Architecture

Like a fantasy of classical antiquity, the Palace of Fine Arts was built by beaux arts disciple Bernard R Maybeck for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. It’s a crowning jewel in a newly confident city but unlike the other buildings it wasn’t meant to be permanent. Maybeck wanted the site to fall into gentle ruin but the city grew attached to it and restoration work turned it into a lasting structure – meaning partially demolishing and then rebuilding the original in the 1960s. Today it holds concerts and performances. 

Home to the San Francisco chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the Hallidie Building is a real jaw-dropper. The façade is undoubtedly its most arresting feature. Designed by Willis Polk and built in 1917, its glass front (widely thought to be the first used in the US) makes it seem like a precursor to modern architecture. What makes this building unique, and unlike more minimalist, modern structures, are the flourishes on the exterior. The gothic cornice that sits alongside the metalwork on the fire escapes and railings in fact feels very art nouveau. 

Located on a raised strip on the edge of Japantown, this church is incongruous with its surroundings – but not in a bad way. The beauty of the structure speaks for itself and the sheer space that the building commands is remarkable, including a paved concrete approach that conjures Brasília by way of Tiananmen Square. Built in 1971 and designed by Italian modernist masters Pietro Belluschi and Pier Luigi Nervi, its hyperbolic paraboloid (really) roof sweeps towards the sky. Look out, too, for the vast pylons supporting the cupola, the stained glass windows and a kinetic sculpture by Richard Lippold dangling above the altar. Truly breathtaking, both inside and out.