Paffard Keetinge-Clay

Paffard Keatinge-Clay (1926-2023) British-born Modernist architect active in San Francisco between 1960 and 1975.  Keatinge-Clay's San Francisco office was located at 680 Beach Street. During the 14-year period from 1961 to 1975, Keatinge-Clay produced several buildings several of which remain today. Keatinge-Clay designed the San Francisco State University Student Center (dedicated as the Cesar Chavez Student Center on May 5, 1994) between 1969 and 1973 and constructed between 1973 and 1975 with delays due to weather and accessibility issues with the pyramids. Moshe Safdie, designed the original commission supported by students but ultimately rejected by the California State University Trustees during a student-led strike. Keatinge-Clay claimed the design to be the result of countless hours of collective workshops and collaborative student input. The student workshops resulted in two trapezoidal concrete pyramids: one that aligned sectionally with an axis to Polaris, the North Star, to create a space for introspective activities, the other was composed of an occupiable roof terrace/theater. More than half the building is below ground facing the campus Quad. The interior is accessed through a pair of 30-foot high enameled steel offset pivot doors opening to a public space.