North Ping Yuen, Like Singapore in San Francisco

Seeing what a Singaporean public housing block might look like in the context of an American city is genuinely surreal. And that is what I've found. I'll be the first to admit that San Francisco is not my hometown. I grew up in a distant suburb, nearly forty minutes away. So after living in New York City for five years, and Singapore for the last year and a half. I thought my eyes were deceiving me when, as I was looking to buy some red bean buns, I happened upon what appeared to be an HDB.

The building I was looking at is North Ping Yuen. It is a public housing complex built in 1961 by the San Francisco Housing Authority. That is four years before Singapore was an independent country, one year after Singapore established the Housing Development Board, and three years after the construction of Singapore's Dakota Crescent. There is no written documentation connecting North Ping Yuen to Singaporean architecture, so for all, I know it is part of a broader vernacular inspired by the likes of Le Corbusier. A small sample of Hong Kong public housing is in a similar style. However, I want to trust my gut, telling me this building, with its bold linear balconies like sticks fastened together to the elevator shaft, reminds me of the country I called home earlier this year.

Skyline of Singaporean HDB estates viewed from 264 Toa Payoh East

Its footprint is composed of three twelve-story slabs positioned in the shape of the number '1'. This next comparison is an extensive stretch, but it resembles 丁 if only the hook faced the wrong way. 丁 is a Chinese character for nail, or for being strong.

North Ping Yuen is the largest of four public housing structures colloquially known as the Pings. Their origins start well before the 1961 construction date. Congress helped with the consequential Wagner-Steagall Housing Act of 1937. Collectively, the four sites contain 434 units, of which the North Ping Yuen has 200. SFHA completed the towers in 1962 for $3.18 million. Bolles and Ernest Born were responsible for the design. I could not find anything directly about the work they did on the Ping Yuen houses, though both John Bolles and Ernst Born were phenomenally prolific in the area. Bolles designed the original Candlestick baseball park in San Francisco in 1960. Born's final project was the brutalist Balboa Park BART station Glen Park BART station with abstract marble murals and natural lighting.

North Ping Yuen with building staff at gate entrance to building courtyard as seen from Broadway

The building was initially open to foot traffic just as HDBs are in Singapore, until a horrifying crime in 1977. The event still lingers in the area's psyche and built environment. A rent-strike organized by residents pushed the SFHA to install fences and more lighting. They would not be able to afford a requested twenty-four-hour security guard. These public barriers remain highly visible, with only a portion removed in 2016.

While it may be hard to understand how to address security in public housing appropriately, I think about how Singapore has ensured safety without erecting barriers. So it seems clear that such obstacles are not the only, and possibly not even the best, means to promote safety. In almost all of Singapore's HDB the elevators, and their balconies, are public space is open, meaning I could decide on a whim to go to the 20th floor and see the city skyline. I just needed to be super-mindful that I was around people's homes.

North Ping Yuen along Pacific Avenue with the Bay Bridge visible in the distance

As is the typical response when American politicians face issues, the building was sold to private developers in 2016 when the federal government found SFHA to be 'troubled' and inadequate at performing their job. The building is now in the Chinatown Community Development Center's hands, though the SFHA still owns the land. Gelfand Partners Architects rehabilitated and upgraded the site in 2019, with an added community building.

Once painted all-white, the building's latest decoration is a Mondrian-like patterning of primary colors, a not-uncommon design choice in Singapore. The only thing missing is the impressive collections of large plants outside of each home. It's not too late to change that!

Seeing what a Singaporean HDB might look like in the context of an American city is genuinely surreal. As of 2020, North Ping Yuen remains a lively foundation for the neighborhood.