39

ARCHITECTURE OF 1'liJiJ EXPOSITION

ferent to be interesting and the little stair-case turrets at either side
of the main tower are particularlY
happy in their proportions and delicate moldings. The two structares
on the east side of the Plaza, Foreign Arts and :Eiome Economy,
are somewhat similar in mass but
have widely divergent details. That
at the northeast corner derives its
inspiration from the famous Casa
rle Monterey at Salamanca and belongs to the earliest of Spanish
Renaissance architecture, which was
known as plateresqne (from pbtero
-si\versmith)-from the dehcacY
and ]ow relief of the ornament customarilY employed by silversmith
At a later period J1l Spalll the ornament employed became much
coarser and heavier and was called
"Churrigueresque" in honor of the
a r ch i t e c t
Jts be_st
known exponent. 'J'he difference lD
these two styles is very easy to de0
tect. The plateresque orntJllleDt
the building (Casa de M:OntereY) JS
delicate in detail, more f\ond on the
Foreign Arls building, just to the
outh and even ,narc
building of the San _JoaqUin
Valley counties between tins buildin and the OrgaJl p\azll- rhe _org
of the sacramento buildm~
instance, never be spoken

Churrigue~a,

pondero~"

~n th~

~"""' ,wd ju~t

i8 thr 1

l~tnJ

,(nil""

cAII<"I

prohltrn

BY

EDGAR L. HEWETT and WM TE>IPLETON JOH!<SO

l91H

ARC ITECTURE OF THE EXPOSITION

By

EDGAR

L.

H EWETT "L~o W?.r. TE?.LPLETON JoHNSON.

1-'J tP of the expo!;ition i B almeasure beyond their dreams,-a

boa Park a high nearly level land which is aptly described in the
plateau di\er..:ified by deep canymt!:
in eription on the base of the dome
and lyi11~ le"s than a mi~e from the of the California State Building:
center of the town. It commanrl
"TE RRA~I FRUMENTI HORa super! Yiew of the urrounding DE! AC YINEARUl\f IN QYA
country. ~i th ranae after ranae 0f FTCT'". RT :JfALOGRA-:\TATA ET
mountm 1, to the east and ~ outh OLIYETA N"ASCUNTUR TERstretchin ~ fa r down into Mexico, RA~! OLEI AC MELLIS."
wbere tl , flat top of Tahle :J[onn(A land of corn, barley and
tain i .1 ily rccop:nized. The city vines, in which the fig, pomegranate
and the q arr below in the imme- and oli'le grow; a land of oil and
diate fr ~rounrl : then Coronado honeY. Dent. 8 :8.)
Beach n 1 th e Pacific Ocean, with
\lith such a background, the
the sha1 on tline of the :Jf exican choice of Spanish Renai sauce arCoron arl0 Tsland on the horizon. chitecture for the fair buildings was
Somrthi1 :~ of the hi toric and ar- peculiarly appropriate, not only hechitectur ,] srttin~ of the expo ition can e of hi~torical associations and
should ],p srt down before takina hecau~e the climate of southern
up those ph ases of Rpecial interec:'t California is in many re~pects simito the Rfncl!'nts of ocial life and lar to that in parts of Spajn, but
customs of the changing peoples of particularly becan se Spanish Rethe Southwest.
n ai"sance architecture, w i t h its
~he earl.v hi~tory of California, gaietv and freedom, is wonderfully
Anzona and Tew :Mexico i~ linked adapter] to exposition buildings.
indissoluhlv with that of Spain.
The snirit of the R enaissance
Nearly a hnndrrd vears before the which sw.ept over Jtal.v in the fifPilgrimR lanclNl at Plvmonth Coro- trenth and Pixteen t h rf"nturirs was
nad o and hi~ little h~nd of 'aclvf'nlow in cros~ing the P yrenees and
turers pushed up the Rio Granile entering Spain. In Itnlv the new
valley, probably af' far as Colorado. architecture was r estrain ed by the
Cab.rillo explored the coast of Lower rlas~ic example of R ome, hut in
California ani! Railed into San Diego ST'ain it became the most fanciful
bay. The Dominican and Francis- f':tvle the world has cvc1 known . It
can Fathers nnrlerwent fri..,.htfnl iR. an architecture of great plain
~ardships in found in~ their" m is- wall surfaces. of profw::elv flecorated
SJOn R in the h:1rren wastes of Lo"ller cloors and winrlows. of tiled domes,
California : hut from l 769. "hen rlelicate 1-rrought iron work and
th~ devout Serra and his fellow- elaborate balustrades. 'Th e l\foorioh
Pnests planterl the great eros~ on loYe for concentration or ornament
the shore of San Di eao hav their and lacv arabesques was a strong
jrouhle, exrept for ;aids
the influ ence All r egrucl for clasoic
ndians, were. nr::trly over. In a proportions was thrown. to the
~ew Years twentv-thrf.e mi~~ions had winds; columns were twrsted and
De.en fonnneil stretrhin<:(" from 8rm .groovefl : cornices were contorted
. 1 e~o to the Rhoref' of s~n Fran- into everY conreivahl e p.hape: ornaCisco bay.
The l::tnfl fulfillec1 its ment berame the wildest profuf'ion
~remise and nnfler the care of the of arvphons and birds, scroll R and
athers brought forth crops in garl~~ds, cherubs and masks,-

T HE

by.

I
I

I
I

,I

_1ROHITEOTURE OF THE EXPOSITION

everything that a vivid imagination
could turn into sculpture; yet, with
all its eccentricities, and unfamiliar
as it is to most American , it i a
style which is quite irresistible in
its charm.
The main entrance to the exposition is reached by means of a maO'nificent roncrete bridge panning
the Cabril lo Canyon, and at the end
of this bridge there ri es a pani h
eity of the ~even teenth century, it
towers and domes gli tening in the
sun.
On the right. are grouped on the
edge of the Canvon the various
state building'-, that of New Mexico,
taken from the archaic mi sion of
Acoma, standing out among the
others. On the left, in the backgrouni! , there are the structures of
the Isthmus, termina ted by the
Pai~t~d De~ert, the very successful
exhibit of the Santa Fe Railway.
In the centrr riee the magnificent
tr.wer and dome of the California
'Quadrangle.
~o .one can view this noble group,
bmlt m imperishable concrete without a feelin g of profound obligation
to the architect, :Mr. B ertram G.
Goodhue, a'Ild his able a~si tant, l\fr.
Carleton :M. Winslow, under whose
personal supervision it wa constructed .. The Californ ia Quadrangle furmsh ed the artietic keynote
the Panama-Caltfornia Exposii~on .. It establishei! a plane of lofty
f eahsm for the Fair and for the
w~nm great city of San Di ego. It
be the imperishable monument
0 the Expo~ition.
bu~h~ Quadrangle comprises the
C ~l.~mg~ surrounding the Plaza de
e ~ 1 orma, a paved square which is
ered at the eaet end of the
Br~de n t e de Cabrillo (Cabrillo
1 ge) throu~h the most impooin(l'
. .
. , "
barch 0 f tl1e ,tc.xposltwn.
Th1s has
d~~~ named the Ocean Gate, for the
1 . e reason that it faces the sea
/hJntg to the west of the city and
~ a 1n 1't
motive it' repr esents sy s bsculptural
.Atlanr
m 0 1'Ica lly the union of the
lc and Pacific Oceans by the

;?

35

completion of the Panama Canal,

the event which the San Diego Expo ition was designed to elebr~te.
The reclining figure on the left relJ
resents the Atlantic, that upon the
ri~ht the Pacific.
The waters of
the two seas are being mingled. R. tween is seen the great seal of tLe
cit.v of San Diego
The entrance to the Quadrangle
from the east is .hy way of the Prano
Gate, less pretentious and yet of
trong architectural value. A minor
entrance ifl under the arcnne at the
northeaFt corner by way of the Gard~n Gate which opens from the
Plaza into the gardens to the north
and east of the Quadrangle.
The south side is occupied by the
Fine rts Building. It is in plain
California Mission style. In front
are to be een the massive arched
portales which are extended on the
<east and west ides to meet the
wi'lgs of the California BnilCling.
'1 rte portnles are rooferl with vigas
(wooden logs) in thE. .::.arly Mi~sion
st.yle of New Mexico and C<Jlifumi:l.
The Quarlrangle conh'.ins numerous architectural detatl., tna~ will
interest both layman and art;l,i1.cl't.
The doorwnvs ~t the e;1tr)nees of.
the Presidc~t's rooms, the n"m' of
the California .State C:onnnis.<;wn,
the office of the Director of +]lf Exhibits in the Quadrangk, ::1nd Lbc
doors of the Fine Arts 'Building ate
worthy of notice.
The north ~ide is occupieil h:v the
California State Building. Tt i:> the
dominant architectural featme )I
the Exposition, and to be full.Y appreciated must be studied from
many points o view. One of the
most impressive is that from uude1
he portales of the Fine Arts Building. This view is particularly fi.ne
for close study of architectural details. A point of especial inb~~~t
is from the halconie~ of the 1\ilW
Mexico Building, from which the
full value of the tower and dome is
apprecigted. For certain h:iftoric
features cf the architecture no place
is better than from the gardeus

.t l. IIITEOT ' RE OF THE EXPO ITION

northea t or h buildin a .
From
here the arr , !.,em nt d mall dome.
is be. t . ecn 1 or tlv anhit tnral
uatlrana) to the
relation of Ill'
Admini. trat 11. }'in .\ rt and adjacent bu ihl. 1g on i !. P rado, one
hould h1 th illu !ration h r~
with pre< r t d.
The 11 r ni n ui!clina i-. a nne
fXam ple o . nnn i h _.,nni" anrr arthitecturc. 'I h
\"1~ i~ that of the
eigh teenth nt un ~tlth clral' of
Mexico ant! 1. 'entrnl _\ m rica . For
its more rer ct , n !l,1gv on mu. t
go hark to :pain . f tnl\ and the
Moorish lanl
Every h1 r of art wi ll h intcre ted in w '"km ~ on! th nrch nrol ogy of t hi m ngnifir nt building.
11Ia terpicrc of ccl ia ... tirnl arcl!itecture of tl ... ln t fourt n centurie have fn rni -.hr<1 cl mcnt of
utili~ anrl hcnntv, whi h are marvelouslv comhined . F or the immediate progeni tor of the dome. Fee
that of T axro , mo t beau tiful of all
~he chu rchr~ of Old )fcxico. For
1ts remote anrr ..t ry we go back to
the Duomo in Florence. The cln
ter of dome~ recall.
t . )fark in
Venire and , 1mta , ophin. in C'ons~antin opl e.
The u c of inscriptions about the ha e of the dome i
comm on in pani h churche .
Prototype. of the tower are numerous in pain. a for example in
Cordova ann , cville. A ~trikingl.v
beautiful rffert i obtain ed bv the
concentration of ornament at the
summit of the tower and in the center of the facaclc, in marked conhaRt with th e ~everelv plain wall
surfaces of the lowrr ~orti on of the
tower. Th e embelli~hm ent of tower
and dome with tile in brilliant col?rs is a fine Oriental touch, which it
~ hoped will he extem:ively used in
011 thern California .
f The main facade will repay care;~. sturly. The be. t place from
Ich to see this is from under the
~ortales on the south ide of the
"~aza. .It has been ~aid of th!s,
here 1s no finer Spanish Renaissance facade in existence." Statues

37

of noted characters connected with

the hi tory of an Diego have been
placed in the niches. At the top, in
he place of honor, stands Fray
.Tunipero erra, of the Order of St.
Francis, Father-Presidente of the
1111. sr011
in both Alta and Baja
alifornia, who arrived at San
Diego in 1769. Immediately below,
at the right a you enter the building, i the tatne of the Portuguese
naviuator, .Tuan Rodriguez Cabrillo,
who di covered the Bay of San Dieuo in 1542. Above is the bust of
hi patron, the Emperor Charles V
of pain At the left is the statue
of Don
ebasti,an Viscaino, who
ailed into an Diego Bay on the
tenth of November, 1602. Above
Yi,caino is the bust of his patron,
Philip III of Spain.
Below Cabrillo is the bust of
Don Ga par de Portola, firs~ Spa_ni. h governor of Southern Cahforma.
Below Viscaino is that of George
Vancouver, the English navigator
who sailed into the harbor on the
twenty-seventh of November, 1_7?3,
and made notes upon the condition
of the Spanish settlement. .
.
In the lower niche at the nght IS
the statue of Fray Antoni? de la
Ascension, Carmelite histonan and
prior of the little band that accompanied Yiscaino. At the lowe~ left
hand is the statue of the Franciscan
priest, Luis J aume, who acco:npanied Father Serra, and who died at
San Diego Miesion at the ha~ds of
the Indians. He may be consldere?the first Christian martyr of California.
vIscamo
. 1-B.
ImmediatelY ahove
the coat of anns of S~ain, and above
Cahrillo that of MexJCo. T~e co~t
e State of Cahforma
of arms Of th
.
d
. seen over the mam doorway, an
~~e shield of the United States of
.
t the top of the facade
A menca a
above the statue of Father Serra.
One should not leave th_e Quadrangle without approachi~g the
California building and seemgd t~e
.f 1 entrance band-carve m
beau t 1 u
'
N t th
Philippine mahogany.
oe
e

'

RCHITE TURE OF TilE EXPOSITION

...
0

mall de r n in th rna ire portal, the ". ell Ev '' of the an~C th
rient
cient w lf'd iti
through 'I hi
th b lat d traveler
might by nnlondina hi arne!, gain
entrancr h the itv after niahtrall.
The hernlclr\' of the door will repay can ful tucly.
The Prado or main . tr et of the
Exp ~itwn i purpo 1 narrowed to
create thr f t oC a thoroughfare
in one of th old pani h citie in
the day' wht>n broad road were a)roo t un kum n. It i planted with
black arnr1a nnd the vine-covered
aro ade. whirh hord r it are a feature
t hC'
p 'ition.
W a I k i n cr a. tward alona the
Prado one find on the right a
charmi n!; little formal arden a
piea ing rari ation from the general
plan tin~ ~cheme . which i. naturali tic in it tr atmC'nt.
n the left
shoul d h<' noticed the ~Ioori. h tower
of the , rienc and Education building, the window adapted from the
~athedral of Iurcia in pain bemg a curiou~ combination of orth
Ital ian and pure] cln, ic details.
The Plaza de. Panama at the
junrtion of the two main axes of
th~ Expo ition i a very good viewpom t for the general architectural
effect of the Expo~ition It i intere tin"' to
tud
the elements
which enter into the compv ition
and to realize that while the styles
repre ented are widely divergent,
the effert created i all in very wonderful harmony.
t the outh end
of the Feconclarv a:xi tands the Organ Pavilion donated to the city by
11fr: John D.
preckels, bey~n d
whiCh there i a very beautiful v1ew
of the city and the ocean. At the
other end of the axis is the Sacramento buildincr with its simple outlines and noble' arcade, under whic~
the band play every afternoon .
At the routhwest corner of the
~laza lies the Indian Arts building,
Its facade being a particu!arly
happy representation of an ~~~ht
~enth Century California M:Issl~n.
~he bell tower are just enough dif-

or

39

ferent ~o be interesting and the little ~ta1r-case turrets at either side

of the main tower are particularly
happy in their proportions and delicate moldings. The two structures
on the east side of the Plaza, Foreign Arts and Home Economy,
are somewhat similar in mass but
have widely divergent details. That
at the northeast corner derives its
inspiration from the famous Casa
de Monterey at Salamanca and belong to the earliest of Spanish
RenaLsance architecture, which was
known as plateresque (from platero
- ilversmith) -from the delicacy
and low relief of the ornament customarily employed by silversmiths.
At a later period in Spain the ornament employed became much
coarser and heavier and was called
"Churrirueresque" in honor of the
a r c h i e c t Churriguera, its best
known exponent. The difference in
these two styles is very easy to detect. The plateresque ornament O?J
the building (Casa de Mbfl:terey) 1s
delicate in detail, more flond on the
Foreign Arts building, just to the
d even more ponderous
.ou th ' an
J
.
on the building of the San . oaq?m
Valley counties between this bml~
in and the Organ Plaza. T~e _or nalfnent of the Sacramento bmldmg
could, for instance, never be spoken
of as plateresque.
.
In spite of these many differences

arcb~tectural ~~ ~;en ~~i;~~

in
t at
square IS very no e.
.
I
l . f roofs and tloatmg lang~ouorst;e flowering vines, the clevefr
lnos,
t of shrubbery, the so t
tr~atme~ the buildings standi~g o~t
co o:s ~ the matchless Cahfor~la
agams
icture not eas1ly
sh.'J, all ma~e at~nks of the Plaza
forgotteMn. I ' net Venice and wishes
i ht be relieved
of St. ar { 8 . a
that its sefv~~Jetypl:!nt coloring of
by some o
I , de Panama.
.
to the east and JUSt
the P aza t
A few s eps p d is the Botaniback fr~m. t~e ara ~;.manent struccal Bmldm,..,, rJuht be called a
ture. and ~~a~ouse~ The problem
1
,...alonfied a

AROHI!I'EOTURE OF THE EXPOSITION

in this climate for a conservatory is
not to provide great warmth but
simply to break up the rays of the
sun so that the interior of the building may have a semi-shade- The
Bntanical Building faces a very effective little stretch of ornamental
water, the treatment of the pool directly in front of the center being
?eautifully carried out with plantmgs of bamboo and lotus which give
a really tropical effect. Inside are
growing palms and semi-tropical
plants w~ich attain such perfection
m the climate of Southern Californi~. The planting of the gardens
adJacent to the Botanical Building
is one of the many clever touches of
the landscape- architect's art and
something which many people are
apt to pass over unnoticed.
The Southern California Counties Building at the eastern end of
the Prado is a verv successful combination of Califo~nia Mission and
~parrish-Renaissance elements and
Is nat~rally the building in which
San DICgan~ take great pride.
The architecture of the I sthmus
~peaks fo~ itself and much of it not
m a whisper. However no one
should miss visiting th; Painted
De~ert, the exhibit of the Santa Fe
Railway at the northern extremity
of the grounds. It is taken from
the !ndian pueblo of Taos of New
Mexico :md the designer-Mr. J. L.
Ntlsba~nn-has done a very remarkable plece of work in creating the
at.m~Rpllere of an ancient pueblo
Withm a. few months' time . H ere,
tlle I n dlans are at work at th .
usual occupation~, s?me making r~~~
te;y, others desigmng silver ware
sbll olhers weaving baskets. Ther~

are buildings showing the favorite

methods of construction of the P ueblo, Navajo and Apache Ind1ans,
and the whole exhibit i as careful
a representation of the fast disappearing culture of the Americar1 Indians as it is po sibl e to m ake 1t.
A short and very attractive walk
may be taken through th e grounds
starting from the south side of the
little formal garden at the rast of
the Fine Arts Building. Wind ing
paths lead one und er vine-covered
pergolas, through clusters of eucalyptus trees, between the branches
of which one may catch occasional
glimpses of the beautiful t ower of
the California Building . One soon
encounters the inner en d of one of
the small canyons whi ch diversify
the park. Here, the planting is of
particular beat1ty, with pal ms in the
bottom of the canyon where th ere is
the moPt water and native shrubs 1re
climbing the sides. The end of the
]:':Jth leads one to the roadway going
toward the Organ 1md the group of
State buildings, of which that of
New Mexico is particularly note~orth:v because of its archaic SpanIsh-New Mexican architechue. One
should step into the Jew Mexican
Building and examine the roof of
the chapel with its vigas (round
beams) supported on carved corbels,
the curious fireplaces and the fascinating little placita, one of the typical elements of Spanish houses.
~peaking of the Exposition architecture as a whole it must be regarded as an emin:ntly st1ccessful
example of group planning and
harmony, both in architecture and
planting