07/24/2022
Interesting info about this beautiful building!
On August 5, the Palace of Fine Arts will go before the State Historical Resources Commission (SHRC) as a nominee for a California State Landmark. While the Bernard Maybeck-designed structure was originally built for the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition (PPIE), the current structure was actually rebuilt in the 1960s-'70s after the original was demolished.
Maybeck had conceived of the Palace of Fine Arts as a forgotten and overgrown Roman ruin, and this photograph of the original building's demolition in 1964 helps it live up to this vision. Like other buildings at the PPIE, the colonnades and rotunda of the original Palace of Fine Arts were constructed of staff, a soft and lightweight plaster-fiber mixture which was laid over a wood framework, and its impermanence led to the deterioration of the structures and to the necessity of their reconstruction.
Called one of the most beautiful buildings in the nation (and even the world!), for this reason alone it was rebuilt at great expense in 1964 after nearly half a century of preservation efforts, before a use could be found for it (an example of function following form at a far remove). Today, the Palace of Fine Arts is one of the most beloved works of art in San Francisco and among a few which instantly identify the city. See the full nomination form: https://bit.ly/3uTuXet
📷 October 16, 1964. Charles W. Cushman Collection, University Archives, Indiana University cc California Office of Historic Preservation
