The City of Domes : a walk with an architect about the courts and palaces of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, with a discussion of its architecture, its sculpture, its mural decorations, its coloring and its lighting, preceded by a history of its growthBarry, John D. (John Daniel)
History
The City of Domes : a walk with an architect about the courts and palaces of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, with a discussion of its architecture, its sculpture, its mural decorations, its coloring and its lighting, preceded by a history of its growth
Barry, John D. (John Daniel)
Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915 : San Francisco, Calif.)
"There are people who don't like this color," said the architect. "It's
fashionable nowadays to feel a prejudice against red. But it is one of
the most beautiful colors in nature and one of nature's greatest
favorites, associated with fire and with flowers. To me the tower is
never so beautiful as it is when the red light seemed to burn from a
fire inside. See how it tends to eliminate the superfluous
ornamentation. It brings out the grace of line in the upper tiers, like
folded wings. With just a few eliminations the improvement in that tower
would be astonishing."
Presently the lights in the tower went out altogether. The four Italian
towers also grew dim. It was getting late. People were hurrying out. But
we lingered. We wished to see this city of domes as it appeared without
any lights at all, except for those that were kept burning to meet the
requirements of the law.
For an hour we roamed about the deserted place. Here and there we would
meet a belated visitor or a group of people from some indoor festivity.
The material had taken on a finer quality. It looked like stone.
Wonderful as the Exposition was by day and in the evening, it was far
more wonderful at this hour.
Now it was easy to imagine the scene as a city, with the inhabitants
asleep in their beds. But just what kind of city it was I could not make
up my mind. When I expressed this thought to the architect, he said:
"Have you ever seen David Roberts' big illustrated volumes, 'Travels in
the Holy Land'? If you haven't, look them up. Then you will see what
kind of a city this city is. It's a city of Palestine. It's Jerusalem
and Jaffa and Akka all over again."
Features that Ought to be Noted by Day
The South Gardens
Hedge. Idea suggested by W. B. Faville, of Bliss & Faville, architects,
of San Francisco, and developed by John McLaren, landscape gardener and
superintendent of the Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, to give
impression of old English wall. African dew plant grown in shallow
boxes, two inches deep, covered with wire netting.
Design of entrance at Scott Street, by Joseph J. Rankin.
South Gardens, French in character, with suggestions of Spanish.
Planting by John McLaren.
In center, "Fountain of Energy," by A. Stirling Calder, acting chief of
sculpture; French influence. Expresses triumph of energy that built the
canal. Youth on horseback, standing in stirrups, "Energy." Figures on
shoulders, "Fame" and "Valor." Figures on globe, two hemispheres;
Western, bull-man; Eastern, lioness-woman. Figures on base, sea-spirits.
Upright figure on globe, Panama. Large figures in pool, the oceans: The
Atlantic, a woman with coral in her hair, riding on back of armored
fish; North Sea, an Eskimo hunting on back of walrus; Pacific, a woman
on back of large sea lion; and South Sea, a negro on back of trumpeting
sea-elephant. Sea-maidens on dolphins' backs, in pool.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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