View of the skyscrapers

Architecture
Heritage Buildings

05 vue sur les gratte ciel san francisco poi grand

Emilie

Published on 13/03/2025

This point of interest is available as audio on the tour: Visit San Francisco, From skycrapers to fortune cookies

If you can, do sit down here , on the steps around the subway exit for example, and look up. Lost in the middle of skyscrapers, sometimes you have to stop and take the time to look up to realize the beauty and singularity of each building. Here you have a fine example of San Francisco’s architectural mix. Behind you is the Crocker Galleria shopping center, whose glass roof was inspired by the Victor Emmanuel II Gallery in Milan. Just behind it, look out for the magnificent Hunter Dulin Building, topped with pointed roofs. For those who have read the novel or seen the movie, this is where the detective agency is based in the famous story of The Maltese Falcon. Facing it, next to the palace hotel, you’ll find the beautiful Bank of America building, but above all, I’d like to draw your attention to the Hobart Building in the center, right in front of you. It was completed in 1914 after less than a year of work! The builders were accused, probably rightly, of recklessness. At the time, it was the second-tallest building in the city. It was the most beloved building of its architect, Willis Polk, who revived the neoclassical style with a baroque terracotta exterior and a hand-crafted Italian marble interior. This atypical building was designated a city landmark in 1983 and classified as a historic monument in 2021.