Mario J. Ciampi

Mario Joseph Ciampi (April 27, 1907 – July 6, 2006) was an American architect and urban planner best known for his modern design influence on public spaces and buildings in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Guido and Palmira Ciampi travelled on the SS Deutschland from Genoa, arriving at Ellis Island, New York on 3 March 1906.

The devastation caused by the earthquake and subsequent fire forced them to live in an Army issue tent on the Presidio for several months.

As teenagers, Mario with his brothers Paul and Joe worked on the family vineyard and made extra money making wooden shipping crates for the neighboring Sebastiani Winery.

Instead, after high school he did an apprenticeship as a draftsman in the San Francisco firm of Alexander Cantin and Dodge A. Riedy, who had worked on the Pacific Telephone Building with Timothy L. Pflueger, from 1925–29.

The American Institute of Architects described them as "characterized by novel structural systems integrating clerestory lighting, leaving large wall surfaces that incorporate significant artwork in relief.

Ciampi was commissioned to develop the Downtown Plan for San Francisco in 1963, including beautification of Market Street, Embarcadero, Hallidie, and United Nations Plazas.

[15] Mario Ciampi received the National Award AIA for construction of plazas and beautification of Market Street, San Francisco.