John Portman’s massive five-block Embarcadero Center is a dizzying, wondrous experience of interior urbanism and Late Modernist architecture. As you wander through the massive complex—up escalators, down spiral stairs, around fountains, across pedestrian bridges—you encounter landscaped plazas, massive public artworks, and a veritable ‘city within a city’ of shopping, services, dining, and entertainment. Culminaing in the spectacular drama of the Hyatt Regency atrium hotel—the Embarcadero Center is a distinctively urban experience that is also responsive to the suburban retail trends of the 1960s and 1970s.

Reserve your tickets via Eventbrite.

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Tour Start: Outside of 500 Commercial Street, San Francisco @ 10 am

Tour End: Embarcadero Plaza @ 12p

We encourage attendees to utilize public transit as the tour is conveniently located near Embarcadero Center BART and the Ferry Building. However, paid parking is available in the underground parking garages at the Embarcadero Center.

Disclaimer: This tour involves walking up and down numerous sets of stairs.

Image Credit: Docomomo US/NOCA