One of the first things you notice about the affordable housing projects in architect Anne Torney’s portfolio is how different they all look from each other. They include a 97-unit contemporary stucco-clad complex with round balconies and what might be its diametric opposite, a 47-unit Victorian-style building with bay windows, clapboard siding, and roof corbels.
“Making sure that the buildings relate to the neighborhood and blend in seamlessly is absolutely key,” says Torney, who has been working for 30 years to dispel negative stereotypes of affordable housing. “Architecture can be a stealth force for social equity.”
In charge of the San Francisco office of Mithun and one of three executives heading up the entire 165-person design firm, Torney exemplifies a different kind of industry leader than the “starchitect” model. Among her recent achievements, this year she became the first female chair of the San Francisco Housing Action Coalition’s executive committee, helping the nonprofit organization advocate for much-needed affordable housing.
Originally from the East Coast, Torney paid little mind to buildings until she took an introductory architecture course at Princeton that described them as cultural artifacts. After graduating, she moved to San Francisco and spent five years working at David Baker Architects, known for its creatively designed urban infill housing. Energized by urban design, she entered a master’s program at UC Berkeley in the early ’90s. One of her professors there was Daniel Solomon, a charter member of the burgeoning New Urbanism movement, a vision of neighborhood-centric, mixed-use development. Torney helped Solomon create a winning competition entry for a housing project to help revitalize South Central Los Angeles, and consequently joined his firm, Daniel Solomon Design Partners, to do more of the same work. “She rapidly transformed herself from junior architect to the bedrock of our practice,” says Solomon, who leads the design of most of the firm’s affordable housing projects in San Francisco. He extols her “broad intelligence, supremely good judgment, great values, taste, and innate dignity.”
As a partner at DSDP, Torney advocated for combining forces with Seattle-based Mithun in 2012. “What drew me was Mithun’s early commitment and innovative thinking about sustainability at all scales, from the building to the district level,” she says. The company has since been recognized with the 2017 Firm Award from the American Institute of Architects’ Northwest and Pacific Region chapter.
The current crop of projects that Torney is overseeing continues to expand the concept of affordable housing. Three buildings in San Francisco’s Mission District have ground-level spaces for local cultural institutions and semi-public open space and will be exemplars of energy efficiency; a building in Seattle’s Central District celebrates the neighborhood’s African-American history and culture by incorporating work by local artists, including a vivid mural on the exterior; and housing for formerly homeless veterans is designed specifically to promote health. Says Torney: “I’m excited to work on a project type that has the power to address such a broad range of pressing social and cultural issues in such a direct way, and on buildings that demonstrate how growth and increased density can be broadly beneficial and should be welcomed rather than feared.”
