Architecture of San Francisco

The architecture of San Francisco is not so much known for defining a particular architectural style; rather, with its interesting and challenging variations in geography and topology and tumultuous history, San Francisco is known worldwide for its particularly eclectic mix of Victorian^[1] and modern architecture.^[2] Bay windows were identified as a defining characteristic of San Francisco architecture in a 2012 study that had a machine learning algorithm examine a random sample of 25,000 photos of cities from Google Street View.^[3]

Icons of San Francisco architecture include the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, Coit Tower, the Palace of Fine Arts, Lombard Street, Alamo Square, Fort Point, the Transamerica Pyramid, and Chinatown.^[4] Included below are summaries of the historical significance of some of these great San Franciscan architectural achievements.

Fort Point

At the foot of the Golden Gate bridge is Fort Point, built to protect the Bay from naval attacks. Designed to allow cannons to hit enemy ships at water level, Fort Point is the only one of its kind in the west. It was originally constructed under the leadership of Spanish Lieutenant Jose Joaquin Moraga. Moraga had been sent up from Monterey, about 100 miles south of San Francisco, to build fortifications in the San Francisco Bay in order to secure Spanish control over the whole area. In 1792, he built a Presidio style fort, which had sufficient fortifications, but was clearly not strong enough to truly act as the main defense of the harbor.

In 1796, Moraga redesigned the fort and gave it the name, Castillo de San Joaquín. Unfortunately, the fort was built from adobe brick and constructed on sand, meaning that the adobe cracked when one of the cannons was fired and that each winter the Fort would be heavily damaged from the weather. After the Mexican War of Independence in 1821, the Spanish were forced to abandon all of posts in California, including the Castillo. Once the fort was abandoned, the Mexican government attempted to maintain it and others of its kind, but the young government simply did not have the resources to do so. All of the forts in California were abandoned by 1835.

After California was granted statehood in 1850, the fort still sat unused until 1856, when the United States government allotted $500,000 (about $14 million in today's money) to install fortifications in California. The people in charge of the fortifications decided to rebuild The Castillo de San Joaquín, but using much more modern materials and building techniques. The fort was built on a granite foundation with masonry walls 12 feet thick. The fort was loaded with weapons and renamed Fort Point. At the time, the fort was incredibly impressive and served as the main fortification protecting the San Francisco bay. It was also the most powerful heavily fortified fort on the west coast when it was built. However, after the civil war, masonry forts of its type were rendered technologically obsolete, leaving Fort Point as simply a testament to San Francisco's pre-Civil War military might.

The Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge is the most instantly recognizable structure in the city of San Francisco. The bridge spans almost two miles across the Golden Gate, the narrow strait where San Francisco Bay opens to meet the Pacific Ocean, connecting the city with Marin County, California.

The concept of a Golden Gate Bridge started with a journalist named James Wilking. Wilking promoted the idea that a bridge across the Golden Gate would bring many benefits. The idea for this bridge had surfaced forty years earlier, but over time people had lost interest, at least until Wilking revived the idea. In 1919, authorities commissioned Joseph Strauss to conduct a survey of the proposed site for the bridge. The main argument in favor of the bridge's construction was that it would help encourage development north of San Francisco.

Strauss became fascinated with the bridge, and began drawing up plans and making calculations for the bridge's construction. After 10 years of planning, the Golden Gate Bridge Company was formed and Strauss was appointed chief engineer for the project. Engineers Charles Alton Ellis and Irving Morrow also joined the project, with Ellis being appointed as the San Francisco representative. These three men can be credited for the design elements featured in the Golden Gate today.

By 1930, the Golden Gate project had gained sufficient support from the public to ensure passage of a $35 million bond to finance the construction of the bridge. Construction of the bridge started in 1933 and would last until May 27, 1937. It was the longest suspension bridge in the world upon its completion and was considered a masterful feat of architectural engineering, designed to hold 5,700 lb/ft on its roadway and 2,000 lb/ft on its walkways.

Gallery

Examples of architecture in San Francisco

San Francisco in 1851
San Francisco's Chinatown is the oldest and one of the largest in North America.
Chinatown at the intersection of Clay Street and Grant Avenue, which is one of the oldest streets in Chinatown
The Ambassador Hotel is an example of the architecture closer to downtown.
Cars navigate Lombard Street to descend Russian Hill.
The Conservatory of Flowers (front entrance) in Golden Gate Park
The Palace of Fine Arts at the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition, painted by Colin Campbell Cooper
These Victorian rowhouses are in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, California.

References

^ Prentice, Helaine Kaplan (1987). Rehab Right. Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press. ISBN 0-89815-172-4. Includes descriptions of numerous different Victorian and early 20th Century architectural styles common in the San Francisco Bay Area, particularly Oakland, and detailed instructions for repair and restoration of details common to older house styles.
^ Wiley, Peter Booth (2000). National trust guide- San Francisco: America’s guide for architecture and history travelers. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. pp. 4–5. ISBN 978-0-471-19120-9. OCLC 44313415.
^ Harris, Derrick (10 August 2012). "Big data magic trick: Show me a doorway, I'll tell you the city". GigaOM. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
^ Woodbridge, Sally Byrne and John M. (2005). San Francisco Architecture: An Illustrated Guide to the Outstanding Buildings, Public Artworks, and Parks in the Bay Area of California. Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press. pp. 19–27. ISBN 978-1580086745.

External links

Golden Gate Bridge
Great Buildings Online: Architecture of the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Architectural Heritage, SF nonprofit
List of Official SF Landmarks at Friends of 1800 Market website
List of SF Landmarks with Photos at NoeHill.com
San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection at SF Main Library
Amy Westervelt. San Francisco Architecture & Landmarks at HowStuffWorks
San Francisco Architecture Profiles on individuals and firms practicing during the first 100 years of San Francisco's growth.
Rising Steel: Two Centuries Of San Francisco Architecture (From San Francisco City Guides: Walking Tour Descriptions)

[1] Prentice, Helaine Kaplan (1987). Rehab Right. Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press. ISBN 0-89815-172-4. Includes descriptions of numerous different Victorian and early 20th Century architectural styles common in the San Francisco Bay Area, particularly Oakland, and detailed instructions for repair and restoration of details common to older house styles.

[2] Wiley, Peter Booth (2000). National trust guide- San Francisco: America’s guide for architecture and history travelers. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. pp. 4–5. ISBN 978-0-471-19120-9. OCLC 44313415.

[3] Harris, Derrick (10 August 2012). "Big data magic trick: Show me a doorway, I'll tell you the city". GigaOM. Retrieved 21 October 2012.

[4] Woodbridge, Sally Byrne and John M. (2005). San Francisco Architecture: An Illustrated Guide to the Outstanding Buildings, Public Artworks, and Parks in the Bay Area of California. Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press. pp. 19–27. ISBN 978-1580086745.

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v t e Architecture of North America
Canada	Quebec Montreal Quebec City Ottawa St. John's Toronto Vancouver
United States	Albany Allentown Atlanta Boston Buffalo Chicago Columbus Detroit Fredricksburg Houston Jacksonville Kansas City Las Vegas Miami Modern New Orleans New York City Omaha Philadelphia Plymouth Portland Puerto Rico San Antonio San Francisco Seattle St. Louis Washington, D.C.
Others	Bermuda Cuba Costa Rica Mexico

v t e Architecture of the United States
Native and indigenous	Mound Builders Pueblo
Colonial and post-colonial	Creole First Period Colonial Georgian Dutch Colonial French Colonial German Colonial Spanish Colonial Territorial
Early Republic	Adam Federal Jeffersonian Neoclassical Antebellum
Mid-19th century	Greek Revival Italianate Gothic Revival
Victorian	Richardsonian Romanesque Second Empire American Renaissance Folk Stick style Queen Anne Shingle
Late-19th to mid-20th century	Art Deco (Streamline Moderne) American Craftsman American Foursquare Beaux-Arts California bungalow Chicago School Colonial Revival Dutch Colonial Revival Georgian Revival Googie International style Mayan Revival Mediterranean Revival Mission Revival Pueblo Revival Deco Prairie School Pre-war PWA Moderne Sarasota School of Architecture Rustic Spanish Colonial Revival Territorial Revival Tudor Revival
Post–World War II	Blobitecture Brutalist Deconstructivism Dingbat Earthship High-tech Mid-century modern Modern Neo-eclectic Neo-futurism Neomodern New Classical architecture Postmodern Ranch Shed style Tiny-house Usonian
Building types and vernacular	Adirondack Adobe Barabara Cape Cod Central-passage house Chickee Corn crib Cowboy church Critical regionalism Dogtrot house Earth lodge Hogan Hall and parlor house I-house Igloo Jacal Kiva Log cabin Longhouses Moki steps Plank house Platform mound Qargi Quiggly hole Ramada Saltbox Shotgun house Sipapu Skyscraper Sod house Sweat lodge Temples Tipi Town square Tupiq Wigwam
Cities	Atlanta Boston Buffalo Chicago Columbus Detroit Houston Jacksonville Kansas City Las Vegas Los Angeles Miami New Orleans New York City Omaha Philadelphia Portland San Antonio San Francisco Seattle Spokane St. Louis Washington, D.C.
States	California Hawaii Texas

Fort Point

The Golden Gate Bridge

Gallery

See also

References

External links