We the members of the San Francisco Stock Exchange voted in 1927 to replace their existing building with a new one costing $½ million it was the design of James R Miller & Timothy Pflueger that was chosen. Miller & Pflueger had previously designed separate buildings for the exchange and a rival San Francisco Stock and Bond Exchange but those had been prior to the new Art Deco style coming into vogue.
The building was constructed during 1929 and was nearing construction when the Stock Market Crash hit on October 29 leading to the building becoming known among traders as the
Monument to the Crash.
This is the Sansome Street entrance to the building dominated by Ralph Stackpole's sculpture,
The Progress of Man. There's more of Stackpole's sculptures associated with this building and a fabulous interior but I'll leave those to future posts to explore further.
Reference:
Art Deco San Francisco: The Architecture of Timothy Pflueger, by Therese Poletti, photography by Tom Paiva, Princeton Architectural Press, New York, 2008
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I am very impressed by Ralph Stackpole's sculpture, The Progress of Man, above the main entrance to the building. The title Progress of Man must have seemed tragic indeed when the Depression flattened most communities and families.
ReplyDeleteSo true Hels. After such a great time for the markets in the immediate period after the First World War the crash must have come as an almighty flattener.
DeleteI was in San Francisco in September and visited this beautiful building. I asked the lobby attendant if I could go up and see the famous Diego Rivera mural. Everyone at this now private club was very gracious and I think the interior is even better than the exterior.
ReplyDeleteThat's fantastic Priscilla. I think you could be right and isn't the Rivera mural amazing.
DeleteIt is, I'm using the picture I took as
ReplyDeletemy computer wallpaper.