Excursions
Invitation
Reservations
Resources
Reference
About
The VLN chronology is divided into two parts and lists works prior to and following the April 18-20, 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The 19th Century S.F. Architecture portion includes houses and buildings that date from the Gold Rush days of the early 1850s and includes some of the oldest buildings on record in San Francisco along with numerous examples of the Victorian styles prevailing during the 1870s through the 1890s. In this way it provides an historical context for the antecedents of the early work by the Bay Area Tradition architects in the Excursions.
The 20th Century S.F. Architecture chronology includes Bay Area architecture created after the 1906 fire and earthquake. It offers a context for the evolving design created by the architects highlighted in the Excursions, and is suggestive in regard to the historical setting for their innovative contributions to the Early Bay Area Tradition architects. It also facilitates comparison and contrast with succeeding 20th-century architecture in northern California and the country as a whole.
The Beaux Arts tradition proposed that public art contributes to civic pride and should adorn all parts of a city, including public buildings, rather than being limited to select elite neighborhoods. As with many generous notions, the success of this idea in San Francisco and the Bay Area is open to debate. The S.F. Bay Area Public Art listing provides evidence that constitutes the basis for an informed discussion. It includes a variety of urban-design elements, including monuments, sculpture, and fountains, murals, mosaics, and stained glass dating from the late 1700s up to the present.
The VLN Timeline provides historical context for the work accomplished by the architects represented in the Excursions. It complements the 19th and 20th century chronologies that present examples of the evolution of Bay Area architecture, by outlining historical events related to that evolution, from the founding of Mission Dolores and the Presidio in 1776 up to the present.
The reference works cited in the entries describing the buildings and urban-design elements on the VLN site are provided in Works Cited. Wherever possible, links to the works on Amazon.com and other online book sellers are provided, should visitors wish copies for their own libraries.