San Francisco

Asian Neighborhood Design (AND)

Note:  In 2002, Asian Neighborhood Design (AND) began the final stages of a significant transformation. Therefore, the following information is more of a summary of what AND used to be. Asian Neighborhood Design (AND) was one of the boldest and most successful initiatives in community design.

“Through it all, AND has remained what it was in 1973 – a neighborhood revitalization and housing renovation program committed to fighting poverty among recovering substance abusers, and imparting solid work habits to ex-felons, ex-gang members, and long-term welfare recipients in the San Francisco/Oakland area. Although the organization has developed and grown in response to economic changes, the policy environment, and its own clientele, it has retained its distinctive approach to the labor market issues of its chosen sector – an approach based on a comprehensive, needs-centered model of poverty alleviation.”

Asian Neighborhood Design A Case Study of a Sectoral Employment Development Approach

The Origins of AND

A.N.D. was founded in 1973 by Asian-American architecture students from the University of California, Berkeley. It focused on design services for a large number of emerging nonprofit organizations.

It has evolved into several programs – Architecture and Planning, Community Resources and Education, Employment Training Center, Housing and Community Development, and many others. The founders are Maurice Lim Miller, Executive Director, Harry Ja Wong, Director of Architecture, and Tom Jones, Director of Development. Then, the office was on Bush Street in the Tenderloin area. Their offices are located on Ellis Street on the first floor of an affordable housing project.

Specialty Mill Products and Real Estate Development

These programs comprise a multi-service approach to community economic development. Architecture and planning aim at the under-served concentration on housing development corporations. The employment and training center works with young people in the city’s lowest-income neighborhoods. The heart of the center is Specialty Mill Products, a professional cabinet shop and a business venture of the design center. A.N.D created the shop in 1984 to provide a natural work environment for training.

Housing

Their work is particularly sensitive to the quality and depth of services needed for the equitable development of housing serving low-income households. For example, the housing resources and education component provides bilingual services and advocates for affordable housing policies. In addition, educational materials are provided to thousands of residents each year through workshops on home improvement, housing rights, loan programs, building inspections, and other services.

The housing development component of A.N.D. operates primarily on innovative projects that combine housing and economic development with a focus on improving the skills and abilities of low-income tenants, forming a residential education/skills incubator. In addition, these programs interact to provide a range of design and community development projects.

Education programs continue to be an essential resource of AND’s work. An example is the publication of a nationally important book entitled Good Neighbors: Affordable Family Housing. The book is a highly detailed reference provoked by excellence in community design in the United States. It was co-authored by Tom Jones, William Pettus, and Mike Pyatok with a foreword by Chester Hartman. Sally Woodbridge, ed. Images Publishing and McGraw Hill, 1996. A 35mm slide library with an accompanying narrative guide, site plans, and drawings are available now from the A.I.A. Library and Archives.

Projects/Services

• 555 Ellis Street Family Apartments
• Madison Park Apartments
• North/South of Market Multi-Service Homeless Centers
• McMillan Drop-In Center
• Cadillac Hotel
• San Christina Hotel