Public Art and Architecture from Around the World

Totem Phoenix

Posted by Cindy on March 22, 2001

Mar 222001

Financial District/SOMA 595 Market at Stevenson and 2nd Street Totem Phoenix by Dan Dykes * The piece is registered with the Smithsonian. The piece was done in 1988, is stainless steel and weighs one ton. Dan Dykes is a site-sensitive sculptor who works in a variety of media, including stone, bronze and stainless steel. His work synthesizes various forms of nature, fusing diverse images to capture the vibrancy of life. He is a recognized master of metal fabrication and has travelled nationally teaching for the International Sculpture Conference. He was educated at the University of Oregon and is well known Continue Reading

Admission Day Monument on Market Street

Posted by Cindy on March 21, 2001

Mar 212001

Admission Day Monument Market, Post and Montgomery Streets Like the Mechanics Monument down the street, this work is by Douglas Tilden. Commissioned by Mayor James D. Phelan and unveiled on September 5, 1897. The monument commemorates the admission of California into the Union. The angel atop the statue is said to have been modeled after the artist’s wife. The angel carries an open book, inscribed “September 9, 1850” the date California became a state. The miner holds a pick behind his back, is armed with a six-shooter and is waving a flag in his left hand. The monument stood for 51 Continue Reading

Monadnock Building

Posted by Cindy on March 20, 2001

Mar 202001

Monadnock Building 685 Market Street San Francisco The Monadnock building has a fascinating history, and their website does a nice job of laying it out. They also describe the murals: The twenty-four foot barrel-vaulted atrium lobby has outstanding Tiepolo-inspired trompe l’oeil murals, featuring famous people from the city’s past, by the Evans and Brown Co. The theme of this mural is “San Francisco Renaissance.” It is painted in the Renaissance Baroque style trompe l’oeil (which means to fool the eye) and chosen because the facade of this building was inspired by that period. That is why all these San Francisco Continue Reading

Lotta’s Fountain

Posted by Cindy on March 19, 2001

Mar 192001

Lotta’s Fountain Market Street at Geary and Kearney Lotta’s fountain is probably one of the best known landmarks and pieces of public art in the city. It is also the oldest surviving monument in San Francisco, Lotta’s fountain was donated by singer/dancer Charlotte Mignon (Lotta) Crabtree in 1875. Lotta began her career as a young girl performing for miners in the gold country and went on to become one of America’s most popular stage performers. The fountain was cast in Philadelphia, shipped to San Francisco on an 18,000 mile sea journey around Cape Horn reassembled and presented to the citizens of Continue Reading

Locks and Keys for Harry Bridges

Posted by Cindy on March 18, 2001

Mar 182001

Lining the 200 Block of Stevenson Street Off of 3rd near Market Locks and Keys For Harry Bridges was commissioned by Millennium Partners/ WGB Ventures Inc and the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency. The piece is by artist Mildred Howard, who has been in this site before. Howard is known for her sculptural installations and mixed media assemblage work, Mildred Howard has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Adeline Kent Award from the San Francisco Art Institute, the Joan Mitchell Foundation and a fellow-ship from the California Arts Council. When Howard was asked how she came by the Continue Reading

Market Street Angel

Posted by Cindy on March 17, 2001

Mar 172001

720 Market Street Angel by Stephen de Staebler Kenneth Baker of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote this in 2002 “Several years ago a winged bronze figure by Bay Area’s sculptor Stephen de Staebler appeared without fanfare, nestled against a building facade on Market Street. Looking gnawed by time, as de Stabler’s figures typically do, it reads as an elegy for the waning of humanism, in the symbolic form of a ruined angel. By not overreaching in scale, content or its bid for attention, the piece achieves an improbable grandeur ” * From DeStaebler’s obituary in the New York Times: Continue Reading

Two Old Banks Still Stand Proud

Posted by Cindy on March 16, 2001

Mar 162001

Grant Avenue and Market Street Many critics of historical preservation projects complain that the process leaves the building frozen in time. Adaptive re-use proves that this does not need to be the case. Adaptive re-use, which adapts buildings for new uses while retaining their historic features, can also a sustainable form of development that reduces waste, uses less energy and scales down on the consumption of building materials. San Francisco’s Ghirardelli Square remodel in 1964 marked the first adaptive re-use project in the United States and San Francisco has never looked back. A prime example of adaptive re-use in San Continue Reading

The Humboldt Bank Building

Posted by Cindy on March 15, 2001

Mar 152001

785 Market Street When the 1906 earthquake struck, construction of the Humboldt Bank Building was already underway. Fortunately only the foundation had been laid, leaving the architect the leeway to make necessary changes. The architect, Frederick H. Meyer, used this opportunity to incorporate every known fire and safety feature of the time into the new structure. The Humboldt Bank Building is a classic Beaux Arts building. One of the many Beaux Arts principals Meyer incorporated into the design was a hierarchy of space. In this case, a grand entrance lobby is topped by 19 floors of functional office space. The entryway to the Continue Reading

Market Street Clock

Posted by Cindy on March 14, 2001

Mar 142001

870 Market Street Samuels Clock Purchased by Albert Samuels in 1915, (the year of the Pan Pacific Exhibition) the Samuel’s clock was originally in front of Samuels Jewelry Store at 5th & Market Streets. In 1943 Mr. Samuels purchased the property at 856 Market and moved his company. The clock was moved to its present location and remained in operation until August 1967, when it was placed in storage during the construction of BART. Because of conflict with the Market Street beautification and tree-planting scheme, the clock almost didn’t make it back, but after strongly expressed public opinion, Continue Reading

Path of Gold Street Lamps

Posted by Cindy on March 13, 2001

Mar 132001

Market Street The Ferry Building to Castro Street * * * Known as the Path of Gold due to their golden hue which emanates from yellow sodium vapor lamps the 33-foot high lampposts along Market Street were designated historic landmarks in 1991. The 327 Path of Gold standards are a legacy from the City Beautiful movement of the early 20th century, which also gave San Francisco the Civic Center. Their distinctive color and pattern of light identify Market Street from distant viewpoints. The Winning of the West bases by sculptor Arthur Putnam feature three bands of historical subjects: covered wagons, Continue Reading

Brightening Mid-Market

Posted by Cindy on March 12, 2001

Mar 122001

982 Market Street The side of the Warfield Theater Mid-Market This piece, finished in May of this year (2014), was done by Clare Rojas (who has been in this website before), along with the 509 Cultural Center. The mural was sponsored, to the tune of $40,000, by the Walter and Elise Hass Fund. Thanks to the Creative Work Fund, I was able to find this photo of the work in progress, as well as an explanation of the piece. “The proposed mural will be a natural outgrowth of Rojas’s earlier work, which was overtly feminist and employed surreal or unreal Continue Reading

Os Gemeos First Go Around

Posted by Cindy on March 11, 2001

Mar 112001

Mid Market near 6th Untitled by Os Gemeos Os Gemeos means “the twins” in Portuguese and is pronouced “Ose Zhe’-mee-ose.” These two identical twin brothers (born 1974) hail from São Paulo, Brazil. Their real names are Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo. They started painting graffiti in 1987 and gradually became a main influence in the local scene, helping to define Brazil’s own style. Their work often features yellow-skinned characters but is otherwise diverse and ranges from tags to complicated murals. Subjects range from family portraits to commentary on São Paulo’s social and political circumstances, as well as Brazilian folklore. Their graffiti Continue Reading

Os Gemeos on Market Street

Posted by Cindy on March 11, 2001

Mar 112001

1007 Market Street Mid Market This piece, sponsored by The Luggage Store Gallery and Funded by the Graue Family Fund for Public Art was done by Os Gemeos in September of 2013. Os Gemeos have been in this website before. They are twin brothers from Sao Paulo with a wonderful and very distinctive style. According to Juxtapoz: Many years ago, the Brazilian twin art duo, painted this exact roof. It was an impressive piece, but upon their recent return to San Francisco, the two decided to revamp with something new. In this new version, local graffiti martyr, Tie and the recently Continue Reading

The Eastern Outfitting Company

Posted by Cindy on March 10, 2001

Mar 102001

1017 Market Street Mid-Market This gorgeous building sits on Market between 6th and 7th. It has been sheathed and scaffolded for quite awhile now, and it is a pleasure to see that it has come out from behind its blanket much better for the stay. The seven story building, with its terra-cotta finish and steel frame construction has a unique steel and glass façade that begins above the ground floor retail space and is framed by Corinthian pillars. The giant Corinthian order columns and capitals are constructed of terra-cotta tiles; and the entablature, seemingly so massive, is in fact hollow—a Continue Reading

Rainbow Warrior

Posted by Cindy on March 9, 2001

Mar 092001

1061 Market Street San Francisco This little piece has got to just make you smile. It is by the Rainbow Warrior, Ernest Doty. Doty is from Albuquerque, New Mexico and presently lives in Oakland. He has lived a fascinating life which was covered in an interview at Oakland Art Beat. An excerpt: I’m a high-school dropout, 10th grade was my last year, and I’ve always been an artist, that’s what I always wanted to be when I was a kid. I guess I forgot it for awhile when I was in my early 20s. I was an alcoholic, and once I Continue Reading

The Hibernia Bank at the Heart of MidMarket

Posted by Cindy on March 9, 2001

Mar 092001

The Hibernia Bank at the Heart of MidMarket

1 Jones Street MidMarket Imagine walking down the Champs-Élysées, or Fifth Avenue between 49th and 60th Streets, and when you hit the middle you hail a cab just to go two or three blocks, then get out and continue walking. This is what has happened to Market Street in San Francisco. The street that best epitomizes the concept of the City Beautiful Movement has a large gaping hole in the middle. The area around 6th and Market has been taken over by the less fortunate, and they have made it their outdoor hotel. The area between 5th and 10th on Market Continue Reading

IOOF Building at Mid-Market

Posted by Cindy on March 8, 2001

Mar 082001

26 7th Street Mid Market This is the second Independent Order of Odd Fellows Temple in San Francisco, the first was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and fire. There is a wonderful history of the past temples with great photographs at my friend Mark’s site. Check out the old photos here. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF), is a global altruistic and benevolent fraternal organization derived from the similar British Oddfellows service organizations. Their symbol of three links stand for Friendship, Love and Truth. The North American IOOF was founded in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 26, 1819. Odd Fellowship became the first national fraternity to include both Continue Reading

UN Plaza Fountain

Posted by Cindy on March 7, 2001

Mar 072001

UN Plaza Civic Center There is more to the U.N. Plaza fountain than meets the eye, however, typical of the City of San Francisco it took three redesigns, one public vote and a lot of back and forth (much of it ridiculous), to finally get the thing built. The fountain was designed by landscape architect Lawrence Halprin. The Plaza was a joint effort between Halprin, Swiss architect Mario Ciampi and John Carl Warnecke. The fountain is intended to represent the seven continents of the world. Each “landmass” is tied together by the water symbolizing the ocean. According to an April 26, Continue Reading

The Faces of 50 UN Plaza

Posted by Cindy on March 7, 2001

Mar 072001

50 UN Plaza City Center 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. 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 Continue Reading

Embarcadero Walk Map

Posted by Cindy on January 30, 2000

Jan 302000

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The Embarcadero Ribbon

Posted by Cindy on January 29, 2000

Jan 292000

The Embarcadero The Ferry Building, built in 1898, sits at the foot of Market Street. In 1953, San Francisco proposed the Embarcadero Freeway that was to connect the Bay and Golden Gate Bridges. Construction started at the Bay Bridge end; after 1.2 miles of freeway were built, neighborhood organizations began to gather and oppose the project. In 1959 the Board of Supervisors voted to stop the construction, marking the first time a government body had ever taken such an action. For years, the stub of freeway running across the waterfront stood as a monument to both grand freeway construction and Continue Reading

Embarcadero Interpretive Signage and Walkway

Posted by Cindy on January 28, 2000

Jan 282000

Embarcadero Interpretive Signage and Walkway

The Embarcadero Waterfront Transportation Project Historic and Interpretive Signage Program * * * * * This interpretive signage program was created in 1996 and covers 2.5 miles of the Embarcadero. The project includes 22, 13 foot high posts, vertical history stations and bronze inlays. these metal black-and-white-striped pylons are imprinted with photographs, stories, poetry in several languages and drawings commemorating the waterfront’s historical significance. They are a collaboration between historian Nancy Leigh Olmstead and artist Michael Manwaring. This was funded by a grant from Americans for the Arts, and California State’s Transportation Enhancement Activities

The 1852 Shoreline

Posted by Cindy on January 27, 2000

Jan 272000

162 King Street South Beach Here is a map of San Francisco prior to 1852. In this map Townsend is the western-most street on the waterfront, one block northwest of King Street. Thanks to Found SF and the Oakland Museum, you can see what the area looks like today: If you are interested in more information about the water that lies under our fair city, I suggest you take one of Joel Pomerantz’s Thinkwalks. He is a local expert on the indigenous water of San Francisco, and gives fascinating tours around different parts of the city. The waterfront art project is Continue Reading

Rammaytush

Posted by Cindy on January 26, 2000

Jan 262000

These plaques run along the south side of King Street, between the Caltrain station and AT&T Park. There are 104 of them embedded in the sidewalk. On them are engraved all of the known words of a language called Rammaytush. The Rammaytush language is one of the eight Ohlone languages, historically spoken by the Ramaytush people, indigenous people of California. Historically, the Rammaytush inhabited the San Francisco Peninsula between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean in the area which is now San Francisco and San Mateo Counties. Ramaytush is a dialect or language within the Costanoan branch of Continue Reading

Lou Seal at ATT Park

Posted by Cindy on January 25, 2000

Jan 252000

* * Lou Seal is the official mascot of the San Francisco Giants. “Born” on July 25, 1996, Luigi Francisco Seal has been a regular part of the Giants baseball team since then. The name is a play on the name “Lucille.” Todd Schwenk, an Oakland Athletics Fan, named the mascot in a KNBR Sports Radio phone-in contest. Schwenk named Lou for the seals always hanging out on the wharves at Fisherman’s Wharf. It also refers to the San Francisco Seals, the baseball club that was a mainstay of the Pacific Coast League from 1903 until 1957. The Seals Plaza Continue Reading

The Embarcadero – Sea Change

Posted by Cindy on January 24, 2000

Jan 242000

The Embarcadero Sea Change by Mark di Suvero At Pier 40 on the lawn near the baseball park is this giant sculpture, that you can see from blocks away. Constructed in 1995 it is 70 feet tall and weights 10 tons. The circular top moves with the wind. Marco Polo “Mark” di Suvero is an American abstract expressionist sculptor born Marco Polo Levi in Shanghai, China in 1933 to Italian expatriates. He immigrated to San Francisco in 1942 with his family. From 1953 to 1957, he attended UC Berkeley to study Philosophy. While working in construction, he was critically injured in a freight Continue Reading

Embarcadero – Hills Brothers Coffee Drinker

Posted by Cindy on January 23, 2000

Jan 232000

Embarcadero - Hills Brothers Coffee Drinker

2 Harrison Street The Embarcadero * This is the Hills Brothers Coffee Drinker. He is located at 2 Harrison Street in the plaza of the original Hills Brothers Coffee Building. This sculpture was created by a dear friend of mine Spero Anargyros. (1915- 2004) Spero finished this sculpture in 1992. It is a 9′ tall bronze beauty. The “drinking man” or “Taster” was designed by a San Francisco artist named Briggs, in celebration of vacuum packing. It is said that the original was a tribute to the Ethiopian roots of the coffee itself. After gracing the first vacuum packed can, the Continue Reading

Cupid’s Span

Posted by Cindy on January 22, 2000

Jan 222000

Embarcadero Foot of Folsom Street Cupids Span Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen 2002 This is the artists statement regarding this piece: “Inspired by San Francisco’s reputation as the home port of Eros, we began our project for a small park on the Embarcadero along San Francisco Bay by trying out the subject of Cupid’s stereotypical bow and arrow. The first sketches were made of the subject with the bowstring drawn back, poised on the feathers of the arrow, which pointed up to the sky. When Coosje van Bruggen found this position too stiff and literal, she suggested turning the image Continue Reading

Electrified Earth

Posted by Cindy on January 21, 2000

Jan 212000

The Embarcadero Electrified Earth by Jill King The Cool Globes project came to San Francisco, set up in Crissy Field, in 2008. Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet, is a public art exhibition designed to raise awareness of solutions to climate change. Cool Globes grew out of a commitment at the Clinton Global Initiative in 2005, and was incorporated as a non-profit organization in 2006. It is their hope that the millions of people who have experienced the exhibit, leave with a vast array of solutions to climate change, and with one clear message….we can solve this. The Continue Reading

The Embarcadero – Aurora

Posted by Cindy on January 20, 2000

Jan 202000

The Embarcadero Aurora by Ruth Asawa Ruth Asawa is an American artist, who is nationally recognized for her wire sculpture. Ruth, at the age of 16, along with her family, was interned in Rohwer camp in Rohwer, Arkansas at a time when it was feared the people of Japanese descent on the West Coast would commit acts of sabotage. It was the first step on a journey into the art world for Ruth. In 1994, when she was 68 years old, she said of the experience: “I hold no hostilities for what happened; I blame no one. Sometimes good Continue Reading

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