Architectural Innovations at the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition: Three Modernist Landmarks

Between 1937 and February 1939, a league of architects set out to create a vision of Pacific Unity on Treasure Island. Their vision would reflect the early 20th-century architecture and lifestyles of California and the Pacific Rim- a style that opposed that of the technologically modern New York World Fair occurring in the same year. Yet, three interwar-modern buildings emerged despite the prescribed “Pacific Basin Style” of the Exposition’s Architectural Board. These buildings, perhaps overlooked by modern enthusiasts, would influence the future of Modernism and the second and third Bay Traditions of California architecture for years to come.