Native Sons of the Golden West

 Posted by on September 2, 2014
Sep 022014
 

414 Mason Street
Union Square

Native Sons of the Golden West Building in San Francisco

The Native Sons of the Golden West Building on Mason street is an eight story, steel frame structure, with a highly ornamented façade of granite, terra cotta and brick.

Men of California History

Around the two main entrances to the building are placed medallions of men associated with the discovery and settlement of California. They are (starting at the bottom and moving up and to the right): Cabrillo, General John A. Sutter, Admiral John Drake Sloat, Peter Burnett, General A. M. Winn,  James W. Marshall,  John C. Fremont and Father Junipero Serra. These were sculpted by Jo Mora, who has been in this site many times before.

 

Men in California History

In the front of the building at the second floor are  six terra cotta panels, the work of Domingo Mora and his son, Jo. The scenes are:  “The Discovery of California”; “Civilization”; “The Raising of the Bear Flag”; “The Raising of the American Flag”; “The Pioneers”; “The Discovery of Gold.”

Civilization on the NSGW Building

*Jo Mora on the Native Sons of the Golden West Building

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Jo Mora sculptures

 

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Epochs in Pioneer History

 

Sadly, due to the awning on the building it is impossible to see all 6 of the panels.  I was unable to find photos of the other two anywhere, to share with you. This is the best I could do, by blowing up a photo I took from across the street.

The third Floor is marked by a line of the symbol of the State of California, the Golden Bear.

Golden Bears by Jo Mora on the NSGW Building in San Francisco
The California Bear and the Phoenix, the symbol of San Francisco, also grace the front of the building.

Pheonix the Symbol of San Francisco*

California Golden Bear on the NSGW Building in San Francisco
The Association purchased the lot from the Congregation Ohabai Shalome, for $42,500. The original Native Sons of the Golden West building built in 1895, burned down in the 1906 Fire and Earthquake.

The cost of the new building ws approximately $210,000.00

The architects of the new building were August Goonie Headman, Persio Righetti  and E. H. Hildebrand, of Righetti and Headman, a firm that operated for 5 years during the post Earthquake and Fire of 1906.

The Contractor was  P.J. Walker and Associates and the foreman on the job was Mr. J.S. Fifield.
Cornerstone of the NSGW Building in San FranciscoThe corner stone of the new building was laid February 22, 1911. It is the old corner stone saved from the fire with a new stone covering it.

An Ode to the Automobile

 Posted by on July 7, 2014
Jul 072014
 

Mason and O’Farrell Streets
Union Square

O'Farrell Mason Street Garage San Francisco

The construction of the Downtown Center Garage, now the Mason O’Farrell Garage,  harkens back to when the automobile was king.

San Francisco now has a Transit First Policy which specifically gives priority to public transit and other alternatives to the private automobile as the means of meeting San Francisco’s transportation needs.  Essentially this means that this garage would never have been built in today’s times.

Built in 1953, and situated between Union Square and the then vital theater district,  is was meant to augment the Union Square Parking Garage and contained 1,200 parking stalls.

Architecture of San Francisco

 The Downtown Center Garage is nine-levels and constructed of reinforced-concrete. Pairs of circular, spiral ramps extend up from the basement to the roof at the southeast corner of the building. The concrete slabs and walls bear the impressions of plywood board forms and the columns of the Sono-tube forms used to create them. The circular ramps are expressed on the exterior of the building as curved and slightly inclined slabs that spiral upward, helix-like, toward the roof. Thin, tubular steel railings wrap around the perimeter of the slabs, providing protection to users as well as a modern decorative motif.

Architect and Engineer Magazine 1950's San Francisco

The structure, featured in the 1955 Architect and Engineer was designed by George Applegarth (1875-1972).

Applegarth, born in Oakland, was a student of Bernard Maybeck, who encouraged him to train at the Ecoles des Beaux-Arts.

Applegarth’s most famous works were under the commission of Alma de Bretteville Spreckles.  He designed both the Spreckles Mansion and the Palace of the Legion of Honor for Alma.

In 1921 and 1922, Applegarth was President of the San Francisco Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. During the 1920’s he had begun to make plans for the parking garage that now stands under Union Square, the project was eventually given to Timothy Pflueger and not completed until 1942.  In 1952, he started researching double-spiral ramp, multi-story, self-parking structures which gave us one of his last major projects in San Francisco, the Downtown Center Garage.

Architecture in San FranciscoA shot from the 1955 Architect and Engineer.  Notice the lack of safety equipment.

Parking Garages of San FranciscoFrom the 1955 Architect and Engineer Magazine

The shopping strip along the exterior of the building was added sometime in the 1980’s.

The Rialto Building

 Posted by on July 2, 2014
Jul 022014
 

116 New Montgomery
South of Market

San Francisco's Rialto Building

I became intrigued with this building when a friend showed me this Black and White photo in the lobby of the Rialto.

SF Earthquake Rialto Building

(Note: the round building on the left is the Crossley building)

The Rialto is an eight-story H-shaped plan with center light courts.  It has a steel frame clad in brick and terra cotta. The eighth story is highly ornamented. The façade accommodated the lack of interior partition walls by providing a large space between the window mullions. This allowed partitions to be erected between the windows once floors were leased.  Since the interior lacked dividing partition walls, tenants could rent large floor areas that could be configured according to their needs.

The Rialto Building SF Originally constructed in 1902, it was reconstructed in 1910 after the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. The original 1902 building façade was maintained. The 1910 reconstruction consisted primarily of structural improvements.

Rialto Building SF Interior

In 1902, during the 20th century building boom, Herbert Law financed construction of the Rialto Building, as well as the Crossley Building.  The Rialto was named after a commercial center in Venice, Italy, a rialto is an exchange or mart.

Law hired the architectural firm of Meyer & O’Brien. Meyer & O’Brien, who despite only operating between 1902 and 1908, were prolific in the Financial District, designing some of San Francisco’s most prominent buildings, including the Monadnock Building, 637-687 Market Street (1906); the Humboldt Bank Building, 793- 785 Market Street (1906); the Hastings Building, 180 Post Street (1908); the Foxcroft Building, 68-82 Post Street (1908); and the Cadillac Hotel, 380 Eddy Street (1909).

Photo from Meyer & O'Brien lobby. Exact date not determined.

Photo from Meyer & O’Brien lobby. Exact date not determined.

Front of the Rialto Building in San FraciscoTerra Cotta work by Steiger Terra Cotta and Pottery Works

After the 1906 Fire and Earthquake Bliss & Faville was hired to supervise the reconstruction of the Rialto Building, as Meyer & O’Brien were no longer architectural partners and Bliss & Faville had gained prominence. Bliss & Faville was among the most established architectural firms in San Francisco during the reconstruction period after the Earthquake and Fire.

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In June 1910, the San Francisco Call newspaper ran this article:

“The reconstruction of the old Rialto building at the corner of Mission and New Montgomery streets has begun. Dr. Hartland Law, the owner, is preparing to spend about $500,000 in rebuilding it on a handsomer plan than the original structure. The old building was erected in 1901 at a cost of $650,000.

The great fire left it a complete wreck. The walls have stood, but the steel frame was so bent and twisted most of it has had to be taken out. New steel columns have been put in from basement to roof. All the steel is being fireproofed with cement this time, instead of with terra cotta, as previously. The fireproof flooring is already in on the two upper stories. All the reconstruction work will be of class A quality throughout. The outer brick work will be cleaned and treated in some way to brighten it up and make it look like an entirely new building. The corridors will be wainscoted with marble and will have a flooring of mosaic tiling. They will be wider and brighter than in the old building. The woodwork of the building will be of oak. Metal doors probably will be put in. Special attention is being paid to the plumbing equipment. There will be a vacuum cleaning system and compressed air supplied to all the offices. There will be four high speed elevators, the contract for putting them in having already been let. The light, heat and power for the building will be supplied from a plant being constructed on a lot adjoining the main building. A special feature will be equipment for sterilizing water for drinking purposes. After the heating process it will be cooled and distributed to every suite in the building by faucets. In this and other ways Doctor Low [sic] has studiously endeavored to make the new building thoroughly modern and up to date in every particular. McDonald & Kahn have general engineering charge of the whole reconstruction work and are letting all the contracts. Bliss & Faville are the architects.”

September 1906

September 1906

When the work on the Rialto Building was complete, the project was lauded as the building that restored faith in the City. The Rialto Building had been the feature of numerous newspaper articles during the reconstruction period because of its location and because the building shell had remained intact and highly visible.

The Adam Grant Building

 Posted by on January 19, 2013
Jan 192013
 

114 Sansome Street
Financial District

Entryway to the Adam Grant BuildingThe garland façade, as well as the coffered entryway, were removed in the 1960s.

Over the course of its 145-year history, the Adam Grant Building at 114 Sansome Street has gone through several iterations. Constructed in 1867, the first building housed the dry goods business of Daniel Murphy and Adam Grant. Architect John Gaynor incorporated 250 tons of iron into this four-story brick structure located  at the  corner of Sansome and Bush Streets.  As a result, the 1868 Joint Committee on Earthquakes honored Gaynor, citing his structure as an exemplar of earthquake-resistant building. Ironically, exemplar or no, the building did not survive the 1906 quake.

In 1908, the Murphy Grant Company hired John Galen Howard and John (J.D.) Galloway Architects to construct a new building (on the same site) for their growing business. This second building, while often characterized as Beaux Arts, incorporated only the sculptural ornamentation characteristic of this architectural style. Otherwise, it was a very simple structure, standing six stories tall.

Adam Grant Building UrnsNine-foot ornamented urns placed in a set-back corner

In 1926, Murphy Grant and Company moved their dry goods business out of the downtown area, and the building was again redesigned. Under the leadership of architect Lewis P. Hobart, eight more floors were added, and the building was converted into office spaces. In this third (and most current) iteration of  the Adam Grant Building, the first 11 floors are topped with three recessed stories with set-back corners. The large open space created by the set-back corners on the 12th floor are utilized as a terrace. During the 1926 construction, four 9-foot ornamented urns were placed at each terrace corner.

Adam Grant BuildingThe ornamental garland, removed in the 1960s, was replaced in the 2000 restoration by Michael H. Casey Designs.

By the 1960s, architectural styles had changed, and the ornamentation of the main lobby and the entryway were removed.

In 1978, the State of California enacted laws requiring that external ornamentation on buildings in earthquake zones be secured. This resulted in the removal not only of the urns from the Adam Grant building but of a considerable amount of architectural ornamentation from buildings throughout San Francisco (removal often proved easier than securing items).

Interior Lobby of the Adam Grant BuildingThe interior coffered ceiling, removed in the 1960s, was replaced in the 2000 restoration.

In 2000, the current owners, Ellis Partners (owners and restorers of the Hunter Dulin Building), hired the architectural firm of Ottolini and Booth to restore the Adam Grant building to its earlier pre-1960s grandeur. Working with the original 1906 and 1926 architectural drawings, the Beaux Arts entry façade and lobby coffered ceilings were recreated by Michael H. Casey Designs. Clervi Marble restored the marble floor of the lobby. And the exterior was graced, once again, by four 9-foot urns. These new urns, sculpted by Michael H. Casey Designs, were made of fiberglass, as it was surmised the originals, assumed to be terra cotta, weighed in excess of 1500 pounds.

Due to the care taken during the restoration, the Adam Grant Building has received an “A” rating from the Foundation for San Francisco’s Architectural Heritage. This means that the building is one of the most important buildings in downtown San Francisco.  It is distinguished by outstanding qualities of architecture, historical values, and relationship to the environment.

The Adam Grant Building

Jan 172013
 

1360 Montgomery Street
The Malloch Apartments
Telegraph Hill

Scraffito on Telegraph HillThe Spirit of California.

Muralist Alfred Du Pont (also known as Dupont) was hired to design the images that grace the exterior 1360 Montgomery Street. Du Pont produced two 40-foot high silvery figures in sgraffito, or raised plaster, on the western facade of the building, and a third on the north side. Du Pont applied colored concrete to the exterior and carved it into shape.

Sgraffito

Sgraffito on walls has been used in Europe since classical times, and it was common in Italy in the 16th century, and can be found in African art. In combination with ornamental decoration these techniques formed an alternative to the prevailing painting of walls. The procedures are similar to the painting of frescoes.

Spanish ExplorerSpanish Explorer

As a teenager Dupont ran away from home and rode the rails to San Francisco. His art studies were at the CSFA, UC, and CCAC. Active as a muralist in the 1930s, he painted ceilings at Hearst Castle and other public places in southern California. At the Golden Gate International Exhibition of 1939 he painted murals in the mining building. While serving in the Navy during WWII, he did illustrations of ships and manuals and painted portraits of Admirals Nimitz and Halsey. He received two Purple Hearts for wounds received when Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941 and in the battle of Okinawa in 1945. After the war he settled in Laguna Beach and painted many marines and coastals of that area. On March 2, 1982 Dupont suffered a heart attack while driving in Newport Beach and died of the injuries.

The Malloch Building has a fascinating history and is well worth the read.

1360 Montgomery Street

450 Sutter, A Mayan Palace

 Posted by on December 22, 2012
Dec 222012
 

450 Sutter Street450 Sutter Street is San Francisco’s monument to the Mayan Revival branch of Art Deco.

Art Deco draws on a variety of sources including Art Nouveau, Cubism and the American Arts and Crafts Movement. Art Deco celebrates the technological wonders of the early 20th century, the frivolities of the roaring twenties, and the hard times of the Great Depression.

Art Deco is commonly divided into three related design trends: Streamline Moderne, Classical Moderne and Zigzag Moderne. Zigzag, represented by angular patterns and stylized geometry, flourished in large cities and was primarily used for public and commercial buildings.

The Mayan Revival (also called neo-Mayan) was one of the facets of Zigzag Moderne. Mayan Revival was used primarily in the 1920s and ’30s. Although it was named “Mayan,” it drew on the motifs of many of the Meso-American cultures, such as Mexica and Aztec.

450 Sutter Street

 

 

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450 Sutter Street Exterior Detail450 Sutter Street, completed in 1929, was designed by James Rupert Miller and Timothy L. Pflueger. A steel curtain-wall building, 450 Sutter broke from tradition with the building’s skin design. Miller and Pflueger covered the 26 floors with heavy Mayan Revival style patterns-undulating verticals of ornamented terracotta run from the first floor to the roof. The addition of horizontal bands of windows adds to the overall effect of richness and complexity. The street level and entry are cast in aluminum. In the lobby, cast bronze alternates with Burgundy/Levanto marble.

The building was designed and built for dental salesman Francis Edward Morgan Jr. at a cost of $5 million (including the land). The building was built specifically to house doctors’ and dentists’ offices. According to advertisements, offices could be custom outfitted with electrical and plumbing as the tenant needed. Rents began at $50 a month for three rooms and $100 a month for five. At the time of its construction, it was not only the second tallest building in San Francisco, but said to be the largest medical office building in the world.

450 Sutter - Entry way

 

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450 Sutter CanopyThe unusual motifs and ornamentation of this grand building received mixed reviews at the time of its opening. The San Francisco Chronicle quieted any discord with the following 1929 review:

“Speculation has been rife as to the meaning of these graceful symbols, but their meaning is negligible-they justify themselves by being graceful and attractive. They give the front of the building just enough feeling of movement to emphasize the general vitality of a severe but thoroughly virile design. They tell the passerby any story he chooses to read into them-and that is poetry.”

450 Sutter was one of the last great skyscrapers to be built in San Francisco in the first half of the century.

450 Sutter Street Lobby CeilingCast bronze and cast aluminum lobby ceiling

Elevator DoorsCast aluminum elevator doors surrounded by burgundy/levanto marble

The Sentinel Building in North Beach

 Posted by on August 25, 2011
Aug 252011
 
North Beach
Sentinel Building
The Columbus Tower, also known as the Sentinel Building, or to most as Zoetrope sits at the corners of Columbus Avenue, Kearny Street and Jackson Street.   It is a flatiron building with a distinctive copper-green exterior.  Designed by Salfield and Kohlberg the building is clad in white tile and copper. Construction was begun before the 1906 earthquake and fire. The framing survived the disaster, and the building was completed in 1907.  The top floor initially housed the real estate offices of the notorious Abe Ruef, a local political figure who spent time in San Quentin for graft.  The Kingston Trio owned the building and used it as their corporate headquarters during the 1960s.
By the early 1970s the building was falling gradually into a state of mild disrepair. The film director Francis Ford Coppola purchased the building, and renovated it into the building that can be seen today. Coppola then set up his own business in the building American Zoetrope, and it remains there to this day.  The bottom floor is his restaurant Zoetrope, which is what most people see and why most people call it that.
To learn more about the Sentinel Read my article at Untapped Cities

The Faces of 50 UN Plaza

 Posted by on March 7, 2001
Mar 072001
 

50 UN Plaza
City Center

The Federal Building in San Francisco

The Federal Building of San Francisco was vacated by the US Government in 2007 when they built a newer building in Civic Center.  It has recently undergone a $121 million restoration and will be the offices of Section 9 GSA.

This article is about the exterior of the building.

entryway to 50 UN Plaza

In 1927, the government allocated $2.5 million for the Federal Building’s design and construction, although final costs reached a total of $3 million.  Architect Arthur Brown, Jr. designed the building, which was constructed between 1934 and 1936.

Arthur Brown, Jr. (1874-1957) was born in Oakland, California. He graduated from the University of California in 1896, where he and his future partner, John Bakewell, Jr. were protégés of Bernard Maybeck. Brown went to Paris and graduated from the École des Beaux Arts in 1901. Before returning to San Francisco to establish his practice with Bakewell, the firm designed the rotunda for the “City of Paris” in the Neiman Marcus department store in San Francisco. Other notable San Francisco buildings include Coit Tower; San Francisco War Memorial Opera House; and the War Memorial Veterans Building. He was a consulting architect for the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge.

The Federal Building is an excellent example of Second Renaissance Revival architecture. The six-story steel frame is encased in fireproof concrete with concrete flooring and roof slabs, important features after the 1906 earthquake and fire. The street elevation walls are constructed of brick but faced with granite, with the exception of a section of the McAllister Street elevation, which is faced in terra cotta.

Eagles over the front door at 50 UN Plaza

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50 UN Plaza

Male and female mascarons (carved faces) adorn the exterior. The carvings sport different horticulturally themed headpieces, including corn, wheat, cat tails, and oak leaves. There are 18 of them in total.

Faces on 50 UN building

Sadly it is not known who did all these wonderful carvings for the building.

50 Un Plaza Faces

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Faces of 50 UN Plaza

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Faces of 50 UN Plaza

 

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