Albany Bulb

The story

Throughout the 1900s, trucks backed up to the East Bay shoreline and emptied ton after ton of industrial waste—jagged rebar, crushed asphalt, brick, and concrete foundation slabs—directly into San Francisco Bay. By the time the dumping finally stopped, the accumulated rubble had formed a jagged, man-made peninsula at the foot of Buchanan Street. Rather than decaying quietly into an industrial wasteland, the site was slowly co-opted by sea wind, wild vegetation, and a loose community of outsider artists and renegade builders who saw the landfill as a free quarry of raw materials.

What exists today is an unsanctioned, ever-evolving outdoor sculpture garden built out of trash and marine debris. Its most famous survivor is Mad Marc's rebar-and-concrete castle, which dodged city demolition when its builder argued in court that it was a work of art rather than an illegal shelter. Farther along the unmarked dirt paths, you'll find SNIFF—a 25-foot driftwood vessel outfitted with a curse against prospective vandals—alongside metal sea gods, disintegrating Styrofoam archways, and boulders painted with bright murals. Because no park ranger or curator maintains the site, winter storms, high tides, and anonymous builders alter the installations year after year.