Quote:
Originally Posted by craigs
By the outbreak of WWII, San Francisco's pre-war skyline was pretty lackluster both in height and quality. The two tallest towers were both 435 ft.; one of them is a gorgeous terra-cotta gothic take on Art Deco, but the other is comparatively plain and uninspired. The next tallest was 328 ft. and, while refined, its massing makes it seem squat. SF's coolest pre-war tower was what is today called Central Tower, which was built in 1898 and at 315 ft., it was the tallest building in the West for a long time. It was most notable for featuring a baroque dome and corner cupolas, but in 1938 it was remuddled (and shortened to 298 ft.) into a very plain, deco-lite tower with nothing notable about the new look. |
There's also the Shell building, at 378 feet, built in 1929:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_Building_(San_Francisco)
It's a shame what they did to the Central Tower. I still like it, but the old look was way better.
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