Iconic San Francisco buildings are aglow with festive light displays as part of a free holiday event that splashes kinetic artworks across downtown facades.

Thirteen local and international artists participated in Let’s Glow SF this year, the third time the event has turned downtown into a spectacle of visual storytelling. Downtown SF Partnership, the nonprofit that produces the event with A3 Visual, calls it the largest holiday light projection show in the United States.

Nightly from 5-10 p.m. through December 10, buildings become giant canvases with the help of projectors and a high-powered laser system.

Let’s Glow SF in action.

Tri Nguyen/GIF by Leslie Katz

The Pacific Coast Stock Exchange morphs into a shape-shifting multicolor swirl in Antaless Visual Design’s “Gloaming.” The installation “Glacial Gates,” by projection company Max10sity, releases the Spirit of Winter from a dark prison of twisted tree branches and blue icicles to bring warmth and beauty back to the winter world. In “True to Hue,” by multimedia team The Fox, The Folks, a girl’s dreams transcend the clouds in a vision whose vivid colors evokes the tie-dye that cloaked the city’s famous ‘60s Summer of Love.

Let’s Glow SF illuminates San Francisco as the city battles to reinvigorate its once bustling downtown. The area has been largely vacant since Covid-19 sent office workers home, with many remaining remote even as the pandemic has waned, and businesses suffering shutdowns and major slowdowns as a result.

The projection event is therefore more than just a holiday celebration, according to Robbie Silver, executive director of the Downtown SF Partnership, which works to enhance the city’s downtown. The Let’s Glow SF sponsors hope it will boost local businesses that have suffered from the lingering pandemic-related traffic slump—and signal better days ahead.

to Hue” by Indonesian projection artists The Fox, The Folks.Downtown SF Partnership

Those sponsors, which include Amazon, hope the flashy glow-up will boost local businesses that have suffered from the enduring pandemic-related traffic slump—and signal better days ahead. Last year’s Let’s Glow drew 50,000 spectators over the over the course of 10 nights, according to Downtown SF Partnership.

Like others looking ahead to a post-pandemic revitalization of downtown, Silver alludes to the promise of reimagining a district that’s been a business hub for decades. “Moving away from the traditional mono-economy to a mixed-use vibrant haven is a key part of downtown’s future events,” he said.

San Francisco’s Ferry building into a visual poem for the holiday projection festival.Downtown SF Partnership

Locations getting glowy include 1 Ferry Building; the Salesforce Tower at 415 Mission Street; the Hobart Building at 582 Market Street; One Bush Street; the Pacific Stock Exchange at 301 Pine Street; and Landing at Leidesdorff at 565 Commercial Street.

Panasonic provided and placed 11 4K 32,000-lumen projectors and two 4K 22,000-lumen projectors in custom-built outdoor enclosures. A full-color high-powered laser system drives the presentation at One Bush Plaza in front of a 20-story office building.

“San Francisco has long been a landing pad for artists that create work to shape our downtown’s identity and present opportunities for innovation,” Sean Mason, the chief creative officer of A3 Visual’s immersive division, said in a statement. “Art invites people in and carves a direct path for more community engagement and revitalization.”

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. 

I’m a journalist with particular expertise in the arts, popular science, health, religion and spirituality. As the former culture editor at news and technology website CNET, I led a team that tracked movies, TV shows, online trends and science—from space and robotics to climate, AI and archaeology. My byline has also appeared in publications including The New York Times, San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle and J, the Jewish News of Northern California. When I’m not wrangling words, I’m probably gardening, yoga-ing or staring down a chess board, trying to trap an enemy queen. 

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(KTXL) — You may know nothing about architecture, yet there’s a good chance you’ve already appreciated the work of California’s first licensed female architect Julia Morgan.

Morgan’s 700 buildings not only represent the style of her time, they each have their own identity and design, which makes it hard to believe they all came from the mind of one person.

What is that pyramid-shaped building next to the Sacramento River?

Her client list included William Randolph Hearst, gold mine owners, the Youth Women’s Christian Association, and many more.

Early Life and Education

Courtesy of the Fairmont Hotel

Morgan was born on Jan. 20, 1872, in San Francisco, to a mother with deep family wealth and a father who had a number of failed business attempts.

In 1890, she graduated from Oakland High School and enrolled at the University of California, where she studied engineering due to the lack of an architecture program.

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After graduating with her degree in engineering, her former professor, Bernard Maybeck, encouraged Morgan to attend École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

Morgan was initially refused admission because the school had never admitted a woman before, but after waiting for two years, Morgan was admitted. She became the first woman to receive a certificate in architecture from the esteemed art school.

Beginning her Career and Early Projects

In 1904, after returning to San Francisco, Morgan opened her own office in the carriage house of her parents’ home and became the first woman to receive California’s State Architectural License.

One of her first projects was in 1904 when she was hired to design the El Campanil bell tower at Mills College in Oakland.

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Courtesy of Mill’s College at Northwestern University

The tower houses 10 bells that were cast in 1893 for the Columbian International Exposition in Chicago but sat without a home until the completion of the tower in 1904.

The tower survived the 1906 and 1989 earthquakes.

One of her other early works was the North Star House, just outside of Grass Valley, for North Star Mine owner James Hague.

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Morgan began designing the 10,000-square-foot Frist Bay Tradition Arts and Craft style home between 1903 and 1904, and completed it in 1905.

The home is on the State and National Registers of Historic Places and has been undergoing a full restoration.

Rebuilding the Fairmont Hotel, a Turning Point

One of Morgan’s most significant undertakings in the early part of her career was rebuilding the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco following the 1906 earthquake.

According to California State Parks, Morgan was entrusted with resetting steel girders, replacing marble columns and reinforcing stairs. Within a year the hotel was reopened.

Courtesy of the Fairmont Hotel

With the completion of a bell tower, a large private home and rebuilding an iconic hotel, Morgan next took on building bungalow cottages in 1910 for the U.S. Immigration Station on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay.

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Morgan was hired by her brother-in-law Hart H. North, Commissioner at the U.S. Immigration Station, to build the 12 bungalows that would house the family and staff that worked at the station.

All that remains of the cottages today are their concrete foundations after a fire burned them down in 1971 during a fire-training exercise during the filming of “The Candidate” with Robert Redford.

The Asilomar and the YWCA

One of Morgan’s largest projects was the design and construction of 17 Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) sites, including the massive Asilomar in Pacific Grove.

Courtesy of California State Parks

Her work at Asilomar would continue from 1913 to 1928, during which she designed Merrill Hall, a dining room, a chapel auditorium and lodges.

Asilomar became the nation’s first women’s summer camp and conference grounds owned by a woman’s organization, according to California State Parks.

Once again, this project is a great example of the Arts and Craft Style. All of the buildings are National Historic Landmarks.

As Morgan’s name became more widely known, her work began to expand beyond the Bay Area and Central Coast.

Fresno, Sacramento and the Julia Morgan House

In 1918, she would build the Julia Morgan House, which is the only example of her residential architecture in Sacramento.

She was commissioned by Lizzie Glide to build the home as a wedding gift to her daughter Mary Glide Goethe and her husband Charles Goethe.

After Charles Goethe died in 1966, the home was given to The Foundation at Sacramento State, which is known today as University Enterprises Inc.

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The home was constructed in a Mediterranean style and in 1999 underwent remodeling and restoration by UEI to “preserve its authenticity.”

Morgan then ventured down the Central Valley to Fresno in the early 1920s where she designed three more YWCA centers. A residence hall was built on M Street, a small bungalow and activities building in West Fresno and the Recreation Center on Tuolumne and L Streets.

A remodel in 1965 modernized the recreation center beyond the point of recognizing Morgan’s original designs.

A Monument to California’s Redwoods

During the early 1930s, Morgan’s talents were brought into the deep old-growth redwood forests of northern California.

The California Federation of Women’s Clubs hired Morgan in 1933 to design a memorial that symbolizes the club’s effort in purchasing a 106-acre old-growth redwood grove through the Save the Redwoods League. The grove protected more than 1,000 redwood trees.

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Morgan designed four stone fireplaces that share a central chimney called the Hearthstone.

Courtesy of California State Parks

“Oversized rocks, collected along the south fork of the Eel River, face all aspects of the structure,” California State Parks writes in their description of the structure. “Cut tree trunks support wood roofs that cover the open hearths. Stone bench inglenooks provide a resting place.”

Today that tree grove is apart of the Humboldt Redwoods State Park.

Hearst Castle and other projects of William Randolph Hearst

The “Casa Grande” at Hearst Castle, the legendary home built by publishing tycoon William Randolph Hearst in San Simeon, Calif. on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2008. (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg)

One of the most notorious clients of Morgan’s was the Hearst family, specifically William Randolph Hearst.

At the start of her career, before opening her own office, Morgan had been hired by the Hearst family for other projects.

In 1919, William Randolph Hearst would hire Morgan to design a main building and guest houses that would serve better than the raised tents at his San Simeon Ranch.

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This would be the first of many assignments that Morgan would carry out to create the 28-year project that has become known as Hearst Castle.

Morgan designed the majority of the structures and pools, including the Neptune pool and indoor Roman pool, grounds, animal shelters and workers’ camps.

The Roman pool at Hearst Castle, the legendary home built by publishing tycoon William Randolph Hearst in San Simeon, Calif. on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2008. (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg)

She told Hearst that her commission needed to be 8.5 percent of architectural services, up from her usual 6 percent, as she was “running the job.”

Hearst employed Morgan for several other projects at properties he owned, including the Annenberg Community Beach House in Santa Monica.

Hearst purchased five acres of beachfront property for movie star Marion Davies in the 1920s and originally hired designer William Edward Flannery, but fired him after Flannery was having difficulties with the project.

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Morgan was brought on to finish the main home and then designed a pool and a 7,000-square-foot guest house with gardens.

When the home was finished in 1929 with its 110 rooms, 37 fireplaces and 55 bathrooms it was dubbed the “Versailles of Hollywood.”

Construction at Hearst Castle would cease in 1947 as Hearst’s finances became strained, and in 1951, at the age of 79, Morgan would retire in the Bay Area.

She eventually pass away on Feb. 2, 1957, at the age of 85.

A Legacy of Greatness

In 2014, 57 years after her death, Morgan was posthumously awarded a Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architects, the highest honor of the institute.

“At a time when there were few women in the professional world, when we weren’t even allowed to vote, Julia was a real trailblazer,” Senator Dianne Feinstein said in her speech to the AIA. “She is living proof that no matter the obstacles, no matter the status quo you can achieve greatness.”

So if you find yourself in the major cities of the Bay Area, a seaside town on the central coast, the Capital City or one of California’s ancient forests you could be looking at the artistry of one of California’s most prolific architects.

The post California’s landmarks and the lady, Julia Morgan, that constructed them appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Tucked away in the southeastern quadrant of San Francisco is a historic neighborhood that many residents believe has been overlooked for far too long.

Just steps from Daly City may be one of the reasons the Visitacion Valley – also known as the Vis Valley – often features in everything from historical recognition to the city’s investment in services stayed the track. And over the years it has built a reputation for being one of the neighborhoods least known to SF residents.

“In a way … I like this well-kept secret,” said Edie Epps, a lifelong resident and co-founder of the Visitacion Valley History Project, which reminds newcomers that the neighborhood is spelled with a “c” rather than a second. T. “Together with colleagues from the history project and other city representatives, Epps has worked to ensure that the Vis Valley finally receives the attention it deserves in his opinion.

A woman is crossing Schweriner Strasse in San Francisco, California on Saturday, October 22, 2021.

Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle

But despite the isolation from the crowded streets and the gentrification of many neighborhoods of San Francisco, locals also say the reluctance of the area had real downsides for the historically lower-income community – most notably, that the city neglected it for decades, making promises and interest to give up on things like more residential and retail development, including one more grocery store.

And while neighborhood advocates say it’s a treasure trove of historic structures and eclectic architecture, Visitacion Valley doesn’t have any designated historic landmarks or long-established shops. Notable structures to be demolished include a trio of early 20th-century commercial buildings.

“It’s one of the most overlooked neighborhoods in the city,” said Kerri Young, program manager for the San Francisco Heritage nonprofit, which spent October promoting the neighborhood for its program on underrepresented parts of San Francisco. “There are great buildings and great sights. It’s just that they are no longer officially recognized. “

The neighborhood has defied itself over the years – especially in the context of historical recognition – in part because there weren’t always advocates who advocate it, said Diane Matsuda, president of the city’s heritage protection commission, through the more than 230 sights and attractions eleven historic districts were taken over.

“To be completely, completely honest, historical preservation has really focused on pretty buildings, and pretty buildings belong to a lot of wealthy whites,” said Matsuda, adding that the commission passed a resolution in 2019 to promote social and racial justice to create priority in the choice of structures.

“Only … only recently have we started to look at monument preservation from a much broader perspective.”

In contrast to the stately or grandiose buildings that are often considered landmarks in neighborhoods like Pacific Heights or the Financial District, the structures worth mentioning in the Visitacion Valley are more humble and more closely linked to working class communities, proponents say.

An expansive view of the Visitation Valley will be offered by Opal Bolsega on Saturday, October 22, 2021 in San Francisco, California.

Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle

The area has long been a place where low-income populations have found homes due to their remote location and major employers in the factory and railroad industries. According to 2010 census data, the median household income was $ 47,760, compared with the San Francisco median total of $ 78,710.

Fifty percent of the Vis Valley’s population is made up of Asian and Pacific islanders, with Hispanic / Latino, Black and White making up 25, 9 and 14 percent, respectively. In comparison, 49% of the population of San Francisco is white, 34% Asian, 6% black, and 15% Hispanic / Latin, according to the census data.

Throughout October, the history project carried out hiking tours to show hidden historical gems in the Vis Valley, from forgotten street houses to the former Schlage lock factory – an important employer for the residents of the Vis Valley – and Little Hollywood, a micro-district that Known for its Spanish Casas -style detached houses.

Here are some of the landmarks that proponents say showcase the neighborhood’s unique – and somewhat buried – history.

St. James Presbyterian Church

One of the most famous structures in the area, the Arts and Crafts-meets-Mission Revival-style church, was founded in 1906. It was redesigned in 1923 by the famous Bay Area architect Julia Morgan. The stained glass windows – depicting the parable of the sower – are from an abandoned church in a ghost town in Nevada that was stolen by the St. James communities, who happened to know it was abandoned. The structure is among the many buildings the neighborhood community – and proponents of SF Heritage – are looking to consider for landmark status.

St. James, with its mostly Filipino community, is one of the many churches in the Vis Valley that reflect the diversity of the region. A Catholic church, the Church of the Visitacion, sits on the estate of first California governor Peter Burnett and the city’s first motel, Auto Camp.

St. James Presbyterian Church can be seen during a walking tour hosted by the Visitacion Valley History Project on Saturday, October 22, 2021 in San Francisco, California.

Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle

Homes on Schweriner St. can be viewed on a walking tour hosted by the Visitacion Valley History Project on Saturday, October 22, 2021 in San Francisco, California.

Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle

Schwerin Street

Schweriner Straße is just around the corner from the Jakobsweg, where different living styles testify to the architectural diversity of the region. The Art Deco-inspired Visitacion Valley Elementary School, completed in 1937, stands directly across from an Eclectic-meets-Storybook-style house, right next to a Streamline Moderne house. And the eastern portion of the Vis Valley is a collection of homes that hailed from Southern California: palm-fringed Mediterranean and mission-style bungalows and artisans that make up the Little Hollywood neighborhood.

Geneva terraces

For a town with few Eichlers, it may surprise some that there are a few and relatively affordable ones in the Vis Valley. These so-called Geneva Terrace Townhouses are part of the neighborhood’s long history of turmoil – and inequalities – related to home security.

In the 1960s, Eichler planned to develop luxury apartments in two high-rise buildings in the row house complex, but changed plans to secure federal funding and make the towers more accessible to the bourgeois population. After the Eichler Corporation went bankrupt in 1967, the San Francisco Housing Authority stepped in to subsidize rents, and eventually the project was converted to Federal Area 8 Housing.

Over the years, residents have complained of mismanagement, poor maintenance and inhumane living conditions in the towers. The complex became notorious for crime and the US Housing and Urban Development Department called the entire neighborhood “a neglected urban backwater of 18,000 with rampant crime, horrific schools, and a deplorable housing project called Geneva Towers,” according to SF Heritage.

In 1998, many people watched (some wept, others cheered) as the towers were destroyed in a controlled demolition led by redevelopment plans by the HUD and an elected residents’ council. They have been replaced by low-income townhouses called heritage homes, and they remain one of the few affordable housing developments in the city.

A house made of mud bricks, hidden in a cul-de-sac on the hillside

Like so many San Francisco residents, Opal Bolsega had never heard of Visitacion Valley in her 15 years living in the city. But 30 years ago, when her agent was looking for a down payment with only $ 20,000, she found a house on Delta Street – a cul-de-sac overlooking the Cow Palace and San Bruno Mountain. She fell in love.

The multi-story house, painted by a group of graffiti wall painters about 20 years ago, is an unusual example of an adobe house in the Vis Valley, and in other ways the neighborhood may look more like a warmer part of California.

Local historians have told Bolsega that the house was built before 1895, and their own research suggests it is one of the oldest properties in the neighborhood, but the official timeline is still unclear.

Opal Bolsega of Visitation Valley speaks to The Chronicle at their home in San Francisco, California on Saturday, October 22, 2021.

Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle

A (welcomed) demographic change

To the locals, the Vis Valley sometimes feels more like a small town than a metropolitan area. And so many have chosen to stay for their entire life sometimes. Epps, 70, raised four generations in her parents’ home, a small craft that her Italian parents bought after her father started working for the Southern Pacific Railroad, a major employer in the region at the time.

Another member of the history project, Betty Parshall, 86, lived her entire life on Wilde Ave; she owns both the house she grew up in and the one next door. And although vintage cars are widespread, more and more younger people and families in particular are moving in, a trend that has undoubtedly played with its home values. They have increased by 8% in the last year.

But Vis Valley is still more affordable than many other parts of San Francisco, and it has a kind of anachronistic calm that can be felt by a world far removed from the urban vibe of the city. There’s a charm, say the locals, that just can’t be painted over – and maybe can’t be painted over either.

“There’s Noe Valley, all these other valleys,” said Epps. “And that’s great, but we are the Valley. … And its story … it just stays in you. “

Annie Vainshtein is a contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: avainshtein@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @annievain

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