Balboa Park Architecture

By Marques Vickers

The 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal and first introduced the city of San Diego to a wider international audience. Balboa Park became the featured centerpiece. The core park layout today remains essentially the same as during the original fair. Later constructed buildings and venues have expanded the variety of attractions.

The majority of buildings introduced during the first exposition outside of the California Quadrangle were temporary by intent, constructed in wood and plaster. Most of these remained standing for nearly eighty years even during a subsequent fair in 1935-36. Eventually each of these structures would be demolished and reconstructed with sturdier materials. The fresher building designs remained identical to the previous temporary structures.

Integrated throughout the initial Exposition design were a variety of European architectural styles. For southern California spectators, this diverse assortment would result in popularizing Spanish-Renaissance styling throughout the region. Decades of similarly themed constructions followed and dominated the region’s architecture. It is not an extended stretch to suggest the genesis of contemporary California style had its birth from the Exposition.

Balboa Park Architecture is an extensive photographic survey of the structures introduced during the 1915-16 Exposition. The edition escorts the reader through an intimate tour of the El Prado pedestrian walkway from the current Laurel Street Bridge to the Bea Evenson Fountain. Detailed images of exterior building finishes and the structures offer an insightful glimpse of lead architect Bertram Goodhue’s vision.

Goodhue is credited with introducing a wider American audience to the traditional Spanish Baroque and Spanish Colonial styles of architecture. Blending these influences with Italian Churrigueresque style, he fashioned a hybrid that would become known as the Spanish Colonial Revival form. This fusion became a dominant theme within the El Prado Quadrangle’s layout during the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park.

The exposure and success of Exposition became a highly influential factor in the development of a distinct Southern California style of architecture. The Spanish Colonial Revival style became the predominant design in the rebuilding of Santa Barbara following a devastating 1925 earthquake. The style remains prevalent throughout California and the Southwestern United States.

Following the Exposition, Goodhue’s creations became increasingly freed of architectural detail and considered more Romanesque in form. He worked towards a more synthesized and simplistic design many credit as paving the next phase of architectural idioms. Where this direction may have evolved was abruptly terminated upon his premature death.

Goodhue died abruptly at the age of 54 in New York City. He was buried within a wall vault at his Church of the Intercession in Manhattan on the border of the Harlem and Washington Heights neighborhoods. Sculptor Lee Lawrie created a Gothic stylized tomb for him.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Marques Vickers
• Release date: May 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9780463100929

Marques Vickers

Visual Artist, Writer and Photographer Marques Vickers is a California native presently living in the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle, Washington regions. He was born in 1957 and raised in Vallejo, California. He is a 1979 Business Administration graduate from Azusa Pacific University in the Los Angeles area. Following graduation, he became the Public Relations and ultimately Executive Director of the Burbank Chamber of Commerce between 1979-84. He subsequently became the Vice President of Sales for AsTRA Tours and Travel in Westwood between 1984-86. Following a one-year residence in Dijon, France where he studied at the University of Bourgogne, he began Marquis Enterprises in 1987. His company operations have included sports apparel exporting, travel and tour operations, wine brokering, publishing, rare book and collectibles reselling. He has established numerous e-commerce, barter exchange and art websites including MarquesV.com, ArtsInAmerica.com, InsiderSeriesBooks.com, DiscountVintages.com and WineScalper.com. Between 2005-2009, he relocated to the Languedoc region of southern France. He concentrated on his painting and sculptural work while restoring two 19th century stone village residences. His figurative painting, photography and sculptural works have been sold and exhibited internationally since 1986. He re-established his Pacific Coast residence in 2009 and has focused his creative productivity on writing and photography. His published works span a diverse variety of subjects including true crime, international travel, California wines, architecture, history, Southern France, Pacific Coast attractions, fiction, auctions, fine art marketing, poetry, fiction and photojournalism. He has two daughters, Charline and Caroline who presently reside in Europe.

Book preview

BALBOA PARK ARCHITECTURE

El Prado Pedestrian Walkway

Published by Marques Vickers at Smashwords

Copyright 2022-2023

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE

EL PRADO WALKWAY

El Prado-Cabrillo Bridge-Plaza de California

California Tower

California Building

Museum of Us-California Quadrangle-Three Theatres

San Diego Museum of Art

Botanical Building

Casa Del Prado

San Diego Natural History Museum

ICA San Diego Entrance-El Cid Memorial

Spreckels Organ Pavilion

House of Hospitality

Casa De Balboa

BALBOA PARK 1915-16 EXPOSITION

Origins of Balboa Park

Architect Bertram Goodhue

Architecture Styles Employed

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SOURCES AND ARCHIVES SOURCED

TheSpruce.com, Google.com, Wikiwand.com, Balboapark.org, Wikipedia.org, ElleDecor.com, NationalGeographic.org, DesigningBuildings.co.uk, Masterclass.com, Britannica.com and CarolMendelMaps.com.

Photography shot during March 2022.

PREFACE

The 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal and first introduced the city of San Diego to a wider international audience. Balboa Park became the featured centerpiece. The core park layout today remains essentially the same as during the original fair. Later constructed buildings and venues have expanded the variety of attractions.

Integrated throughout the initial Exposition design were a variety of European architectural styles. For southern California spectators, this diverse assortment would result in popularizing Spanish-Renaissance styling throughout the region. Decades of similarly themed constructions followed and dominated the region’s architecture. It is not an extended stretch to suggest the genesis of contemporary California style had its birth from the Exposition.

The most enduring works of the 1915-16 Exposition remain the structures built with permanence in mind. They include the California Building and Tower, the Spreckels Organ Pavilion and the 1,500-foot long Cabrillo Bridge.

Ironically, the majority of buildings introduced during the first exposition were temporary by intent, constructed in wood and plaster. Most of these