Scott Danielson

An eight-month sabbatical in Rome spent consulting for Alitalia and oil painting on the weekends in a 17th century mill provided Scott Danielson with a pretty good idea of the career path he wanted to take upon his return to the United States. In 1976, he walked into PB's Post Street office in San Francisco and inquired if the firm needed some architectural assistance. Thus began a long and distinguished PB career dedicated to contributing to the built environment, or, as Scott likes to say, "making civic sculpture out of civil structures."

Nearly 30 years later, Scott Danielson is still in San Francisco, lending his considerable expertise to PB's PlaceMaking service center as its Transit Architecture Practice Leader. PB PlaceMaking integrates the firm's land use planning and transportation design skills to create vibrant and healthy communities.

Paul Morris, Managing Principal of PB PlaceMaking, says, "Scott is a master at transforming transit stations into areas that become active and dynamic destinations in themselves. His creativity and excitement for what he does brings a unique vibrancy to his project work in PB PlaceMaking and throughout PB. We're fortunate to have someone with both vast architectural experience coupled with the sensitivity to match project and 'place.' "

Scott holds a master's degree in Architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as undergraduate degrees from MIT (architecture) and Stanford University (art). During his time at MIT, he participated in a special program sponsored by Ford and General Motors that attempted to address the "urban transportation problem." Many of the approaches devised during this program are used today, including Scott's ideas on the use of people mover systems in urban cities.

"I would have never guessed that my career would involve the exact subject I had studied for my master's degree," Scott says. In fact, when he started his professional career as a lead designer at another firm, Scott worked on a plan to extend or introduce a people mover system to San Francisco International Airport. Many years later, he helped PB complete that exact task, extending the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system to the airport.

Scott's background of art and architecture has helped him design some of PB's most aesthetically pleasing projects, many of which reflect the area's cultural heritage. One eye-catching example is the Chien Tan (Dragon Boat) Station in Taipei, Taiwan, the flagship station of the Taipei Metropolitan Rapid Transit System. Scott's design, which mixes traditional Chinese architecture with high technology, features a 560-foot suspension span for the roof.

Scott’s project portfolio cuts across the spectrum of transit architecture—bridges, tunnels and buildings—from the U.S. to Asia. In addition, he recently served on PB PlaceMaking teams that completed transit-oriented development (TOD) projects in Baltimore and New Carrollton, Maryland, which brings Scott back to his first project—addressing the urban transportation problem.

"TOD projects are fulfilling because they show that the urban transportation problem is coming into maturity," he says. "Now we are trying to understand how transit systems and facilities can encourage commercial development."”

Poised to enter his third decade with PB, Scott reflected on his experience with the firm. "The advantage of working for PB is not only the opportunity to work on the world's most challenging multidisciplinary design projects, but the opportunity to work with the tremendous talent the firm possesses. Fortunately for me, some of this talent was key people who encouraged and broadcast my role in the company."