How many architects does it take to screw in a light bulb? Or more precisely, how many does it take to turn State Street’s lights back on? The number, it turns out, is 173, and they are participating in perhaps the largest and longest group-planning exercise designed to reimagine and reengineer State Street and downtown Santa Barbara for the years ahead.
The effort, sponsored by the local chapter of American Institute of Architects, started off with a survey of the public on changes they’d like to see happen downtown. To date, 4,400 surveys have been submitted — 200 in Spanish. Starting in August, the architects will break into 16 teams of eight. Four will be charged with conjuring plans for the whole length of State Street, and the others will be assigned specific blocks. Whatever the architects come up with, housing will clearly play a new and dominant role.
In the past 10 years, area architects have hosted two similar “charettes,” but these have been contained, one-day events. This one will run multiple weeks before the finished products are released to the public or the City Council.