The California Building, home to the San Diego Museum of Man, was constructed for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. Its design hints of Gothic influence with inspiration from Spanish churches in Mexico.
California Building, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA
Title: Day at the Park
Balboa Park, California
By: Tracy Harris
Size: 32" x 22"
Medium: Watercolor
Paper: ARCHES, Cold Press, 300 lb
Collection: Available
Limited Edition: Giclee 245 AP 5
The shining tiles, sparkling glass beads begged me to paint it. I studied the tile, the woodwork, and found it was just not a plain grey building.
A symbol of San Diego, the California Building served as a magnificent entry to the 1915 Exposition.
Perched atop tiers of stone ornamentation on the California Building’s façade are sculpted historical figures and busts. These were created by the Piccirilli Brothers, who were skilled marble carvers in Italy before immigrating to the United States in 1888. Facing the building, visitors can see the façade’s sculpted figures and busts, molded from modeling clay and plaster. Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, who sailed into San Diego Bay in 1542, is one of the figures on the building
The California Building, unlike the Spanish-Colonial churches in Mexico that inspired Goodhue, is notably plain and gray. Color highlights appear on the green woodwork of the frames, the deeper green of the ironwork, the brown of the door, and the colored tiles on the dome and tower.
This building was the first structure in Balboa Park.
Though the building façade is impressive, the three-stage tower is iconic in San Diego. The outline of the tower is Spanish, but its details and color are reflective of Mexico.