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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Grade Fire from Amtrak. Shortly after, everyone’s phone lit up with evacuation orders

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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

I kinda got a little excited bout this just now but then I saw the next post. Sorry I got the last ticket on 14 today

Gaviota state beach pier jutting into the ocean as seen from Amtrak #14

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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Happy to see our illustration of the San Jose roundhouse in Niles in the new SP Trainline. Wish we’d received credit

Part of a magazine page (SP Trainline Spring 2026) showing an illustration of the San Jose Roundhouse rebuilt in Niles CA for the Niles Canyon Railway. To the left is SP Pacific #2479 on the roundhouse turntable

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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Finally tried out electric Caltrain service. It is a revelation. However, looking out the window at each station underlined how terrible land use is at most of the peninsula stations. Thousands of cheaply build low-density housing, most of it over 60 years old & near the end of its lifespan

Three red and white statler-made Caltrain emu trains noses are nearly aligned at the San Francisco terminal

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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

TIL I’d heard G. Platner’s father was a designer. Didn’t realize he’d done these. My roommate in college had one. Use to sit in it and watch ST:TNG

Mid century modern charge with dark red upholstery on a base and shell structure made of nearly parallel stainless steel rods spaced closely together to form a cage-like surface with gentle curves.

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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

I’d add that I’m part of a project that is desperate need of a white knight to fund it

Rendering of the Rapid Transit History Center at the Western Railway Museum. Image shows a BART train in a dark room with mock-ups of a station, cab simulator, dispatch facility, and a portion of the transbay tube.

Rendering of the Rapid Transit History Center at the Western Railway Museum. Image shows a BART train in what looks like a maintenance facility with a drop pit, a bogie in the foreground and a portion of the trans bay tube in the background.

Rendering of the Rapid Transit History Center at the Western Railway Museum. Image shows a BART train with a station entrance and various displays about Bay Area transit history

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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

We “should” be pulling into Oakland. Instead, we are just north of Paso Robles. Sigh.

ASM transit train tracker map showing most of California at 8:54 PM. Train number 14 is represented as a black rectangle just north of Paso Robles.

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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

This is the most “liked” thing I’ve ever done on the socials I’m very proud.

The bulk of the text on this instagram post is about a gauntlet track built on the south shore to nudge trains that don’t stop around a passenger platform. I responded, “The through tracks should be straight” and it has 294 likes.

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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Surveillance photo from earlier today

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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Amtrak breaking my heart again with the already awful food of the cafe reduced to this by 6PM and a “full” diner that’s 2/3rds empty. I overhear almost everyone say it’s their 1st time on the train. Not as many say it’s their 2nd…

An empty styrofoam “Maruchan Instant Lunch” sits on a light grey table in an Amtrak Sightseer Lounge but in 1994 with a view to the sea beyond

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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

Amusing that the ASM Transit Docs map date includes the Santa Margarita Ranch railroad. Perhaps they will provide train tracking data here in the future?

Diagramatic Map of Santa margarita California showing the route of Amtrak 11 and 14 in blue along with the then location of a tardy train 11. Also a loop of narrow gauge track north of town on the Santa margarita ranch, which is a privately owned and operated for entertainment.

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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

Never before noticed this airfield at Nacimiento, across the Salinas River from Camp Roberts. Whose Atlas is this?

Airbus A400M appears to sit amongst the rolling green hills of central California just above the tree-lined channel of the Salinas River. You can’t see the airstrip from below, so it looks out of place

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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

Innovations in hostile architecture. Rip rap area denial in Brookfield Village as seen from Amtrak

Stone rip rap and precast concrete grade crossing panels cover the railroad right of way from the tracks to the property line to prevent encampments

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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

Accidentally stumbled upon the March for Billionaires. I’ve not seen this many people at a rally here since Andrew Yang was running for president

A crowd in the low dozens hold aloft signs and listen to bullhorn speeches in from of an SF City hall closed for a football-related private event. A woman in the right foreground is wearing a Swedish chef puppet claiming that the the Nordic country’s elimination of the wealth tax should serve as a model for us. Given the everything of it all, it’s pretty clear they are actually anti-billionaire

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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

Up to my usual. My banh mi was ready to go after the train pulled into Jack London square, but I made it on

Interior of Amtrak sightseer lounge car with curved windows where the walls meet the ceiling, table seating, and a number of people sitting around

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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Back into the architecture education mines today for what is likely the beginning of the end. Everyone was sad, angry, and hopeful

CCA building from across landscaped courtyard. Large windows have school branding decals spelling out: “CCa California College of the Arts”

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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

So happy for this tall boi in Berkeley. It’s not hurting anyone

A skinny mid century modern apartment building with seven floors rises from a mostly 2-story neighborhood of duplexes and single family houses. It has an open stair and walkways on the south facing, street side of the building

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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

It seems more important than ever to wish everyone peace and prosperity in the New Year. After over 20 years of practice, AAA Architecture is growing into something new. We will soon be Ruiz Rapoport Architecture. Best, Randy

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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

All trains to and from SF should hit central Oakland. Then they can split to go north and south. The existing north/south service should also serve central Oakland. (Lucile Bluth meme about not understanding costs)

Map of Oakland with poorly drawn pink lines representing proposed routes. One goes north from Alameda parallel to Broadway and splits past downtown with one line following San Pablo to 580 and reconnecting with existing tracks at emeryville. The other branch loops around Lake Merrit to bring the line back to existing tracks near Fruitvale. Another line connects the existing line from Fruitvale to the central Oakland station from the south

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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

There may be little to take directly from the profoundly sculptural and personal form making of Gehry’s later work, but his impact on the field has been immense. His office nurtured generations of practitioners, many of whom learned powerful lessons about the potential for architectural expression

A picture of the Disney Concert Hall by Frank Gehry. A curved blade of stainless steel-clad building slices up toward the sky while reflecting its blueness and light. Other cured stainless forms loom behind it in shadow.

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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Anyone notice (or care) that the Amtrak logo represents poor trackway drainage design?

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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

A special Thanksgiving guest gave me the gift of BOSS

A dark blue architecture monograph named “alameda (more boss architecture)” by Jones, Partners: Architecture sits on a somewhat familiar looking black leather lounge chair

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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 23/11/2025

Some Architecture at today’s CicLAvia. Santa Monica and Vermont B Line station by Ellerbe Becket/Mehrdad Yazdani; Koening Eisenberg housing project at same location; Danziger Studio by Fran Gehry; and Paramount Film and Tape Archive by Holt Hinshaw Pfau Jones.

Vermont/Santa Monica B Line station entry pit with stairs and escalators ascending from a concrete cavern toward the light. The ceiling is festooned with colorful light strips suggesting movement and the energy of the city above

Colorful affordable housing project at Santa Monica and Vermont. An external exit stair is clad in pink expanded metal. Sunshades are lime green

A somewhat nondescript composition of grey stucco boxes facing the street

A view into the paramount lot. On the right in the distance is a sky backdrop that forms most of the facade of the paramount film and tape archive building

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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 02/11/2025

My trip is in the 11th “inning” if you know what I mean.

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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

Looking over the new plan for California Forever, a common refrain is, "...while accommodating cars." I've counted 39 "Perimeter" garages and 24 "District" garages. This plan appears to have structured parking for up to 100,000 cars. How many gas stations will be built?

A site diagram for California Forever showing the distribution of structured parking. There are 39 "Perimeter parking garages" shown, which are said to have up to 2,500 parking spaces each. Another 24 "District parking garages" are shown with up to 250 spaces each.

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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

*Slaps roof of dead mall* You could fit SO much walkable urbanism at this site

Aerial view of huge Tanforan Mall site surrounded by acres of surface parking

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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 13/09/2025

Not sure how real this is, but it is hilarious that this little corner of Millbrae might get up-zoned just for being on the opp. side of US101 from the SFO people mover

A map showing part of SFO airport and Millbrae, showing a large number of overlapping green circles around the airport's people mover stations indicating that the "transit" they provide might trigger SB79 up-zoning on a few random blocks of Millbrae alongside US101

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Randolph Ruiz @aaaarchitecture.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

Upzoning at transit stations creates housing

Large construction site at Bundy and Exposition under an overcast grey sky. Two yellow tower cranes rise from the excavations.

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