.

The first (at top of this post) is an apartment house close to northeast corner of Sixth and Ivy streets, designed by Tim Leefeldt. It shows that you can bring higher density development into a former single-family home neighborhood without destroying its character .In his two-bedroom apartment built over a garage, Leefeldt took pains to make sure  the building blended in with the craftsman style architecture found in this and other old Chico neighborhoods.
 
I've  observed that it doesn't take much to achieve a design that's sensitive to its surroundings. The biggest failing of most of the apartment buildings in the South Campus neighborhood is that the builders were oblivious to the character of the neighborhood. It's almost as if they were scoffing at it for being old.

Leefeldt  has also designed commericial  and residential projects in Tehama and Glenn counties.

Just a couple of blocks from this apartment, at the edge of downtown, is Afton Place, on the northwest corner of Salem and Seventh streets, designed by Patrick Cole, of Arcademe. Functionally, it's the sort of building that  the new urbanism school of developers  believes is ripe to make a comeback, particularly in city centers.

It's a so-called mixed-use project, with businesses on the ground floor and residences on the upper  floors. In the days before land use zoning became so segregated, buildings like this could be found commonly in cities. I remember when I was growing up my great aunt and great-grandmother rented an apartment in Berkeley that was  above a grocery store. I grew up in the suburbs, so this arrangement seemed unusual to me, although even as a child I could see that inner Bay Area cities looked much different than the outer suburbs.

Arcademe also designed the Walker Commons low-income housing project behind the Mangrove Shopping Center and the remodeling of the Holiday Inn.

Another project built in Chico's core area is  Campbell Commons, designed by Dave Schleiger.

It's on Flume Street, right across from The Pageant Theater. This is a 56-unit complex of studio apartments for low-income residents.

Schleiger's other projects include the new Chico Creek Nature Center building, Chico Transit Center and Murphy Commons.
 
Moving out a little farther from the center of Chico, in the Barber neighborhood, is a contemporary version of a granny cottage, designed by Nan Jones. Its access is from an alley behind Normal Street.

The trend in American housing is for bigger and bigger houses. This house suggests viable alternatives are possible.

Jones also designed the Torres Homeless Shelter.

The last building in this post is the Woof and Poof factory, on Orange Street, just north of the Chico Train Depot, designed by the Tarman Architectural Group. This building fits in well with what was once Chico's warehouse district. The ironic twist is that several of the old warehouse buildings have been torn down since Woof and Puff went up. So it's a style that increasingly exists only in memory.

Tarman also designed Faith Lutheran Church on East First Avenue near Mangrove Avenue and St. John's Episcopal Church on Floral Avenue.