Watermarks

Imagine a postcard sent from San Francisco 100 years in the future. What might someone write back and what images would they send to describe how the city has responded to a changing climate in the 22nd century?

Watermarks, a new exhibition at SPUR, is an interactive exhibition that invites visitors to explore the past, present, and potential future transformations of the city’s changing shoreline. Through imaginative installations, an augmented reality tour, climate games, flood-resilient design strategies, and exhibits of the large-scale efforts currently underway by City agencies to address the climate crisis, attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the impacts of extreme storms and flooding and the opportunities for rethinking our relationship with water. The Watermarks exhibition and related events seek to inspire collective optimism and empower informed action by reframing the challenges of sea-level rise as an opportunity for innovative thinking.

Visitors will leave not just with knowledge, but with resilient strategies that they can take to shape the future of the waterfront. While climate change can feel perpetually like a future problem, through the exchange of knowledge that fosters creative discourse today, we can envision new opportunities for living with water while considering our place in the changing world. Step inside, see what’s happening now, and discover how you can be part of the solution.

Curated by:
Sarah Atkinson, Hazard Resilience Sr. Policy Manager at SPUR
Gabriel Tenaya Kaprielian, Assistant Professor in the College of Architecture and Environmental Design at Cal Poly. Director of Design and Innovation for Sustainable Cities (DISC) in the College of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley
With partners: Port of San Francisco, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, and more.

Join us for the exhibition opening night on April 10. Register here.

If you are not able to make the opening night, you can see the exhibition during the following events: Circular Cities, Trivia Night, or check out our events list.

Thank you to our sponsor, Exygy!