Golden Gate Park is a major green space within San Francisco's 7-mile by 7-mile city limits. It is located in the Western area of the city and is on mostly gently sloping terrain. It is a rectangular shape that is three miles long by half a mile wide. One end is on the Pacific Ocean while the other end is adjoined by the neighborhoods of NoPa and Haight/Ashbury. To the North is the Richmond District and to the South is the Sunset District. It is a popular park and has many recreational features.
This thread is not a complete representation of the park; instead, it will focus on the most notable architecture found within. There are not many buildings, but those that exist are mostly from two widely different eras: the smaller historic structures from the park's inception in the 1870's until the 1920's, and a pair of large contemporary museum buildings from the 2000's.
Windmills:
On the Western edge of the park, close to the ocean, are these two structures that were built to pump groundwater originally: the Dutch Windmill (1903) and Murphy Windmill (1908).
Chinese Pagoda:
This gift from Taipei sits on the shore of Strawberry Hill, a wooded island surrounded by Stow Lake and its rental boats.
Japanese Tea Garden:
This is the oldest public Japanese garden in the United States, opened for the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894. Its 5-acre site has several themed buildings scattered around the grounds.
Golden Gate Park Carousel:
This is adjacent to the Koret Children's Quarter which includes a large playground; the current carousel is a 1914 ride that was originally located in several other cities and was installed here in 1984, replacing two previous versions.
Sharon Building:
Built in 1888 on the perimeter of the Children's Quarter (the original large playground), this now serves as an art studio.
McLaren Lodge:
Built in 1896, this is the park's headquarters and is located on the Eastern edge of the property.
Golden Gate Park Senior Center:
Beach Chalet:
This 1925 building faces the ocean on the Western side of the park and has a restaurant on its second floor. The first floor lobby features WPA-era murals from about 10 years after the building was finished that depict the park and city.
Kezar Stadium:
On the Eastern end of the park, this legendary venue for sporting events and concerts was built in 1925, but its heyday ended long ago. The stands were once larger but were demolished in 1989 and replaced by smaller ones as well as the replica archway at one end.
Conservatory of Flowers:
This is the oldest building in the park, from 1878, and is filled with a fine botanic collection. It was most recently renovated in 2003.
Gate at Lincoln Way and Crossover Drive:
This is grandest of the gateways to the park, located on the South side adjacent to the Sunset District of the city.
James Garfield Statue:
Many statues are scattered throughout the park; this one is near the Conservatory of Flowers and is typical of many of these monuments.
John F. Kennedy Boulevard:
One of two primary East-West automobile routes through the park is this street. Where it passes near the Music Concourse (featured below), it has a formal overpass with a pedestrian tunnel beneath it.
Music Concourse:
The most formal landscape in the park is this large oval, completed in 1900 on the site of the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894. One end of its axis is dominated by a monument to Francis Scott Key (moved here in 1967), while the other end features the Spreckels Temple of Music for free small outdoor concerts. Parking garages were added below grade on each side in 2005 as part of a renovation of the plaza and the two large museums that flank the plaza on each of its long sides. The current versions of the two museums are featured later; their predecessors were mostly more traditional buildings that were added to over the years. The fact that such modern cutting-edge architecture was allowed to join this historic formal space in a city as sensitive as San Francisco was surprisingly progressive.
California Academy of Sciences:
Located on the Southeast side of the Music Concourse, this well-respected natural history museum has been on this site since 1916. The current building was opened in 2008 after a near-total demolition of the older buildings; it was designed by Renzo Piano and has achieved many awards for environmental sustainability. Its main components are the Kimbell Museum of Natural History, Morrison Planetarium, Osher Rainforest, and Steinhart Aquarium.
de Young Museum:
Located on the Northwest side of the Music Concourse, this well-respected art museum has been on this site since 1895. The current building was opened in 2005 after a near-total demolition of the older buildings; it was designed by Herzog + de Meuron and is covered with copper panels with divets and perforations. It also has an observation tower that is 144 feet tall.
All photographs taken in 2011-2012 by geomorph.
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