Walking in San Francisco -- Part 2

[Jularc]

So this is part 2 (and last) of my walk in San Francisco. Part 1 is here: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=124836

I have so many great photos that I just needed to show a lot of them. I have more actually, but these two threads are the best ones I chose!

Originally Posted by Jularc

I was in San Francisco last weekend and this week. So on Monday and Tuesday, I decided to go out to take some photos! This is my second time visiting the city and I am so in love with this city. It is deffenetly my favorite city on the West Coast. A great city to just spend days. The city is full of beautiful architecture and it is so pleasant to just walk around.

Enjoy!

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[Evergrey]

fcuk, that's a nice set!

I can't get enough of this city

[BTinSF]

A little commentary:

I'm surprised this art is still there. I watched the artist install them last summer and talked to him--he said they were temporary, he was loaning them (I thought for a few months). Anyway, public reaction was kind of mixed. I heard some people trashing them but others seemed to like them. My own view is that art is supposed to be controversial--so I'm glad they are still there:



I haven't seen the Infinity and One Rincon Hill from this perspective before--they are going to make more of an impact than I thought (especially when One Rincon--crane on the right--reaches its full height about twice where it is now and the second, higher, tower on The Infinity--crane on the left--gets finished:



This fountain, by Armand Villaincourt, was put up in 1971 when there was an ugly brutalist concrete freeway along the Embarcadero (damaged beyond repair in 1989, thank whatever higher power you'd care to invoke, and subsequently torn down). Ugly, many think, in itself, it was really sort of a joke on the freeway and is now hard to appreciate without the freeway.



This black rock, installed as legally required "art" in front of what was, at the time, the Bank of America world HQ, was quickly nicknamed "The Banker's Heart":



The beautiful beaux arts building seen here, the old Hibernia Bank Building, has been empty and deteriorating for several decades. It is currently for sale. Just about every San Franciscan would be eternally greatful to anyone who bought it and fixed it up and put it back into use as almost (emphasis: ALMOST) anything.

[Jularc]

^ Interesting stuff. Thanks for the comments.

I actually like the two installations (statues artsy things) on the waterfront. Thanks for the fountain info. Weird but is also very interesting to look at. I also hope that the 'old Hibernia Bank Building' gets some attention soon.

[soleri]

Stunning pictures. BTinSF, thanks for your commentary.

San Francisco has some architecture I'd rather not see (like that Marriott Hotel). But overall, the city is wonderfully intact. It balances the need for growth against the equal need for preservation and scale. It's never easy, but this city does find a way.

[BigKidD]

Great pictures of the city.
One of the most interesting and amazing photo in your collection.
Also, I still find the Chinatown Holiday Inn to be one of the ugliest buildings in the city(the big concrete thing in front of the Transamerica pyramid),

[fflint]

These photos are impressive not only because they're artistically good but also because they're taken from a very interesting perspective.

[BTinSF]

Originally Posted by soleri

San Francisco has some architecture I'd rather not see (like that Marriott Hotel). But overall, the city is wonderfully intact. It balances the need for growth against the equal need for preservation and scale. It's never easy, but this city does find a way.

I like architecture, like art, that's controversial. I spend a lot of time in Yerba Buena park where you get a great view of the Marriot . . . and encounter lots of tourists and convention-goers, a lot of them from smaller towns. I overhear the conversations. You'd be amazed at how that building seems to speak "big city" to them somehow. Lots and lots of them want to photograph it too.

Personally, I don't dislike it on the outside--the postmodern "juke box" form makes me giggle. But on the inside it looks oh so corporately plastic. Like everything is faux.

[sf_eddo]

All the ribbing and complaints and snide comments and jokes aside, this is a damn pretty city.

[madonna]

Perfect!!!....

[Fabb]

^I love the design of this tram. I wonder if it's an authentic one from the 50s.

[StevenW]

Awesome!!! My Favorite city, period!
Great Italian food here:

Uncle Vinny's. Or is it "Vinnies"? I forget. But GREAT food.

[fflint]

Originally Posted by Fabb

^I love the design of this tram. I wonder if it's an authentic one from the 50s.

All San Francisco streetcars on the F line are restored originals. That one is probably from the 1930s.

[Jularc]

Thank you for your comments guys! Glad you guys enjoy these pics.

[Jularc]

So BTinSF (or anyone else) what is the story of this 'indian arrow' thing on the waterfront park? How long has it been there?

[BTinSF]

Originally Posted by Fabb

^I love the design of this tram. I wonder if it's an authentic one from the 50s.

That is #1053:

Built 1947.
Served Philadelphia 1947-92.
Purchased by Muni 1993.
Exterior pain design: Brooklyn NY.

This car is painted to honor Brooklyn, which ran PCC streetcars from 1936 to 1956. Trolleys were once such a part of the Brooklyn scene that the local baseball club was named the ‘Trolley Dodgers’, later shortened to, well…you know.

Brooklyn & Queens Transit Corporation was first to test a PCC prototype, and joined Pittsburgh and Chicago as the first cities to operate production cars in late 1936. Brooklyn’s trolley lines crossed Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan, served Coney Island, and more.

The trolleys left Brooklyn in 1956, one year ahead of the baseball team named for them. Brooklyn PCCs sported two unusual paint schemes. The original was called pachyderm gray, almost coppery in the sun, with a scarlet stripe under the windows. In 1946, after the City of New York took over the operation, this light green and silver livery replaced it.

You can find out about any of SF's streetcars at http://www.streetcar.org/mim/streetc...eet/index.html

[BTinSF]

Originally Posted by Jularc

So BTinSF (or anyone else) what is the story of this 'indian arrow' thing on the waterfront park? How long has it been there?

Not long. The whole Embarcadero waterfront is a work in progress which began with the demolition of the Embarcadero Freeway after it was damaged in the 1989 earthquake:

On the weekend of November 24, 2002, San Francisco installed its newest public art, Claes Oldenburg's "Cupid's Span." The 60-foot bow and arrow appears to be partially driven into the ground, as if it fell from heaven. The sculpture graces a new waterfront park along the Embarcadero between the Ferry Building and the Bay Bridge. The beholder will either love "Cupid's Span" or hate, hate, hate it. Objects of public sculpture that have been rejected by the City in the past include a giant foot by Buster Simpson, a rusty tower by Richard Serra, and a giant peace sign by Tony Labat.

Source: http://www.mistersf.com/new/index.html?newbowarrow.htm

[Jularc]

Interesting change on the waterfront. Is there a pic that shows the Embarcadero Freeway? I am actually glad that somewhere a freeway on a waterfront is gone.

[BTinSF]

Originally Posted by fflint

All San Francisco streetcars on the F line are restored originals. That one is probably from the 1930s.

Fflint, my friend: one of the very few advantages of age. I (vaguely) remember riding these PCC cars in Washington DC around 1950 when some of them were almost new. Nostalgia is one of the reasons I love riding them now.

[BTinSF]

Originally Posted by Jularc

Interesting change on the waterfront. Is there a pic that shows the Embarcadero Freeway? I am actually glad that somewhere a freeway on a waterfront is gone.

As usual, Wikepedia hleps us out. Here's the route:







Up close and ugly:



Here's the demolition in progress: