Tower of Jewels (PPIE)
Tower of Jewels, also known as the Tower of the Sun, was the central building at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, the 1915 world's fair held in San Francisco, California.
Designed by architect Thomas Hastings, of the firm of Carrère and Hastings,[1] the combination triumphal arch-and-tower was 435 feet (132.59 m) tall. It was covered with more than 100,000 Novagems, cut glass "jewels" that sparkled in the sunlight, and were illuminated at night by more than fifty spotlights. Originally named just The Tower, the "appellation 'of Jewels' became an addition to the original title, after the tower was thus gorgeously arrayed." [2]
In front of the Tower, the Fountain of Energy flowed at the center of the South Gardens, flanked by the Palace of Horticulture on the west and the Festival Hall to the east. The arch of the Tower served as the gateway to the Court of the Universe, leading to the Court of the Four Seasons to the west and the Court of Abundance to the east.
The Tower was a temporary building, constructed of staff, a combination of plaster and burlap-like fiber applied over a skeleton structure. It was demolished following the Exposition.
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Tower of Jewels (left), illuminated by spotlights.
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Fountain of Energy, A. Stirling Calder, sculptor, with Tower of Jewels in background.
References
- ↑ Neuhaus, Eugen, ‘’The Art of the Exposition: Personal impressions of the architecture, sculpture, mural decorations, color scheme & other aesthetic aspects of the Panama-Pacific Exposition’’, Paul Elder and Company, San Francisco, 1915 p. 87
- ↑ Mullgardt, Louis Christian, ‘’The Architecture and Landscape Gardening of the Exposition: pictorial survey of the most beautiful of the architectural compositions of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition’’, Paul Elder and Company, San Francisco, 1915 p. 10