Public Art and Architecture from Around the World

55 Stockton Street – Looking up

Posted by Cindy on May 8, 2013

May 082013

55 Stockton Street Union Square / Market Street This building, designed by Heller Manus Architects in 1989 stands at a very busy corner one block off of Union Square. If you look closely you can see 14 figures drumming or holding spheres. * According to the Smithsonian Institute, these figures were done by Tom Otterness. Mr. Otterness has a difficult history with the City of San Francisco. In 1977, at the age of 25 Otterness bought a shelter dog, tied it to a fence and shot it on camera. He displayed the footage in an art exhibit in a constant Continue Reading

When Infrastructure Buildings Kept Beauty in Mind

Posted by Cindy on May 6, 2013

May 062013

When Infrastructure Buildings Kept Beauty in Mind

2920 23rd Avenue Merced Manor / Sunset District This classical building is the Central Pump Station. Designed by Willis Polk and built in 1936, it sits atop the asphalt capped Merced Manor Reservoir which holds 9.5 million gallons of water to supply the city of San Francisco. The building has been attributed to N. A. Eckart by some, but he was the General Manager and Chief Engineer of the Water department. The City and County of San Francisco through the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, owns and operates a regional water system that serves 2.4 million people, primarily in San Continue Reading

The Insurance Exchange

Posted by Cindy on May 4, 2013

May 042013

Insurance Exchange Building 433 California Street Financial District Turning 100 years old this year, the Insurance Exchange was designed by Willis Polk. This highly ornamented building is complimented by its sister building the Merchant’s Exchange next door. The highly decorated exterior of the building, flanked with majestic Corinthian columns and topped with a very detailed cornice simply commands attention. The ornamentation is derived from Renaissance/Baroque sources. The building exemplifies the City Beautiful Movement in its simultaneous success as urban architecture, achieved through form and composition, and as an individual building, achieved in the quality of its details. Insurance Exchange Cornice Continue Reading

A Gothic Revival Gem

Posted by Cindy on May 3, 2013

May 032013

St. Francis of Assisi Church 624 Vallejo Street North Beach This was the first parish church in San Francisco after Mission Dolores. The cornerstone of the present building was laid in December, 1857, and the church was dedicated in 1860. This twin towered Victorian Gothic Revival church, in the heart of North Beach, was gutted by the fire of 1906. It was rebuilt in 1913. The walls and the two towers survived the fire, so the church we see today is almost identical to the original that was built in the 1850’s. The original architect was Charles J. Devlin. The Thomas Continue Reading

Carl G. Larsen. Chickens to Jet Fighters

Posted by Cindy on May 2, 2013

May 022013

Carl G. Larsen. Chickens to Jet Fighters

Larsen Park 19th Avenue at Ulloa Sunset District This plaque can be found on the corner of 19th Avenue and Ulloa. The plaque was done by M. Earl Cummings in 1913 of Carl G. Larsen. Cummings has appeared prominently in this website for the many sculptures he has done around town. “In the late 1800s, many speculators began buying land in the Sunset District. By the early twentieth century, landowners in the area included Michael deYoung, Fernando Nelson, and Adolph Sutro. But one of the largest land owners, Carl Larsen, also had other ties to the district. Larsen did not live in the Sunset District, but Continue Reading

Tigers and Cougars at the Zoo

Posted by Cindy on April 30, 2013

Apr 302013

San Francisco Zoo Outer Sunset Tiger II by Gwynn Murrill Gwynn Murrill has always worked with animals as her subject matter. She captures the beauty of her subjects and their particular postures with astonishing authority. Stripped of surface detail and complexity, the subject is reduced to the essence of its being and the sculptures are almost abstract in their contemplation of pure form. Her creatures roam amongst us, inviting interaction, yet remain intent on their own purposes, directed by their own passions, their inner life inaccessible to us. Gwynn was born June 15, 1942 in Ann Arbor, Michigan she holds Continue Reading

Sand One comes to San Francisco

Posted by Cindy on April 29, 2013

Apr 292013

Leavenworth and Turk The Tenderloin This mural is titled Any Man’s Land and is by Sand One. The name seems especially appropriate to me as there was a crack deal going on as I was taking this photo. The street corner really is Any man’s land. According to Sand One’s Facebook page, she is a Street artist based out of Los Angeles California,influenced by the L.A chicano culture Sand characters come with lots of attitude flavor and funk! This is straight from a great interview she did with the LAist: At 19 years old, Sand One has put her art Continue Reading

A Fossil on the Great Highway

Posted by Cindy on April 27, 2013

Apr 272013

The Great Highway at Pacheco Outer Sunset Fossil by Mary Chomenko Hinckley – 1989 A cast bronze medallion inset into the sidewalk depicts the history of the Ocean Beach and incorporates elements discovered or retrieved from the neighborhood into the design. According to Mary’s website: Her work seeks to illuminate the hidden relationships between found objects. Darwin discovered order in nature’s chaos, Surrealists sought the same; trying to distill sense in nature. The juxtaposition of images and objects from disparate locales generates new insights into the interrelationships between nature and civilization. Found objects, bits and bytes from Silicon Valley junk bins, building blocks Continue Reading

The Masonic Temple – 25 Van Ness

Posted by Cindy on April 26, 2013

Apr 262013

Masonic Temple 25 Van Ness Civic Center Walter Danforth Bliss and William Baker Faville were the architects of this, the second Masonic Lodge in San Francisco. The first lodge, at 1 Montgomery Street, was built in 1860 and burned down in the 1906 fire. In 1911 the Masonic Temple Association, headed by William Crocker, laid a 12—ton cornerstone (the largest ever in California at that time) for their new building. Two years later a grand parade of 8,000 Masons, with Knights Templar on horseback, marked its dedication. Cornerstone An outstanding example of the Beaux-Arts period, the temple is primarily Italian Gothic in Continue Reading

Incomplete Metamorphosis

Posted by Cindy on April 25, 2013

Apr 252013

Argonne Park 18th Avenue between Geary and Anza Inner Richmond * Artist Joyce Hsu combines her personal memories of summer adventures with a complex skeletal structure similar to an airplane to create two unique artworks for Argonne Playground. These two sculptures, Firefly and Dragonfly each grace one of the two entrances to the park. Hsu explains that the title, “Incomplete Metamorphosis” is a scientific term describing a particular type of life cycle of insects. Hsu has adopted the term, but not its specific meaning. She has created her own meaning, seeing in the term a way to describe her insect Continue Reading

PreCast Concretes’ Role in San Francisco

Posted by Cindy on April 24, 2013

Apr 242013

PreCast Concretes' Role in San Francisco

The Tulip at Embarcadero Center Four Concrete began as a structural component of architecture. A mixture of cement, aggregate and water, concrete has been used as a building material for over a millennia. It was only in the 1920s, however, that technical innovation allowed for precast concrete to become an acceptable substitute for stone in architectural ornamentation. Moreover, by the late 1950s, precast concrete was a direct competitor with metal-and-glass curtain wall systems. Architectural precast concrete is a broad term for concrete that is colored, shaped, finished or textured for architectural effect. Its appearance can be altered through techniques such Continue Reading

Edison and DaVinci by Olmsted

Posted by Cindy on April 23, 2013

Apr 232013

CCSF Ocean View Campus 50 Phelan Sunnyside * According to CCSF’s website “Archibald Cloud, the Chief Deputy Superintendent of the San Francisco Unified School District, began in 1930 to vigorously articulate a long held educational dream: that the “premier” county in the State—San Francisco—must have the same educational “jewel” as did 38 of the State’s 58 counties. That is, it must have a junior college! Cloud hired world prominent architect, Timothy Pflueger. The two rapidly moved ahead with the design and the construction of the gymnasiums as well as Science Hall, a building they were determined to make into “a showplace Continue Reading

Swimming through Jessie Square

Posted by Cindy on April 22, 2013

Apr 222013

Site of the future Mexican Museum 706 Mission District Museum Row SOMA This is titled Exploring New Territory and is by Henry Lipkis. This wall is the edge of the construction site for the forthcoming Mexican Museum, so the piece will be temporary. This is from Henry’s blog: “Back in October I painted my first big public mural in San Francisco. It started back in July when I applied to do an interactive mural as a performance piece for Yerba Buena Night, a cultural art happening in Jessie Square. At first I was going to get a big roll of Continue Reading

Notre Dame des Victoires Church

Posted by Cindy on April 20, 2013

Apr 202013

566 Bush Street Union Square/Chinatown There are a handful of buildings in San Francisco that turn 100 this year. This will be the beginning of my covering those buildings over the next few weeks. Notre Dame des Victoires is one of the names for the Virgin Mary. This statue of Jesus’ mother is in front of the French church, Notre Dame des Victoires. The French priest, Père Langlois journeyed to Oregon in 1842 with French Canadian trappers under the auspices of the Hudson Bay Company. He arrived in San Francisco in 1848. On July 19 of that year, he celebrated Continue Reading

Fish Tale

Posted by Cindy on April 19, 2013

Apr 192013

San Francisco General Hospital Potrero Hill Fish Tale by Hilda Shum was done in 1995. A stainless steel sculpture of an abstract fish tail rises from a mosaic “pool” of green and blue tiles. The fish is a symbol of transformation in many cultures and, as such, has special significance for this facility, which is the Skilled Mental Health Nursing Facility at San Francisco General Hospital. Shum is a Canadian artist born in 1957. The Sculpture is Stainless Steel and Mosaic. It is owned by the San Francisco Art Commission. **

Dance of the Cubes

Posted by Cindy on April 18, 2013

Apr 182013

San Francisco General Hospital Potrero Hill Dance of the Cubes is by Jacques Schnier. It is made of plastic and fiberglass and was done in 1975. Jacques Schnier taught at Berkeley for 30 years. First appointed as a Lecturer in the Department of Architecture, he retired as Professor of Art, Emeritus, in 1966. Jacques was a prolific sculptor whose work was widely exhibited and given critical recognition throughout his career. Major University recognition of Jacques’ achievements came in the form of appointment to the Institute of Creative Arts in 1963 and the awarding of the Berkeley Citation in 1970. Born Continue Reading

Torso With Arm Raised II by De Staebler

Posted by Cindy on April 17, 2013

Apr 172013

475 Sacramento Street Financial District De Staebler has appeared on this website before. Stephen De Staebler, a sculptor whose fractured, dislocated human figures gave a modern voice and a sense of mystery to traditional realist forms, died on May 13 at his home in Berkeley, Calif. He was 78. This bronze sculpture is an abstract figure of a human torso with an arm partially raised. The arm is incomplete. The sculpture was purchased for the Embarcadero Art in Public Places project.

L’Octagon by Pol Bury

Posted by Cindy on April 16, 2013

Apr 162013

353 Sansome Street The Financial District L’Octagon by Pol Bury – Marble and Steel L’Octagon is a result of the 1% for Art program in San Francisco. It is available for viewing between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm. M-F This lovely sculpture actually moves. The balls slightly fill with water on the bottom and roll approximately 90 degrees, once the water drains they roll back to their upright position. Pol Bury was born on April 26, 1922 in Haine-Saint-Pierre, Belgium. In 1939 he met the poets Achille Chavée and Andre Lorent and joined their Groupe de recherches surréalistes (Surrealist Continue Reading

Harvey Milk Rec Center

Posted by Cindy on April 15, 2013

Apr 152013

50 Scott Castro This saying is over the back entry way to the Harvey Milk Recreation Center. It is in Architectural foam and is by Michael Davis and Susan Schwartzenberg. This phrase comes from “A City of Neighborhoods,” speech Harvey Milk delivered during his inaugural dinner after his election to the Board of Supervisors in 1977. “Let’s make no mistake about this: the American dream starts with the neighborhoods, If we wish to rebuild our cities, we must first rebuild our neighborhoods. and to do that we must understand that the quality of life is more important than the standard Continue Reading

Called to Rise

Posted by Cindy on April 13, 2013

Apr 132013

235 Pine Street Financial District Called to Rise features individuals who have contributed significantly to the history of San Francisco. The figures include, Juan Bautista De Anza, Eadweard Muybridge, Makato Hagiwara, Phoebe Apperson Hearst, Chingwah Lee, Ishi, Alfred Louis Kroeber, Philip Burton, Amadeo Peter Giannini, Benjamin Franklin Norris, Timothy Pflueger, Douglas Tilden, Kurt Herbert Adler, Mary Ann Magnin, Harry Bridges, Robert Dollar, John C. Young, Howard Thurman, John Swett, Charlotte Amanda Blake Brown, Michael Maurice O’Shaughnessey. Done in 1990 the sculptor was Thomas Marsh who has another piece here in San Francisco. This bronze is part of the San Francisco Continue Reading

Folded Circle Split

Posted by Cindy on April 12, 2013

Apr 122013

201 Spear Street SOMA Financial Area Folded Circle Split by Fletcher Benton – 1984 In walking through the lobby of 201 Spear Street I tripped upon this sculpture. The office building is open from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm M-F. Fletcher Benton (born February 25, 1931 Jackson, Ohio) is from San Francisco, California He graduated from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1956. From 1964 to 1967 he taught at the San Francisco Art Institute and taught as an associate professor and then professor of art at San Jose State University from 1967-1986. Fletcher Benton began his career as an abstractionist Continue Reading

Go Bears

Posted by Cindy on April 11, 2013

Apr 112013

817 Terry Francois Way Mission Rock Resort Dogpatch Old Cal Memorial Stadium Wood * Paul Olson is a versatile and very adaptable artist working in a variety of mediums. Paul has worked as a freelance illustrator for twelve years creating unique artwork as well as adapting styles to work with illustration teams. He has created designs for print and the web for major marketing and PR firms as well as start-ups and private businesses. As a muralist, Paul has been commissioned large-scale indoor and outdoor pieces for business parks, restaurants, and offices. He has also worked with interior designers to paint Continue Reading

Tile and Bronze Column

Posted by Cindy on April 10, 2013

Apr 102013

580 Bush Street Financial District/Union Square/Chinatown This little hidden gem, done in 1992, is a collaboation of Ruth Asawa, her son Paul Lanier and artist Nancy Thompson. Ruth Asawa has been on this website many times before. I recently found this article by Milton Chen and Ruth Cox at Edutopia that gives a few new details about Asawa that I did not know. “The daughter of truck farmers, Asawa was born in 1926 in Norwalk, in southern California, one of seven children. In 1942, her family was ordered to report to the temporary incarceration center for Japanese Americans at the Santa Continue Reading

Yerba Buena Gardens

Posted by Cindy on April 9, 2013

Apr 092013

Yerba Buena Gardens SOMA South of 5th Street Yerba Buena Gardens is a two-block public park that anchors the three sides of the Yerba Buena Center (YBC). The area got its name in 1835 for the “good herb”-mint-growing in the area. YBC is officially in the South of Market Area (SOMA). Jack London first called this area “south of the slot,” in reference to the cable-car tracks that ran down the center of Market Street. In 1847 when the city fathers laid out the SOMA, it was partitioned into lots twice the size of those in the north of market area. Continue Reading

Mid Market Sees Black and White

Posted by Cindy on April 8, 2013

Apr 082013

1125 Market Street Mid Market Area This piece is a collaboration of Cannon Dill and Feral Child. Cannon Dill is from Mill Valley and presently lives in Oakland. Feral Child is a California based artist who has been working in the streets for the past five years. Influenced by folk art, activism, and the geometry within nature. These two have been collaborating around the bay area lately with a artist well known to this website, Zio Ziegler.

Sumer #24 by Larry Bell

Posted by Cindy on April 6, 2013

Apr 062013

101 Second Street SOMA Financial District Sumer #24 by Larry Bell – Bronze Sumer #24 is a result of the POPOS program and the 1% for Art program of San Francisco. While it is viewable through the windows of the building it is available for viewing up close from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm M-F. Larry Bell (born in 1939 in Chicago, Illinois) is a contemporary American artist and sculptor. He lives and works in Taos, New Mexico, and maintains a studio in Venice, California. From 1957 to 1959 he studied at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles as Continue Reading

Tile Art at Jackson Playground

Posted by Cindy on April 5, 2013

Apr 052013

Jackson Playground 17th and Arkansas Potrero One of three park reservations made by the Van Ness Ordinances of 1855 in working class Potrero Nuevo, the site was originally known as Jackson Square. Undeveloped and virtually ignored for more than 75 years, Jackson Square was made into a playground in the twentieth century. A 1930 map shows a simply landscaped park with a small building, possibly a clubhouse, on the Mariposa Street side. The same map shows what was probably an oval cinder running track occupying much of the park. Very little on it appears in the city records. It was Continue Reading

The Bell Telephone Building

Posted by Cindy on April 4, 2013

Apr 042013

140 New Montgomery SOMA South of 5th The building that stands at 140 New Montgomery was built in 1925 for the Pacific Telephone Company, part of the Bell System. It was, at the time, the first significant skyscraper in San Francisco, as well as the city’s first skyscraper in the Moderne style. According to the San Francisco Newsletter, published in 1925, “The interiors are entirely fireproof and are exceptionally well lighted. Its features include a cafeteria for women employees and an assembly hall seating 400 people.” It was also the first building to be wired so that each desk could Continue Reading

The Fire Next Time II

Posted by Cindy on April 2, 2013

Apr 022013

Joseph P. Lee Rec Center 1395 Mendell Backside Bayview Fire Next Time II Excerpt from San Francisco Bay Area Murals by Timothy W. Drescher regarding the original mural: Crumpler depicted three aspects of black people’s lives in the United States: education, religion, and culture. The contemporary figures, a teacher and student, athletes and dancers, are watched over by exemplary portraits of Harriet Tubman and Paul Robeson. Above them are two Senufo birds which are mythical beings in Africa but here oversee the cultural and creative lives of the community… By 1984, Crumpler continued the mural on the adjacent gymnasium at Continue Reading

The Sentinel a Flat Iron Building that Makes its Mark

Posted by Cindy on March 30, 2013

Mar 302013

The Sentinel a Flat Iron Building that Makes its Mark

916 Geary North Beach The Sentinel Building, also known as Columbus Tower, sits at the corners of Columbus Avenue, Kearny Street and Jackson Street. The building is a classic Beaux-Arts flatiron. Flatiron buildings were structures built primarily between 1880 and 1926. Most flatirons were built in either the Beaux-Arts or Renaissance Revival architectural style that was popular at the time. These types of buildings are called flatirons because they are shaped like a flat clothes iron. This design is necessary for the trapezoid or triangular-shaped lots that are commonly found in 19th-and-20th century city grids. These odd-shaped lots appeared when Continue Reading

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