Portal - San Francisco's Ferry Building and the Reinvention of American Cities

Conceived in the Gilded Age, the Ferry Building opened in 1898 as San Francisco's portal to the world-the terminus of the transcontinental railway and a showcase of civic ambition. In silent films and World's Fair postcards, nothing said "San Francisco" more than its soaring clocktower. But as acclaimed architectural critic John King recounts, the rise of cars and double-deck roads severed the city from its beloved structure. King's narrative spans the rise and fall and rebirth of the Ferry Building, introducing colourful figures who fought to preserve its character (and the city's soul)-from architect Arthur Page Brown and legendary columnist Herb Caen to poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Senator Dianne Feinstein. A microcosm of the changing American waterfront, the saga of the Ferry Building explores the tensions of tourism and development-and the threat that sea level rise poses to a landmark that in the twenty-first century remains as vital as ever.

About the author

John King is San Francisco Chronicle’s former architecture and urban design critic and a two-time Pulitzer finalist. An honorary member of the American Society of Landscape Architects, he lives in Berkeley, California.

Summary

A two-time Pulitzer finalist explores the story of American urban design through San Francisco’s iconic Ferry Building

Product details

• Authors: John King
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 22.01.2024
• EAN: 9781324020325
• ISBN: 978-1-324-02032-5
• Dimensions: 160 mm x 236 mm x 28 mm
• Weight: 614 g
• Illustrations: 50 black-and-white illustrations
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Architecture; Architecture, ARCHITECTURE / Buildings / Landmarks & Monuments, ARCHITECTURE / History / Modern (late 19th Century to 1945), Modernism, Local History, History of Architecture, History of the Americas, Urban and municipal planning and policy, US West, Architecture: public, commercial and industrial buildings