The Palace of Fine Arts




Colonnades and Rotunda - Palace of Fine arts

Over Labor Day Weekend we visited the Palace of Fine arts located in the Marina District of San Francisco.  This monumental structure was built for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition to display works of art.  Built next to a small lagoon, the Palace is composed of colonnades and a central rotunda. 






Colonnades along the Lagoon

The lagoon fronting the Palace of Fine Arts was a feature of San Francisco’s early landscape, part of a slough on a tidal wetland.  At the time of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition this slough, cut off from the tidal flow, had become a freshwater lake reduced to the size of a city block.  When Bernard Maybeck was appointed to design the Palace of Fine Arts, Maybeck incorporated the natural beauty of the site into his design, echoing that found in classical European settings. 

The Palace was so beloved that a Palace Preservation League, founded by Phoebe-Apperson Hearst, was formed while the fair was still in progress.  Most of the buildings were demolished after the Exposition, but the Palace had been saved thanks to the preservation league.  Originally intended to only stand for the duration of the Exhibition, the colonnades and rotunda were made from wood covered with staff, a mixture of plaster and burlap-type fiber.  

Beautiful Detail

By the 1950’s the structures had dramatically deteriorated.  In 1959 philanthropist Walter Johnson spearheaded an effort to raise preservation funds and donated four million dollars.  The structures were stripped to their foundations and a permanent version of Maybeck’s design was reconstructed in steel and concrete with details cast from the original.  

A Peaceful, Inspiring Setting

The only changes were the absence of the murals in the dome, two end pylons of the colonnades, and the original ornamentation of the exhibit hall.  Exterior lighting was added in the late 1980’s for the rotunda and colonnades, creating a lovely ambiance at night.  San Francisco once again rallied to save its Palace in 2003, when the Maybeck Foundation partnered with the City of San Francisco to raise 21 million dollars for significant seismic upgrades, which were completed in 2009.  

The Rotunda

The Rotunda

An awe inspiring classic beauty and lovely retreat for city dwellers, the Palace of Fine Arts is indeed worth preserving.  In addition to hosting art exhibitions, theatre productions, and special events, it remains a popular attraction for tourists and locals alike.