Louis Christian Mullgardt

“ The result is that they contain many palaces and shrines decorated with sculpture and painting and that the earth is studded with fountains and pools within tropical gardens. Such a Kingdom exists within a wonderful valley bordering on a great sea. It is surrounded by high velvet hills of fine contour and by many real cities. As the people look down on this phantom kingdom from the hill-tops, or from ships sailing on the water, they see Architecture nestling like flamingoes with fine feathers unfurled within a green setting. ”

“ R. Maybeck of San Francisco, found as an asset on beginning his work, a small natural lake and a fine group of Monterey cypress. With this foundation he has created a temple of supreme loveliness, thoroughly original in conception, yet classic in its elemental simplicity and in its appeal to the highest and noblest traditions of beauty and art, revealing the imagination of a poet, the fine sense of color and harmony of an artist, and the sure hand of a master-architect in his confident control of architectural forms, of decorative detail and of the contributing landscape elements. ”

“ With all its loveliness of detail and witchery of color, the prevailing charm of the Court of Flowers, true to its name, lies in the effective planting of flowers and shrubs. The main path through the Court is bordered on either side by spreading lophantha trees, trimmed four feet from the ground and branching to a diameter of five feet in delicate, lacy foliage. Masses of flowers in the pervading luxuriant color-tone carpet the whole court with gold, while banks of green fill the corners and outline the borders. ”

“ The rotunda is Roman in conception, Greek in decorative treatment. By its sheer nobility of form and of proportion, and by its enchantment of color and sculptured ornament, it dominates the entire landscape. ”

“ From the Bay, the dominating center of the Esplanade is the splendid Column of Progress, on either side of which lies the Spanish wall of the north facade broken only by the four magnificent and identical sixteenth-century Renaissance portals which open into the Palaces of Mines, of Transportation, of Agriculture and of Food Products. From the base of the Column of Progress, the vista stretches away, through the Forecourt of the Stars and the Court of the Universe, to the Tower of Jewels, which dominates the southern approach to the grounds. ”

“ The impressive simplicity of the outer walls is enhanced by a succession and variety of portals, niches and arcades of Spanish and Italian origin of great beauty. The simple dignity of the plain travertine wall surfaces is heightened by tile-covered cornices terminated by pavilions. A rich foreground of rhythmic planting of trees, shrubbery and flowers, emphasizes the unity of the eight palaces, the corporate purposes of which have been so successfully interpreted by Architects Bliss and Faville. ”

“ The background of the wallspaces is the same, but between the pilasters, occur panels of warm pink. The pilasters are in pairs to harmonize with the pillars bordering the colonnade. In the portals swing Roman lamps in dull blue-green. The heavy bronze lanterns, suspended from the deep-toned cream ceiling of the corridors, are Italian in design. At night, they are illumined by a soft, red glow, while the light from the standards between the columns and through the latticed doors of the entrances of the palaces is pale gold. ”

“ Up and down the street the endless patter of the feet of men and women, the wheeze of the little electrics and the blare of brassy music ebb and flow. Here and there is the dominant note of the Exposition, its pastel shades of burnt orange and red, and its indefinable blue. ”

“ The shafts of the pillars are fluted and capped after the Corinthian order. Terra cotta, mellow in tone, is the color which has been used upon the travertine material of the columns, and the walls flanking the majestic array of pillars are painted a warm pink. The height of the ceiling is intensified by its deep blue, which seems to blend with the azure of the sky, as one glimpses it through the far opening of the corridor. Masked lanterns adorn the arched ceiling; on the columns are shell-screened lamps and at night the sweep of the promenade is magnified by the indirect lighting effects. ”

“ Terminating the colonnade at either side of the entrance to the Court from the Avenue of Palms stand the Italian Towers, distinguished by their grace of line and proportion and their skill in the use of the purest architectural forms of the Renaissance, no less than by the charming manipulation of color and ornament. By their slenderness and by simplicity of treatment they produce an effect of great height. They were inspired by the Geralda Tower of Seville. The deep-toned columns of Sienna marble used in the three Italian Portals also enrich the entrance to the towers. ”

“ They are phantom kingdoms wherein the people do everything but sleep. They germinate and grow with phenomenal energy. Their existence is established without conquest and their magic growth is similar to the mushroom and the moonflower; they vanish like setting suns in their own radiance. Thousands of neophytes of every race, creed and color come with willing hearts and hands to do homage and bear manna to nourish the sinews of a phantom kingdom. ”

“ The great dome, with the smaller corner domes, suggests the Theatre des Beaux Arts in Paris. The graceful curve of the main portal, the Ionic columns, the decorative corridors and the fine entrances are harmoniously and effectively developed. All the sculpture, which is the work of Sherry E. Fry of Iowa, is classic in conception and happily sympathetic in its suggestion of festivity or in its lyric quality. The floral scheme, in its, lavish massing of bloom and rich color, enhances the attractiveness of the building. ”

“ It is low and intimate in comparison with the great proportions of the other exhibit palaces and its height is further broken by a terrace midway, set with growing plants and shrubs. The whole effect desired by the architect is of an ancient ruin, overgrown through the centuries with vegetation. Along the edge of the roof runs a latticed Pompeiian pergola, hung with trailing vines, and the wall of the building is colored a deep pompeiian red. ”

“ Robbed of the complex symbolism by which, in the larger court, the evolution of the lower forms of life is depicted, the higher spiritual lesson is here intensified. The sculptured groups in the tower, by Chester A. Beach of San Francisco, represent the rise of humanity through successive ages of civilization. The conventionalized lily petals decorating the summit of the tower suggest the highest forms of plant life. The delicate lace-like finials, rising from the highest points of court and tower alike, express aspiration. ”

“ The theme of the Court, the fruitfulness of the changing seasons, is sympathetically rendered by architecture, sculpture and painting in happy combination. The decorative forms all employ agricultural motives, and the sculptured groups or figures and the mural paintings are variations of the same thought.
In architecture, the Court, which was designed by Henry Bacon of New York, is almost severely classic, enriched in its minor details by touches of the Italian Renaissance. The Half Dome, which lies directly opposite the long northern approach, is modeled after Hadrian's villa near Rome. ”

“ To make a Fine Arts composition that will fit this modified melancholy, we must use those forms in architecture and gardening that will affect the emotions in such a way as to produce on the individual the same modified sadness as the galleries do. ”

“ War vessels and pleasure crafts are always just beyond the low Marina wall. An uninterrupted view of the bay and its northern coast line of hills and mountains, extending from the Golden Gate, west to east, as far as eye can reach, is here obtained under most favorable conditions. No one will ever forget the wonderful panorama which this Exposition faces.
The South Gardens
Flanking the south side of the main group is the marvelous Avenue of Palms, which appears to have existed always. ”

“ A great number of men and women packed their goods and chattels and hastily bade farewell to the still smoking ruins of a City That Was, firmly believing that destiny had determined that it should remain forever buried in its own ashes. ”

“ Self was submersed in a composite achievement, not obliterating individuality but leaving it latitude to harmonize with others. The result is not the stenciling of a leader's mannerisms, but a blend of diverse and varied characteristics, an interweaving of sympathies, of spontaneous and ordered impressions. Here is an object lesson in the cooperative idea that will not be lost upon the world—the idea of a transcendent result obtained by a unity of noble efforts, a result that no massing of individual attempts could have achieved. ”

“ The arches are divided by Corinthian pilasters of Sienna marble. Within, their vaulted ceilings are delicately colored and modeled in faint relief after ancient classic designs, suggesting harvest scenes. The spandrels in the triangles over the curve of the arch and the four times repeated figures which serve as pilasters in the paneled attic space above, are by August Jaegers. All are gracefully molded women's figures, and all alike are emblematic of the richness of the harvest. The signs of the zodiac letter the cornice between the arches and the attic. ”

“ It presents its colossal grotesques—its gargantuan Uncle Sam, its monstrous elephants—rather with an air of acknowledging that it cannot compete with the beauty one leaves behind when one turns in under its gay flags ad lanterns. ”

“ The architect calls it "an historical expression of the successive ages of the world's growth." He suggests four stages: the nebulous world, symbolized by the central fountain, in which Robert Aitken of San Francisco has worked out a stupendous study of primeval passions. Out of chaos, come the elemental forces, Water, Land and Light. The braziers and cauldrons symbolize Fire. The two sentinel columns, flanking the tower on either side, are Earth and Air. The eight paintings, by Frank Brangwyn of London, in the corridors in great richness of color depict Earth, Air, Fire and Water. ”

“ While the decorative quality is here less emphasized than the more educational and technical phases of horticulture, the gardens are at all times lovely with a luxuriance of bloom and with the effective massing of trees and shrubs. ”

“ The California Building is the result of perhaps the most interesting combination of requirements that could be imagined—to provide a host building for the home State of a great Exposition where welcome could warmly and generously be extended to the millions of visitors, where the officials could have suitable quarters and where the fifty-two counties of the State could have their exhibits. ”

“ The east and west entrances to the Court are massive archways, most satisfying in their purity and dignity of architectural form and treatment, as well as in the superb outlook which they give on either hand. ”

“ Its greatest charm has been established through successful composition; the architectural elements have been arranged into a colossal theme of exceptional harmony, into which the interwoven planting and the mirror lake have been incorporated in a masterly way. The entire composition bespeaks the mind of a romanticist, whose productions are swayed more by nature's glories than by scholastic tradition. ”

“ Following the symbolism of the Court of Ages through the first nebulous period of the world's growth, through the second, which shows the transition in successive forms of sea-plant life, the third period is reached where are illustrated the earliest forms of human, animal, reptile and bird life prevailing in the stone age. ”

“ Its main entrance, facing the west, is composed of three splendid arches, set off by free-standing columns, which resemble weather-stained shafts of Sienna marble and are the pedestals for the sculptured figures representing the powers of "Invention," "Electricity," "Imagination" and "Steam." On the inner facade of the arches are grills of amber glass, forming a strong background for the decorative friezes and sculptured eagles, the latter being symbols which predominate throughout the Exposition. ”

“ The Tower was contemplated in conjunction with the main group of palaces, as a clue to the composition, and as of vital importance to the general plan. Its composite architecture can best be defined as of White and Yellow Race derivation. It clearly indicates a mingling of the architectural characteristics of the people of the entire world, as the architects, Carrere and Hastings, probably intended. It gives definite expression to the international purposes for which this Exposition is designed. The jewel enrichments add effectively to its Oriental regal display. ”

“ The ivory pilasters are carried up into the ceiling in curving, transverse arches, while the band of blue, following their edges, leads to the rich blue depths between them. At the far end of every vista glows the riot of color in the mural paintings by Frank Brangwyn. The play of sunlight through the succession of rounded arches increases the sense of bright charm.
—M. W. R. Court of Ages
The Tower Through North Aisle
In the North Court of Ages, leading to the Esplanade, the tower is identical with the main court, and the entire architectural treatment, while simpler, is in the same spirit. ”