Future100: Eve Tobey Responds to the Bay Area’s Unique Challenges

The California College of the Arts architecture student’s whimsical designs confront some of the profession’s greatest challenges head-on. 

By: Erin Langner

California College of the Arts architecture student Eve Tobey integrates a deep connection with place into her whimsical designs that confront some of the profession’s greatest challenges head-on. “I believe that the way people interact with architecture is very much based on the innate connections we have with nature and the world around us, even down to a cellular level,” she says. This ethos is clear in Tobey’s portfolio, much of which manifests in biophilic forms that reflect the diverse landscape and communities across her surroundings in San Francisco. 

In one project, Threads of Exchange, a forestlike canopy composed of dendriform columns shelters the city’s historic Alemany Farmers’ Market. The structure incorporates curtains, light panels, and waterproof tarps—important elements in an age of increasingly unpredictable weather. Another, Mediatheque, tackles the gentrification of San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood. This community hub is made of materials such as steel and glass that reference the area’s industrial past. On the ground floor, a museum preserves Dogpatch’s history, while the upper levels nod to the future with spaces for community members to foster new connections.