SAN DIEGO—Last week was the opening week of the “Rethink Downtown: Behind San Diego's Skyline” exhibit, hosted by Bosa Development. The exhibit gave more than 1,000 San Diegans a chance to view the past and future of Downtown as it propels to the next level.

Present at the event were Downtown pioneers Nat Bosa, president of Bosa Development; Kris Michell, president and CEO of Downtown San Diego Partnership; exhibition curator Trevor Boddy; Jinsuk Park, director of Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates; Matt Awbrey, chief of communications and deputy chief of staff to Mayor Kevin Faulconer; and Howard Ou, field representative for Congressman Scott Peters. Awbrey and Ou presented Bosa with proclamations on behalf of the city and state.

The exhibition features all-new videos, scale models, dramatic photographs, historic views/maps and engaging displays, along with a lecture series bringing the past and future of Downtown San Diego to life. Rethink Downtown also will feature collaborations with San Diego State University School of Art and Design and NewSchool of Architecture + Design, and a plethora of multimedia artists whose commissioned work will highlight the past, present and future of Downtown San Diego.

Bosa, speaking to community members at the opening, said, “There is so much going on Downtown, and we think this city is ready for the next evolution. High-quality residential offerings will be followed by more office space and amenities because employers are now flocking to where the talent is. We are going to do our part to propel the city to the next level.”

Park noted that the iconic buildings in downtown skylines typically are commercial properties, but Bosa Development's goal is to create residential towers that are more architecturally compelling. Regarding Bosa's latest building, Pacific Gate, Park said, “The design is going to be clean, with a singular gesture.”

The exhibit features three iterations of KPF's initial renderings for the 41-story Pacific Gate, which start off boxier in its configurations to the current rendering which is comprised of two nested curved glass towers that will rise as a single column from a three-story ground floor podium on the south side of the tower planned for retail space. As Bosa's director of sales and marketing Bemi Juahal told GlobeSt.com exclusively in August, “The project will feature ocean, bay and city views and will be amongst the tallest buildings Downtown. The residences will offer first-class service and exceptional amenities. The oval glass residential tower is designed by architects Kohn Pedersen Fox, in collaboration with Vancouver-based Chris Dikeakos Architects, who created a landmark design that will evolve the San Diego skyline.”

According to KPF's president James Von Klemperer, the holistic design approach focused on the interaction, functionality and visual aesthetics between the building's exterior and interior and the sites and features of the city. This will allow a resident or visitor to experience Downtown's buildings as a collective, creating a more cohesive and memorable journey.”

Also at the event, Bosa lauded the Manchester Pacific Gateway project as another sign that there is demand in Downtown San Diego for more upscale, urban offerings. The project is a 2.9-million-square-foot mixed-use project that will include hotels, commercial office space, a Naval administrative office building, and leasable retail space and cultural attractions overlooking the San Diego Bay.

Rethink Downtown: Behind San Diego's Skyline, available to residents and visitors to San Diego at no charge, is open daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is located at 700 First Ave. Open for a limited run, the 3,000 square foot Rethink is an exhibition-lecture series that celebrates San Diego and asks visitors to ponder Downtown's future, where it's going, and how architecture, design, amenities and quality of life enable San Diego to matter on a national scale, from Millennials to Boomers.

In addition, Bosa is hoping to use the exhibit to spark an Instagram phenomenon regarding Downtown San Diego. Photographer David Flores, who has captured the essence of Downtown San Diego in a photo essay for the exhibit, says, “We hope this challenge will inspire our current and new Instagram followers to explore their city and learn about other communities around the world. This gives city dwellers a chance to visit a neighborhood, landmark, or business they've never been to and to start a conversation with other urbanites from far-away places.”

To enter the challenge on Instagram, contestants are asked to:

  1. Repost the challenge and tag at least one friend the participant wants to join in the conversation.
  2. Get out and explore their city and snap a photo that best represents the week's theme. To get started, Instagrammers can visit @kiddradi, @jason_neitzke and @garrett_patz at the start of each week to see the hosts' interpretation of the week's theme.
  3. Follow and tag @kiddradi, @jason_neitzke, @garrett_patz, and @rethinksandiego and #CelebrateYourCity in their weekly posts.
  4. Join the urban photographer community on @instagram by commenting and liking other people's photos that are participating in the challenge (making sure their account is public so everyone can see the submissions).

One winner will be chosen each week by the hosts and Bosa Development for San Diego-inspired prizes. Each week's winner will be announced each Friday through October 30, 2015, along with the theme for the next week. One grand prize winner will be chosen at the closing of the contest on Friday, Nov. 6. Prizes include a two-night stay at the Hotel Solamar and dinner for two at their restaurant JSix, tickets and a tour of the USS Midway, a gift certificate from Eat.Drink.Sleep for a meal at Wave House, Cannonball or Draft South Mission, a signed Bosa Kiddradi print and a grand prize of a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera.

Stay tuned to GlobeSt.com for updates on Downtown San Diego's progress as more information becomes available.

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Carrie Rossenfeld

Carrie Rossenfeld is a reporter for the San Diego and Orange County markets on GlobeSt.com and a contributor to Real Estate Forum. She was a trade-magazine and newsletter editor in New York City before moving to Southern California to become a freelance writer and editor for magazines, books and websites. Rossenfeld has written extensively on topics including commercial real estate, running a medical practice, intellectual-property licensing and giftware. She has edited books about profiting from real estate and has ghostwritten a book about starting a home-based business.