Architecture of San Francisco

The C. A. Belden House, a Queen Anne Victorian in the Pacific Heights section on Gough Street Between Clay and Washington Streets. The house is on the National Register of Historic Places in San Francisco.

The architecture of San Francisco is not so much known for defining a particular architectural style; rather, with its interesting and challenging variations in geography and topology and tumultuous history, San Francisco is known worldwide for its particularly eclectic mix of Victorian[1] and modern architecture.[2] Bay windows were identified as a defining characteristic of San Francisco architecture in a 2012 study that had a machine learning algorithm examine a random sample of 25,000 photos of cities from Google Street View.[3]

Icons of San Francisco architecture include the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, Coit Tower, the Palace of Fine Arts, Lombard Street, Alamo Square, Fort Point, the Transamerica Pyramid, and Chinatown.[4] Included below are summaries of the historical significance of some of these great San Franciscan architectural achievements.

  1. ^ Prentice, Helaine Kaplan (1987). Rehab Right. Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press. ISBN 0-89815-172-4. Includes descriptions of numerous different Victorian and early 20th Century architectural styles common in the San Francisco Bay Area, particularly Oakland, and detailed instructions for repair and restoration of details common to older house styles.
  2. ^ Wiley, Peter Booth (2000). National trust guide- San Francisco: America’s guide for architecture and history travelers. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. pp. 4–5. ISBN 978-0-471-19120-9. OCLC 44313415.
  3. ^ Harris, Derrick (10 August 2012). "Big data magic trick: Show me a doorway, I'll tell you the city". GigaOM. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
  4. ^ Woodbridge, Sally Byrne and John M. (2005). San Francisco Architecture: An Illustrated Guide to the Outstanding Buildings, Public Artworks, and Parks in the Bay Area of California. Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press. pp. 19–27. ISBN 978-1580086745.