September 25, 2011

San Francisco's City Hall


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photo by Donald Kinney

They don't build them like this anymore...



click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

San Francisco's City Hall was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake, but was rebuilt to it's former glory in 1915.



click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

This impressive style of architecture is Beaux-Arts, and was a monument to the City Beautiful movement that epitomized the high-minded American Renaissance of the 1880s to 1917. The structure's dome is the fifth largest in the world. [source: Wikipedia]



click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

When I visited Thursday evening the building was almost completely empty--normally it is a very busy place. As I slowly walked up these steps I noticed the janitor with a wet mop waiting patiently for me to get out of his way. I sort of wanted to stop and tell him about my extensive work experience with pushing a mop around, but I felt I had already slowed him down enough with my lazy stroll up his stairs. Maybe another day...



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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gotta shoot here! After seeing the capitol in Madison .... makes me want to shoot more buildings like this

-J

Bob said...

Beautiful architectural detail, Donald.

 
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