For more information
Call 1-800-351-0222
Call 1-800-351-0222
SAN FRANCISCO.
Term Paper ID:28048
Essay Subject:
Examines old & new architecture of city, impact of tourism. Examples of styles & major buildings.... More...
10 Pages / 2250 Words
3 sources, 18 Citations,
MLA Format
$40.00
More Papers on This Topic
Paper Abstract:
Examines old & new architecture of city, impact of tourism. Examples of styles & major buildings.
Paper Introduction:
San Francisco is a city for tourists. While it is also one of the best cities in which to live, tourism is such a major factor in the city's economy that it is impossible to conceive of it in any other way. It is, therefore, a city that needs to be looked at--and one that rewards looking. Despite having been almost completely destroyed by the earthquake and fire of 1906 San Francisco also features a large number of examples of architecture from another era. In part this is due to a number of pre-fire survivals and, more frequently, results from the fact that the fire preceded the rise of modernist taste in architecture. Although the destruction of much of the city's fine architecture has also taken place since the 1950s, in the name of progress, this is probably a serious miscalculation. While it is nearly always an aesthetic mistake, it could also, in
Text of the Paper:
The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper.
But certain buildings, includingMoore's Emporium, "fell within the tradition of the American Renaissanceand promoted the image of the City beautiful" (Corbett 29). In Union Square theshopping-minded tourist will clearly believe that he or she has come toexactly the right place. But, although every city was tempted by thisvision, few went as far as San Francisco in acquiring a civic plan byDaniel Burnham (eventually abandoned), a Civic Center that met the highestcriteria of the movement, or developed "nearly so thoroughly a Beaux-Artscommercial district" (Corbett 29). This too had been a major shopping area for over a century. The Hibernia Bank at 1 Jones Street (the northwest corner ofMcCallister and Market) was first built in 1892 and was a design by AlbertPissis, one of the leading Beaux-Arts architects in San Francisco. This American Renaissance movement "traditionally encompasses theSecond Renaissance Revival, the Classical Revival, and Beaux-Arts ClassicalStyles" and was most successfully promoted at the World's ColumbianExposition at Chicago in 1893 (Corbett 28). Thus, in a postindustrialAmerican city where service industries predominate (legal services, retail,financial, real estate) tourism is one of the top businesses. The persistence of a number of olderbuildings--including the pre-fire Flood Building (19 4), at 87 -898 Market,and the former Hale Brothers Department Store (1912), at 9 1-919 Market,lend a feeling of grace and solidity to the area despite the more boringconstructions of later eras. These new buildings transformed thedowntown area--but only where they were concentrated in a single area of afew blocks. The presentation of their ideas at theChicago Exposition, "with its group of classically derived buildings arounda central lagoon, presented a vision of order, beauty, and magnificence"that cities from Los Angeles to Boston were eager to emulate (Corbett 29).One result of this influence was the "City Beautiful Movement" thatpromoted this new ideal. Some surviving buildings and some that had begunconstruction before the fire were allowed to be rebuilt. In 1913, for example,when the 55-story Woolworth Building was constructed in New York, SanFrancisco's tallest building was still the 24-story Call Building datingfrom 1898. In part this was acontinuation of general notions of the City Beautiful ideal. The Plaza did, of course, function as a major transportation centerand, as such, kept alive the option of raising the economic level of thissection of Market Street (for a few blocks in either direction) tosomething congruous with that of Union Square. Works CitedCorbett, Michael R. This feeling of widestreets lined with elegant older buildings is something that cannot beduplicated in many sites in the United States. The gradual transformation to the most popular city touristattraction in America brought great changes in the city's view of itself.Currently San Francisco proper has some 778, inhabitants, while it isalso the hub of the nine Bay area counties which contain a total of 6.5million people. But the new"severe height limit" did not allow any building "whose height was greaterthan one and a half times the street width" and, while the limit wasremoved in 19 7, "the cautiousness of local builders after the earthquake"and the rapidity of the initial rebuilding kept the height of the city'sskyline down, unlike those of most American cities. If one looks at the Renaissance in Europe as a movementthat accompanied (and was enabled by) the growth of Italian mercantilepower then it becomes apparent that no style could be more appropriate forwhat has become of twentieth-century San Francisco. But as one approaches it, headingnorthwest, this area is extremely inviting. Sincethe technical training was far better in France, and the aestheticinspiration was more overwhelming, Beaux-Arts architects dominated theprofession for several decades. The intersection of Third and Market and the blocks of Marketin the vicinity of the Emporium and Flood Building "had concentrations ofthese new buildings that set them apart from the old city, but they werethe exceptions" (Corbett 3 ). Due to the "lack of opportunities for an architectural education inthis country," and a general bias toward European education and stylesamong those who had the power and funds to commission architecture, manyAmericans studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris (Corbett 29). This general movement"saw American culture as the heir of the European Renaissance and . Indeed,for many years, the Emporium was the largest department store in the city.The construction of Hallidie Plaza at the meeting of Fifth, Market andPowell was intended to modify the impact of the intersection's function asa major "transportation node" (Woodbridge & Woodbridge 7). This beautifulbuilding is one of the gems that makes this part of Market Street apleasure. While it is also one of thebest cities in which to live, tourism is such a major factor in the city'seconomy that it is impossible to conceive of it in any other way. The careful planning andbeautifully laid out classicized architecture of the Chicago Expositionprovided an inspiration to city governments who created from the vision, asthey were meant to, a new ideal that cities could aspire to. Here Today: San Francisco's Architectural Heritage San Francisco: Chronicle, 1968.Woodbridge, Sally B., & John M. The recently refurbished Flood Building has the kind of interiordecoration that makes an occasional visit worthwhile, especially forresidents who just happen to be passing by, and the dome inside Pissis'rebuilt Emporium is also worth a look. The newbuildings were so much taller that they were "at city-scale rather thanstreet-scale" and such a building "was visible from a wide area, not justfrom its own street or intersection" (Corbett 3 ). And, facing the Flood Building, is theEmporium which was designed by architect Joseph Moore and built in 1896.The facade survived the earthquake and fire and Albert Pissis rebuilt thedepartment store behind it in 19 8. Even after World War II,when so many cities saw their centers abandoned for the suburbs, SanFrancisco's shopping center remained intact until the city was ready toreturn to it on a grand scale in the 198 s. Along with the intenseconcentration of expensive goods available in this small area, the beautyof the Union Square-Market Street shopping district undoubtedly drawstourists as an attraction in its own right. The column not only survived the19 6 earthquake it also remained at the center of the square after the 1942construction of the country's first "under-park garage," which was designedby Timothy Pflueger (Woodbridge & Woodbridge 3). Fifth Street was extendedacross Market creating a connection between the north and south grids, theend of Eddy Street was closed to vehicular traffic, and the sunken HallidiePlaza, by Lawrence Halprin and Associates, was constructed to provideaccess to the BART station. Architect Willis Polk, one of the City Beautiful leaders inthe city said that Pissis' bank was "the most beautiful building in thecity" and it was prized and admired by architects and by the populationfrom that time to the present (Olmsted & Watkins 9 ). The original idea of Hallidie Plaza was to create "two pleasant,protected outdoor rooms, using costly and durable materials, where civicentertainment could take place" (Woodbridge & Woodbridge 7). As prices--for goods and for retail space square footage--roseprecipitously in the 198 s and 199 s the city made every effort to ensurethat the downtown shopping area spread itself in a decorous manner over toMarket Street. The overall feeling ofthis area is vastly enhanced by its architecture and in almost any sectionof the city where an increase in tourist traffic is considered desirableolder architecture will serve as the basis of the attraction. The amount of building done in the downtown area after the early189 s was not considerable since the existing Victorian architecture wasseldom in need of immediate replacement. Its scale is deceptive and its appeal lies in its ability tosimulate the friendliness of a much smaller building while impressing theviewer with its "elegant and powerful" lines and intelligently evokedclassical details (Olmsted & Watkins 9 ). The character of the new buildings was entirely different from theVictorian styles that preceded them. The buildings are "a generally undistinguishedbut agreeable hodgepodge covering the period 19 6 on," although parts ofthe St. NearerHallidie Plaza is the James Flood Building which was also designed byPissis and was begun in 19 4. Buildings had to befireproofed to the extent possible at the time and there were new heightrestrictions. The civic status of the square was confirmed with theerection of the Dewey monument in 19 1. Architecture San Francisco: The Guide. Union Square district has proved to be one of the most phenomenalsuccesses in the history of the city. These buildings provide visual pleasures andinduce a feeling of solidity and, undoubtedly, create an aura of elegantwealth and power. This makesshopping one of the city's priorities and the area around Union Squareshows great attention to detail--even when some fine buildings (and someextremely popular ones such as Gump's Department Store) have been razed tomaximize the potential of sites located on or near the Square. San Francisco: American Institute of Architects, San Francisco Chapter, 1982. The eventual success of thecity in achieving a solid extension of Union Square shopping on MarketStreet may have been, however, more a case of economic pressure to expandthan the willing cooperation of the city's non-shopping population. Thus, despite being more heavilyladen with Beaux-Arts examples than most cities, the effect wasintermittent in most neighborhoods. . Union Square itself has been at the center of the city's shopping andhotel district since the middle of the nineteenth century when the plot waslaid out. Woodbridge. While it is nearly always an aesthetic mistake, it couldalso, in San Francisco's case, be a business error. The city had already been primed for this new movement with theconstruction of Albert Pissis' Hibernia Bank building in 1892--prior to theExposition. The visitors to the city spend an average of $13.5million per day, or $5.2 billion per annum. In ornamentation aswell these buildings were treated "with a scale of detail that befittedtheir size" (Corbett 3 ). Watkins. During the 186 s it acquired the name when it became the site ofLabor rallies. But the angled passage of the street createsnumerous odd corners with the north- and south-running streets providingsuch oddities as 1 Great Jones Street or the space for Hallidie Plaza. The change in size and scale was made far moreconsistent after 19 6 when rebuilding took place. On Market Street, however, the traffic moves rapidly along and theview is, more or less, a matter of looking up or down the street. But when the tourist population in the city is spread outover the year the average daily population is increased by 131, people.With 16.2 million visitors per year the city is perpetually conscious ofhow it looks which, in a constant game of turnabout, makes it a morepleasant place to live. H. After the turnof the century several other buildings in the area, Hale BrothersDepartment store at Fifth and Market and the Flood Building continued theAmerican Renaissance tradition. Splendid Survivors: San Francisco's Downtown Architectural Heritage. Market Street is, of course, a thoroughfare and has none of theinward-looking quality provided by Union Square. At least forarchitecture the earthquake and fire "might be called a fortunatecatastrophe" (Corbett 36). In addition, the stores are upscale and keep from beingtoo loud in making their claims on the shopper's attention. Some ofits structures even predate 19 6 and a walk along Market Street is one ofthe best exposures to the older and the oldest in San Franciscoarchitecture. As the district grew in importance city planners encouragedshopping to extend to the south onto Market Street where, in the past, theEmporium (1896, 19 8), at 835-865 Market, and other buildings had housedprominent retail establishments. Prior tobecoming the meeting place for the cable car and the Bay Area Rapid Transitsystem (BART) the San Francisco-San Mateo Interurban line (19 3-49) endedat Fifth and Market and the Market Street Railway Company's lines servedthe area from most destinations (requiring as many as four lines on MarketStreet at some points). Buildings such as the survivals found in the Market Street shoppingarea are vital to San Francisco's tourist business. In addition the city was transformed muchmore readily from a Victorian to a modern urban landscape. Hallidie Plaza, a recent construction, tendsto draw crowds but the amount of activity in the area, at most times of theday, increases the attractions of the neighborhood. Francis Hotel's facade do antedate the earthquake (Woodbridge &Woodbridge 3). Despite having been almost completely destroyed by the earthquake and fireof 19 6 San Francisco also features a large number of examples ofarchitecture from another era. San Francisco: California Living Books, 1979.Olmsted, Roger, & T. .sought to revive and maintain 'Renaissance' ideas in architecture" (Corbett28). The stretch "between Fourth and Sixth Streets" was the "secondaryshopping" locus that was part of the flow of traffic up Market and alongthe primary shopping thoroughfare of Grant Avenue (Corbett 3 ). This was the true beginning of thetransformation of the city as a whole into an inspiring sight. San Francisco is a city for tourists. In general,the open space of the Square is conducive to the easy ambling desirable toshoppers because the majority of its attractions can be seen standing inany single spot. But it is the street view of thesebuildings, with their classical details and the firm, but elegantlybalanced, layering of their stories that the true value of olderarchitecture comes across. But post-firerebuilding also added certain requirements. It is,therefore, a city that needs to be looked at--and one that rewards looking. The result was that, until the era following the Second WorldWar, there were very few parts of the downtown that created canyon effectssuch as New York or Chicago had. This portion of Market Street had been an important part of thecity's business and commercial center since before the earthquake. Unfortunatelythe proximity of this space and the transportation node kept the Plaza fromfalling in with the city's larger agenda of ensuring the flow ofsophisticated shopping tourists between Union Square and Market Street.The Plaza initially became an outdoor center for the homeless and streetperformers, and was generally not what could be called "a safe precinct forpeople of means," as the city planners had hoped (Woodbridge & Woodbridge7). The oldest buildings in this area reflect the so-called "Renaissance"in city architecture that took place in the period between 189 and 192 .The term takes in a wide variety of styles that have in common a referenceback to earlier European styles of architecture. Indeed,although it may be somewhat fanciful to conceive of it in this way, theplacement of the Emporium in relation to the Flood Building and thebeautiful white building to the south makes a far more gracious open spacethan Union Square itself. The change in the junction was made when the citywas in the midst of BART construction in 1973. Although thedestruction of much of the city's fine architecture has also taken placesince the 195 s, in the name of progress, this is probably a seriousmiscalculation. The revitalized shopping districtbrings in millions of dollars and the older buildings are the basis of itscharms. It has the sophistication of an old-fashionedcity shopping area with some of the enclosed quality that many Americanshave come to associate with a satisfying shopping experience. In part this is due to a number of pre-firesurvivals and, more frequently, results from the fact that the firepreceded the rise of modernist taste in architecture. Thesightlines from one shopping establishment to another are not as extensiveas merchants might wish. The entire 'look' ofthe city depends on the older styles that predominate in many neighborhoodsand more changes in the city's appearance would, despite the many otherkinds of attractions, eliminate much of what makes San Francisco unique.The downtown area of the city shows how important older architecture hasbeen in creating this impression. Theconjunction of Powell, Eddy, and Market Streets at this point, and thestrangely shaped block, to which the design of the Flood building wasadapted, tend to create an excellent focus on the site of the Emporium and,next to it, the ungainly new San Francisco Shopping Centre [sic]. The architecture,unfortunately, does not have the consistency of height or general agreeablerelations between buildings of different periods that contributes to agreat outdoor urban space. This has less effect, perhaps, when the vieweris on the site--where both the foot and automotive traffic can obscure thesense of being in a unified space.
If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again:
or
We can write a Custom Essay just for you.
Browse Essays by Subject