San Francisco Art Deco

Images of America: California

by Michael F. Crowe, Robert W. Bowen

The famed period of architecture, design, and style known as Art Deco began in the mid1920s and lasted for a good 20 years. The movement left an indelible stamp all around the Bay Area but nowhere more so than in styleconscious San Francisco. The city's 1925 Diamond Jubilee, coinciding with the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes in France, ushered in the Art Deco age to the city by the bay. The Roaring Twenties created a need for thousands of new commercial and residential buildings, and many of these, such as Timothy Pflueger's Pacific Telephone and Telegraph building, were Art Deco masterpieces that embodied the new moderne styling sweeping the country. Using a variety of building materials, including terracotta, Vitrolux, and neon, many of the city's graceful and dramatic buildings turned heads 70 years ago just as they do today.

128 pages, Paperback

First published June 9, 2007

Reviews

[Cameron Toney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love art deco. I live close enough to San Francisco that I could go down and see some of these landmarks and icons, and so I was happy to see the pictures and history of this city.
The only thing I wish is that it was more clearly indicated if these structures were still standing, or if they were only in memory and picture. Clearly some are still around, but not all, and I wish I knew which ones were here before I go looking for them.