San Francisco Landmarks: Transamerica Pyramid
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Begun in 1969 and completed in 1972, the Transamerica Pyramid quickly became an icon of the San Francisco skyline. It is the tallest building in San Francisco: 850 feet (260 metres). The second tallest building in San Francisco is the Bank of America building; 779 feet (237.4 metres). It often appears that the Bank of America building is taller. It is an illusion caused by the fact that the Bank of America building is on higher ground whereas the Transamerica Pyramid is on landfill. The hull of the whaling ship Niantic, abandoned at its San Francisco pier during the 1849 Gold Rush, was found buried where the Transamerica Pyramid was built.
Transamerica was an insurance company, bought out by the Dutch insurance company AEGON in 1999. Transamerica was founded by A.P. Gianini, founder of the Bank of Italy, which grew to become Bank of America. The pyramid is built on the site of one of Gianini's original buildings.
At 48 floors in height, the pyramid is one of the 200 tallest buildings in the world.
18 commentaires:
Nice photo, Louis and an informative commentary. But I would not, I repeat, would not work up there!
Nice post! I plan on going to San Francisco this weekend. I'm sure I'll walk by this building.
i will go to SF one day...
I always wanted to go to the top of that building. I knew it was around for a while thanks for the info.
I love the building, I've photographed it (and will again when we return soon) but I did not know the history. Very glad that you passed it along. Hard to believe, though, that it is still one of the 200 tallest buildings in the world. I mean, if you have a quick look around China...
This is really very interesting, thanks for sharing this Louis.
I remember when the Pyramid was inaugurated. Herb Caen led the campaign against it's architectural integrity. I hated it. Now, I love this building and its iconic place in the skyline. The same cannot be said for Number One Rincon. Ugh! And a number Two is in the planning. Lord help us.
That building is a perennial favorite. Thanks for the history. I didn't know Bank of Italy became BAC nor did I know TransAmerica was founded by Gianini. Smart guy!
What a fantastic building!
Love Is In The Air, Love Is In Nature
So informative and beautiful postcard.This building is really an icon of this wonderful city of San Francisco!
Thanks for this wonderful post!
Léia
The way things are going, The Bank of Italy may reacquire Bank of America.
I love the Transamerica photo - a view of the downtown!
Your Obama countdown clock on your sidebar is awesome! Love it! We can only hope for CHANGE in 2012, in office that is!
It certainly is a very recognizable symbol of your city!
America es a Europa como los rascacielos son a las catedrales :)
Un abrazo amigo
My best memory of SF is the big crabs they sell at the fisherman's wharf. It was more than 35 years ago.
What a great angle and light in this one!
Cet édifice est un symbole de San Francisco.
Mai il être inscrit dans une architecture de point de repère sometime.
Great landscapes, huge buildings : The very America !
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