Franklin High School Seattle

West facade from S Mt Baker Boulevard

West facade

Southwest corner

Southwest entrance

South facade

Detail of ornamentation

Northwest entrance.  Photos taken in 2018

Franklin High School (3013 S Mt Baker Blvd) was designed by Edgar Blair (District Architect, Seattle Public Schools, 1910-1918).  The 4th school built as a high school in Seattle, it is a fine example of the Beaux Arts style, a type of Neoclassical/Greek Revival architecture.  The school is 4 stories tall.  Franklin High School opened in 1912 with 2.2 acres of land on the west slope of Mt Baker Ridge.  It was said to be the most beautiful school building west of the Mississippi.  While that may have been excessive praise then, it was certainly no longer true after a modern & utilitarian addition covered the west facade, overlooking the Rainier Valley, in 1958.  An addition closely matching the original architecture had been made on the south side of the building in 1925.  A 4.13-acre athletic field was added in 1916, 10.6 acres were added in 1925 & 12.7 more acres were added in 1942. 

In 1982, an engineering study warned that the building was vulnerable to earthquake damage. The school board voted in 1986 to demolish it. Students, alumni & Mt Baker neighborhood residents protested that decision. Seattle's Landmarks Preservation Board designated Franklin High School as a historic landmark & denied the request to tear it down. 

In the City of Seattle, a building, object, or structure may be eligible to be listed as a historic landmark if it is more than 25 years old and the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board determines it fits one or more categories.  Franklin High School met 3 categories: 1. It embodies the distinctive visible characteristics of an architectural style, period, or a method of construction. 2. It is an outstanding work of a designer or builder. 3. Because of its prominence of spatial location, contrasts of siting, age, or scale, it is an easily identifiable visual feature of its neighborhood and contributes to the distinctive quality or identity of such neighborhood.

Bassetti Architects completed a renovation of Franklin High School in 1990 with seismic, safety, mechanical, & electrical upgrades. They removed the unattractive 1958 addition that covered the beautiful west facade & turned the space behind the arched windows into a student commons. An addition was built in the center of the U-shaped building with a new wall on the east side.  A new auditorium & classrooms filled that space. Other new additions were more classrooms, science labs, art studios, vocational tech labs & a media center.  The rehabilitation inspired other school districts to preserve landmark schools.  Awards included the 2001 Washington Trust for Historic Preservation, Award of Merit; 1991 AIA Seattle, Award of Commendation; and 1991 Association of King County Historical Organization, Project Award.  

Bassetti Architects also restored the building's entire facade in 2015. That included the replacing damaged terra cotta tiles & corroded steel anchors, pinning with seismic anchors, re-pointing of mortar, & repairing the cornice.

 

King Street Station Seattle

Photos above taken in 2018

Photo taken in 2017

King Street Station was built between 1904 & 1906 using concrete, granite, & brick.  The structure was financed by James J Hill who controlled Great Northern Railway & the Northern Pacific Railway. It was Seattle's 1st substantial passenger station, replacing a much smaller wooden building closer to the waterfront. A series of renovations in the mid-20th century removed marble walls & glass mosaic tiles, boarded up windows & replaced doors. The ceiling was lowered with a hanging framework of acoustical tiles & fluorescent light panels.  It reminded me of my junior high school, built in 1957.  That was the state of King Street Station as I greeted my grandma when she came to visit from Montana in the 1960s & 70s: shabby & unattractive.  I was amazed when I saw the restored interior in 2018. 

Increasing use from Sounder (commuter) & Amtrak (long-distance) passengers led to the improvement of King Street Station.  It was included in the Pioneer Square-Skid Road National Historic District in 1970 & listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.  The City of Seattle purchased the property from the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railroad in 2008 for $10.  The BNSF Railroad carried freight only & leased the passenger facility to Amtrak & Sound Transit. The station's designation as a historic place prevented it from being demolished & replaced. The restoration project was completed in 2013 at a cost more than $55 million. 

In 2018, King Street Station had 25 daily train departures: 13 Sounder commuter trains south to Tacoma with 8 trains continuing to Lakewood (weekdays only). 4 Sounder commuter trains north to Everett (weekdays only). 2 Amtrak Cascades regional trains north to Vancouver. 4 Amtrak Cascades regional trains south to Portland with one train continuing to Eugene. 1 Amtrak Empire Builder long-distance train east to Chicago. 1 Amtrak Coast Starlight long-distance train south to Los Angeles.

Pioneer Building Seattle

South facade

West facade

with the Smith Tower.  Photos above taken in 2018

with the Pergola

with the Totem Pole. 2 photos above taken in 2014

The Pioneer Building is located at 600 1st Ave in Pioneer Square in Seattle.  It was built in the Richardsonian Romanesque style with a facade of Bellingham Bay gray sandstone, red brick, terra cotta, & cast iron bays.  The building can be considered a transition between Victorian & Romanesque Revival styles.  Completed in 1892, the Pioneer Building was designed by architect Elmer Fisher, who designed several Pioneer Square buildings after the Great Fire of 1889.  It was the first of 3 buildings built by Seattle pioneer Henry Yesler & stands on the ground where Yesler built his 1st sawmill in 1853.  It was constructed with permanent partitions forming 185 office rooms.  Natural light flows into the interior through 2 atria.  The building became an important business location.  During the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897, there were 48 mining company offices there.  The Pioneer Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.  It was completely rehabilitated in 1973, then renovated in 1980 & 2016.  It has always been an office building.  The Underground Seattle Tours ticket office has been located in the Pioneer Building for many years.  

In June of 2020, these offices were listed for rent in the Pioneer Building:

1. Great one person office overlooking the co-working lounge. The Pioneer Building is located in the center of the cultural hub of Seattle. Walkable to abundant restaurants, cafes, antique shops, bookstores & boutiques, Pioneer Square is a vibrant neighborhood close to all major public transportation. 

2. 5th floor office with gorgeous south-facing view. With a peek at Century Link Field & walls with charming brick detail, this suite is great for companies with 8 to 15 employees. This comes with a conference room, kitchen, 2 large offices & open work space. The Pioneer Building is a historic landmark outstanding for its importance in Seattle's oldest business district & for the beauty of its architecture.

Right in front of the Pioneer Building is the small park called Pioneer Square, which is confusing because the whole neighborhood is called Pioneer Square.  It's not officially called Pioneer Square Park (which might help) & it's not even square, it's triangular.  It used to be called Pioneer Place.  Why did they change the name?  In Pioneer Square (the park) you can see a Tlingit totem pole, a bust of Chief Seattle, & Day/Night (two enamel-on-steel panels with Chief Seattle quotations in English & Lushootseed, created by Edgar Heap of Birds).  Best of all, you can see the Pioneer Square Pergola, a national historic landmark.

Smith Tower Seattle

 

Photos above taken in 2014

Photos above taken in November 2018

The Smith Tower is oldest skyscraper (38 floors, 469 feet) in the city.  Built between 1911 & 1914, it was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River until 1931 & tallest on the West Coast until the Space Needle was built in 1962. It's named after its builder:  Lyman Cornelius Smith. Smith originally planned on a 14-story building.  But his son convinced him to build taller than the National Realty Building in Tacoma, the tallest west of the Mississippi River at that time. Designated as a Seattle landmark in 1984, it is a lofty example of neoclassical architecture.  The surface is granite to the 2nd floor, then gleaming white terracotta from the 3rd floor on up.  The building has had a number of owners including Ivar Haglund, founder of Ivar's restaurants. It has been renovated several times.  The 35th-floor observation deck (near the top) has a 360-degree view of downtown, SoDo, Elliott Bay & more.  (The Space Needle has broader views, with the viewing deck at 518 feet, but the Smith Tower is less expensive & much less crowded.)  I went to the top of the Smith Tower for the 1st time with my Cub Scout den in 1968, many thanks to Mrs. del Fierro.  I have gone back twice.  At the top of the Smith Tower is a pyramid with a 1,750-square-foot, 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment.  Last I heard, people lived in it.  The observation deck is just below the pyramid.

California State Capitol Sacramento

California State Capitol

Neoclassical California State Capitol main entrance. Compare this to the classical Roman temple below (Maison Caree in Nimes, France) also copied from the Greek style & built in 12 BC.

    

East Annex (added in 1952) is at the far right of photo.  The style has been called neo-fascist.

Interior of the rotunda. Photos taken in 2018.

From my travel journal on 4-13-18: We got to Sacramento at 1, had Chinese food for lunch & walked around Downtown. We saw Downtown Commons, Cesar Chavez Square, Cathedral Square, K Street Mall, the California State Capitol Building & Capitol Park. Downtown Sacramento was not very impressive. It covered a small area. There were few people on the streets. Many buildings were empty, soon to be demolished & replaced. The tallest building had 43 floors & there were only 17 buildings over 20 floors. The renovation at Downtown Commons was almost finished & nicely done. Chavez Square was pleasing, the center of Downtown. The Capitol was a beautiful old building, partly a museum. The interior was lovely, especially the rotunda. 

 

The California State Capitol in Sacramento sits at the west end of Capitol Park, facing west on 10th Street between L St & N St. The California State Capitol was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 & named a California Historical Landmark in 1974. The neoclassical structure was built between 1861 & 1874 with major renovations between 1975 & 1982. Neoclassical architecture attempted to replicate the architectural style & details in ancient Greece. The building was based on the United States Capitol in Washington DC.  But the California State Capitol is smaller & better proportioned. The California Senate chamber seats 40 members. The California Assembly chamber is located at the opposite end of the building. Almost identical to the Senate chamber, it accommodates 80 members. Two new Capitol buildings were completed in 1928, the State Library & the Courts Building. The East Annex was completed in 1952, creating offices for the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, legislators & other state officials. It has quite a different, modern style.

Toronto Architectural Juxtapositions

Historic Yonge Street Heritage Conservation District

Yonge Street. See this modern high-rise below at full height.

Yonge Street with heritage buildings in foreground

Yonge Street with heritage buildings in foreground

Bathurst Street at Bloor Street.  The 2 brick buildings at left (793 & 795 Bathurst) are on the Heritage Register. B-streets Condos at right (783 Bathurst) has added 195 units on 8 floors to the Bloor Annex/Koreatown area.

Church Street in the Gay Village with heritage buildings in foreground. Photos taken in October 2017.

Toronto's construction boom of the 2010s has led to some startling architectural juxtapositions.  The huge difference in heights made me wonder about zoning & city planning in Toronto.  This doesn't happen in my hometown of Seattle.  I've rarely seen it in other cities.  It has happened in Toronto due to a combination of high population growth, the protection of older buildings under the Ontario Heritage Act, & the Official Plan for land use promoting greater density from high-rise residential buildings within the historic urban core.   

Toronto has designated 4,500 buildings under the Ontario Heritage Act. (Seattle has designated only 439 buildings as landmarks subject to protection by city ordinance.)  There are a large number of buildings on the Heritage Register fronting Yonge Street, while the properties just behind them are not preserved from development. Both sides of Yonge Street from Bloor Street to Carlton Street were in the process of becoming a Heritage Conservation District in 2017 when I was there.

Population Growth & Density

No other city in North America has added so many high-rise buildings as Toronto during the 2010s. The building boom was a response to historically low levels of development after the last major wave of the 1990s. Many of the new towers were condominiums, reflecting the growing appeal of inner city living, which offers easy access to work public transit. The city hurtled skyward in this decade, with 65 new condo towers completed in 2016 alone. From 2010 to 2017, more than 250,000 condo units were built.

The Greater Toronto Area was one of the fastest growing regions in North America in the 2010s due  mainly to immigration. Statistics from the 2011 census showed that Toronto increased by 9.2 per cent from the previous census in 2006. The challenge in the housing market was supply rather than demand & many buyers found it difficult to find a home. Policy-makers & many others favored "intensification" as a more sustainable & appealing alternative to sprawl. At less than half the density of New York City, Toronto had room for increased residential density. Toronto’s official plan designated about 85% of the city as small scale residential. Downtown areas where transit, parks & services were already established, were able to accommodate intensification most readily.

Land Use Changes

The Official Plan for Toronto sought to reduce reliance on cars by fostering a denser, environmentally sustainable, & more transit-oriented urban realm. The over-arching goal was re-urbanization, a reversal of the expanding suburban sprawl throughout much of the 20th century. The Official Plan identified specific areas where new commercial & residential growth should be encouraged, stipulating that new development should facilitate transit use & pedestrian activity. The Plan also mandated new protections for architectural heritage.

The most conspicuous element of the Official Plan was the creation of high-rise development areas. Increased density throughout downtown Toronto was strongly encouraged, with developers facing fewer legal & bureaucratic roadblocks to high-rise development in the urban core. Together with the robust real estate market, a cultural shift towards urban living, low interest rates, & decreased development charges, the Official Plan helped facilitate Toronto’s downtown construction surge.

Another important element of the Official Plan was an increased emphasis on protecting architectural heritage, & ensuring that new development fit into the urban context around it, including maintaining the visibility of heritage buildings. For most of the 20th century, heritage architecture was destroyed without much regard to its socio-cultural value. Before the Official Plan was enacted, municipalities had little power to prevent the demolition of older buildings. By expanding the Heritage Register & adding new provisions to protect the urban context around these buildings, the Plan provided legal criteria for the designation & maintenance of heritage properties. These policies made the destruction of heritage properties much more difficult.

Heritage Buildings Preservation

Heritage Conservation Districts protect & manage change within historic neighborhoods to maintain their heritage value & character. They reflect the historic significance & community heritage values of an area. They are evaluated by heritage professionals, planners, urban designers & archaeologists, sometimes with the help of volunteers & community members. They contribute to quality of life & the Toronto’s competitive edge, reinforce identity, create self awareness & promote social cohesion. They have history & character that contribute to a strong sense of place. They are an important tool for creating a high-growth environment.

Every potential Heritage Conservation District is evaluated by a set of criteria to determine if it demonstrates cultural heritage value. The Criteria are: The district has design value or physical value; The district has historical value or associative value; The district has contextual value; The district has social value or community value; The district has natural value or scientific value. If an area meets any one of these criteria, it is considered significant, however most Heritage Conservation Districts meet more than one criterion.

Columbia City Seattle

Angeline Apartments, the largest building in Columbia City

1890s apartment building in the Landmark District

1920s apartment building, now a hotel in the Landmark District

2010s houses

The Columbia City Theater (cream building at right) in the Landmark District was built in 1917 for vaudeville acts.

GreenHouse Apartments

2010s townhouses.  Photos above taken in November 2017

 1910s & 1920s houses

Ark Lodge Cinemas (Masonic Building constructed 1921) in the Landmark District

Bikeworks (store built in 1900) in the Landmark District

1890s houses

Columbia Branch, The Seattle Public Library & Columbia Park. The landmark 1915 building (at far left) is the smallest of the Carnegie libraries built in Seattle.

Click here for more photos of Columbia City.

Columbia City is a neighborhood, urban village, business district, landmark district & National Register Historic District in SE Seattle. There is confusion over the extent of Columbia City. Boundaries that appear on internet maps correspond with the Seattle City Clerk's Geographic Indexing Atlas.  The City of Seattle has no official neighborhood boundaries.  Hillman City & Rainier Vista are often lumped in with Columbia City.  As a longtime area resident, I think Columbia City is contained by 48th Ave S on the east, Martin Luther King Jr Way S on the west, S Brandon St on the south, S Alaska St on the north & the 3 blocks between S Alaska St, S Oregon St, 33rd Ave S & Rainier Ave S.

The City of Seattle designated the Columbia City Residential Urban Village in 1994. Those boundaries correspond roughly with those given above, except for the addition of Rainier Vista & the S Genesee St Business District along Rainier Avenue where it connects to the North Rainier Hub Urban Village.  Residential urban villages provide a focus of goods and services for residents & surrounding communities, but not a concentration of employment. Columbia City includes low-rise multifamily with townhouses, apartment buildings & commercial zones.  

The Columbia City Landmark District is one of 8 historic districts in Seattle. It is a collection of commercial buildings, churches, apartments & houses. It covers a relatively small area along Rainier Ave S in the heart of Columbia City. Restricted to 8 blocks & partial blocks on both sides of Rainier Ave S, it includes more than 40 historic buildings. The area preserves the small town atmosphere of the 1890s & early 1900s. The landmark district was designated in 1978 & was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Columbia City was incorporated in 1893, then annexed by Seattle in 1907.  In the early days, economic activity was limited mostly to logging & the lumber mill (the 1st business built in Columbia City) on the NW corner of Rainier Ave S & S Brandon St. The Seattle, Renton & Southern Railway reached Columbia City in 1890, when the area was still densely forested.  Columbia City shipped surplus lumber to Seattle, but much of Columbia City's lumber was used to build in & around Columbia City. From 1900 to 1907, Columbia City grew rapidly. Many of existing buildings in the landmark district were built then.

Columbia City was named after Christopher Columbus. Streets were named after the famous explorers Ferdinand Magellan (S Ferdinand St) Henry Hudson (S Hudson St) & Amerigo Vespucci (S Americus St). Lots were sold beginning in April 1891, shortly after regular railway service began. In 1892, the town had more than 40 residences, a town hall, a school with 75 students, a post office, 2 churches, a park, various stores & trains to Seattle every 30 minutes.

Roman Architecture of Nîmes France

 

Above: Arènes de Nîmes. Below: Maison Carrée

Photos taken in March 2017

Click here for more photos of Nîmes.

I went to Nîmes on March 7, 2017.  I took the train from Montpellier & was there about 3 hours. I liked Nîmes. It was an upscale place. The old town is full of narrow streets with expensive shops in buildings with stone facades. The stone is a light yellow-beige that seemed to glow, even on that gray & windy day. The buildings are not as tall & the historic district is not as extensive as in Montpellier.

The most interesting things were the Roman arena & the Roman temple called the Maison Carrée, or square house. It's rectangular. Both are among the best-preserved Roman buildings anywhere. The arena can hold 24,000 spectators. The temple is large, but not huge. It is amazingly intact, built by the Emperor Augustus & dedicated to his 2 grandsons in 19 BC. The interior had been made into a small theater where I saw a 25-minute film about the birth of Nîmes in the Roman era, a docu-drama with actors playing historical figures, fairly well produced.

The remains of villages in & around Nîmes date back as far as 1800 BC. Nîmes started out as a small, fortified Iron Age village. Sometime before 28 BC the village became the Colonia Nemausus, known because coins stamped with that name have been found. Nemausus was a very local god, apparently not worshiped anywhere else. Nemausus became the capital of the Roman province of Narbonensis during Emperor Augustus' 2nd visit there from 16 to 13 BC

The Arena of Nîmes was built around 70 AD.  It was remodeled in 1863 to serve as a bullring. It is now used for 2 annual bullfights, concerts & other public events. It measures 436 feet long and 331 feet wide, with an arena of 223 by 125 feet. At 69 feet tall, its exterior façade comprises 2 floors of 60 superimposed arches & an attic, separated by a cornice. At the top, drilled stones were positioned so that poles could could support a canopy.  The interior is deeply atmospheric.

The Maison Carrée is extremely well preserved. It is a nearly textbook example of a Roman temple, as defined by Vitruvius in On Architecture, written during the first century BC.  This is particularly interesting because the Maison Carrée illustrates the model for many significant buildings constructed in Europe & America from the 17th to 20th centuries.

The return to classical styles in architecture began with Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). Palladian architecture grew from Palladio's ideas based on the classical temple architecture of the Ancient Greeks & Romans.  Palladianism got its start in Britain during the mid-17th century & then spread to the British colonies in North America.  A famous example is Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in Virginia.  I saw that building in the fall of 1973 with my father, an architect.

The Early Classical Revival style developed at the end of the 18th century took inspiration directly from the ancient buildings of Rome & Greece. While earlier styles were also inspired by classical forms, they used architectural details & did not recreate the look of ancient buildings. The Roman Classical Revival & Greek Revival style copied the form of Roman & Greek temples. It recalled the power & influence of  the Roman Empire. Thomas Jefferson designed campus of the University of Virginia using ancient Roman temples as his guide.

The Neoclassical style is common in the United States. It was inspired by the World's Columbian Exposition held in 1893 in Chicago, which promoted renewed interest in classical forms of architecture. Neoclassical buildings have massive columns with classical capitals, topped by a front facing pediment. The arrangement of windows & doors is symmetrical.  The Neoclassical style was most often used for courthouses, banks, churches, schools & mansions.  My own high school was built in this style in 1912.

The Maison Carrée has a single cella (cell or room) & a deep porch on a high podium. The podium of the Maison Carrée is more than 9 feet high. The footprint measures about 87 by 44 feet at the base. The building has 6 Corinthian columns (acanthus leaf motifs on the capital) across the façade, 10 along each side & 6 across the back. The 10 columns of the portico (porch) are free standing, while the rest are attached to the cella.

The temple had an inscription that was removed in the Middle Ages. A reconstruction of the inscription in 1758 reads (in translation): To Gaius Caesar, son of Augustus, Consul; to Lucius Caesar, son of Augustus, Consul designate; to the princes of youth.  The worship of the emperor & imperial family was not uncommon in the provinces. The Temple of Augustus & Livia located in Vienne is similar to the Maison Carrée. These temples show how much local elites invested to celebrate the emperor & his family.