Architectural Innovations at the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition: Three Modernist Landmarks
by Kevin H. Souza
The 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, A Pageant of the Pacific, held on Treasure Island, was considered a bold celebration of Pacific unity and technological progress. Those familiar with the fair may not view its architecture as showcasing buildings based on Modernist principles. Its predominant architectural style, known as “Pacifica,” or “Pacific Basin Style,” combined Beaux-Arts and Art Deco grandeur with eclectic motifs from Cambodia, Malaysia, and Mesoamerica. Critics found the style unremarkable, and TIME Magazine reportedly described the Exposition an as “exotic chow-chow of ageless East and the American West.” (1) In an article for The Nation, Oswald Garrison Villard considered the architecture quaint, stating, “It probably would commend itself little to Frank Lloyd Wright except as a tasteful continuation of the architectural past. It lacks the bizarreness of the New York Fair, nor does it convey such an impression of strength and power.” (2)
The Army Corps of Engineers began constructing Treasure Island on February 11, 1936, and completed it on August 24, 1937. In 1938, Pan American Airlines launched flights of its China Clipper, anticipating the island becoming San Francisco’s new airport after the Exposition closed. At the same time, construction was underway for the Exposition, which opened on schedule on February 18, 1939.
George W. Kelham led the Architectural Board for the Exposition until his death in 1936, after which Arthur Brown, Jr. took over. Both were trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Brown left a lasting impact on San Francisco’s architecture with his Beaux-Arts San Francisco City Hall (1915), the War Memorial Opera House (1932), and the more refined Art Moderne Coit Tower (1932). Brown’s affection for the Pacific Basin Style was exemplified in his iconic centerpiece for the Exposition, the Tower of the Sun. This 400-foot tall tower combined Art Deco and Pacific Rim motifs and included a 44-bell carillon, now installed at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, as well as a gold-plated phoenix at its pinnacle. (3)
Arthur Brown, Jr’s Tower of the Sun. OpenSFHistory : wnp14.4799
The board was dominated by architects trained at the École des Beaux-Arts, who avoided contemporary influences and invented the syncretistic Pacific Basin Style, intending it to represent no past or future. TIME Magazine reported that “most of [the architects] shared a mellow view of architecture and were damned if they would kill themselves advancing the modern cause in new materials and organic form.” (4) In addition to Brown, the board included William G. Merchant, Lewis Hobart, Timothy L. Pflueger, and Ernest Weihe. Richard Reinhardt, an American historian and San Francisco Chronicle reporter, wrote in his 1973 book Treasure Island: San Francisco’s Exposition Years, that the Pacific Basin Style would come back to haunt them, characterized by its “laid-on grandeur and its nostalgia for traditional decoration,” resembling the fascist architecture of Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany. In fact, during the Exposition’s opening ceremony, the Swastika flag of Germany and the Rising Sun Flag of Japan were on display, foreshadowing the impending Two-Front War that was to come.
Eugene Neuhaus wrote, in his 1941 book The Art of Treasure Island: First-hand Impressions of the Architecture, Sculpture, Landscape, Design, Color Effects, Mural, Decorations, Illumination, and Other Artistic Aspects of the Golden Gate International Exposition of 1939, “With some minor exceptions, the “modernistic” cubistic extravagances and vagaries of the Chicago fair of 1933 and the projected “utopian” style of the [1939] New York fair are here conspicuous by their absence.” These “minor exceptions” defined the Pacific Basin Rim style and embraced modernist principles in their design. The Federal Building, designed by Timothy L. Pflueger; the Yerba Buena Club, designed by William W. Wurster; and Pacific House, designed by William G. Merchant; exemplified interwar modernism, showcasing innovative materials, minimalist forms, and functional design. Let’s examine these three landmarks, whose architectural defiance contrasted sharply with the Exposition’s otherwise nostalgic aesthetic.
Court of Pacifica, designed by Timothy L. Pflueger, shows the metal Prayer Curtain behind Ralph Stackpole’s sculpture Pacifica. The tall vertical lines and use of vertical banners led to critics referencing a similarity to the fascist architecture of Italy and Germany. (5)
The Federal Building: Timothy L. Pflueger’s International Style Statement
Pflueger’s Federal Building was a radical departure from the exposition’s prevailing exoticism. It signified the federal government’s involvement in and support for the exposition and housed exhibits from federal agencies and their work. (6)
Trained in Beaux-Arts traditions but influenced by European modernism, Pflueger conceived a structure emblematic of New Deal-era optimism and technological rigor. Consuming over eight acres of Treasure Island’s landscape, the building’s centerpiece was the Colonnade of States: 48 streamlined steel columns (symbolizing the then-48 states) arranged in three aisles to represent the government's legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Two-hundred-and-sixty-five feet long and rising 104 feet, the colonnade framed views of the Bay, integrating sky and water into its severe geometrical form. Flanking each side of the colonnade, Herman Volz’s WPA-funded murals—Conquering the West by Land and Conquering the West by Water—narrated frontier expansion through dynamic, abstract forms.
Timothy L. Pflueger’s Federal Building shows Herman Volz’s WPA-funded murals, Conquering the West by Land and Conquering the West by Sea. Collection of Weston Family Color Slides of Golden Gate International Exposition. San Francisco Public Library.
Timothy L. Pflueger’s Federal Building. Artwork by Ken Sawyer. 1939.
Constructed from industrial materials like plywood and steel, the Federal Building prioritized structural honesty over applied decoration. Its rectilinear form and unadorned surfaces drew direct inspiration from Bauhaus principles, starkly contrasting neighboring pavilions’ historically styled stucco-clad exteriors. Eugen Neuhaus wrote of the Federal Building, “…carefully calculated vertical and horizontal surfaces effectively interrelated, resolving themselves into strikingly interesting contrasts of light and shade, which give to the whole…the simplest and most economical structural terms, and is stately, imposing, impressive, commensurate with the dignity and power of the government of a great nation… it is to be labeled truly modern…”
Pflueger’s design also signaled a shift toward architecture that embraced modern materials and scale. As the San Francisco Examiner noted, “…a lot of last-minute construction jobs are going in for plywood, a substance which we had thought was forever doomed for use in crafting pianos. The fad started, it seems, with Timothy Pfluger's gigantic plywood federal building.” (7) The Federal Building’s influence endured, foreshadowing the clean lines of postwar civic projects.
Yerba Buena Club: William W. Wurster’s Californian Modernism
William W. Wurster’s Yerba Buena Club, Environmental Design Archives Exhibitions, accessed February 27, 2025, https://exhibits.ced.berkeley.edu/items/show/2283
Nestled beside the Port of Trade Winds and overlooking the sunken Treasure Garden, William Wurster’s Yerba Buena Club represented the Second Bay Tradition in its architectural style, with its fusion of modernist simplicity and regional craftsmanship, achieving an understated elegance. (8) Commissioned as a members-only women’s club for dignitaries, the Yerba Beuna Club rejected monumental gestures in favor of intimate, human-scaled spaces. A promotional document for the exposition stated, “Western Women extend their hospitality to members and friends in a unique ‘out-turning’ building that lends emphasis to its surrounding gardens.” (9) The official program of the exposition stated, “Every room of the clubhouse—an ‘inside-out’ house of glass in a framework of gold—has its own terrace or garden.” (10) Wurster employed a restrained palette of natural wood, glass, and stucco, arranging asymmetrical volumes around a central courtyard. “What gives [the building] sparkle and character and Fair expression is the repetition of the pattern of the plywood panels and windows in a free-standing grille of two-by-fours, gilded and set a foot or so outside the actual wall. The result is a sort of lace-like delicacy to which the planting adds just the right note of informal formality.” (11)
“With its long windows, high ceilings, multiple outdoor spaces, pergolas, and deep overhangs, Wurster exaggerated the mannerisms that distinguish Bay Area houses from their modernist kin. He likened it to a tree house, an example of what he called “sane modernism”. Amid ostentatious, extroverted buildings, Wurster’s folded in on itself and unfurled in a series of sheltered spaces. It provided a private refuge at a public fair for women to meet, change clothes, entertain, and host the political events that were part of the central project of women’s clubs. ”
Aerial rendering of the Yerba Beuna Club was created for promotional fundraising for the facility’s construction. Mechanics' Institute Library Archives, 57 Post Street, San Francisco, CA 94104.
The Yerba Buena Club was integrated with indoor-outdoor gardens designed by landscape architect Isabella Worn. (12) Its spacious overhangs and sliding glass doors created a seamless transition between the interior and exterior, complemented by elegant, gilded grillwork that enhanced the façade's rhythm.
Interior designer, Frances Elkins juxtaposed bold colors—cobalt blues and vermilion reds—with organic textures, adorning the walls with seashell clusters and custom-built Lucite furniture. “[Elkins] furnished a setting for the entertainment of crown princes and potentates, maharajahs, and presidents, first ladies and stars of varying magnitude.” (13)
Plans for William W. Wurster’s Yerba Buena Club, Environmental Design Archives Exhibitions, accessed February 27, 2025, https://exhibits.ced.berkeley.edu/items/show/2281
Though modest in size, the Yerba Buena Club garnered acclaim for its synthesis of modernism and warmth. Pencil Points magazine lauded its “lace-like delicacy,” while postwar architects cited it as a precursor to California’s mid-century residential aesthetic. (14)
Pacific House: William G. Merchant’s Cross-Cultural Hub
As the exposition’s thematic center point, Pacific House balanced modernist spatial clarity with Pan-Pacific symbolism. Situated on an artificial island in Medial Lake, Pacific House reflected its surroundings through strategic water features, enhancing Neuhaus’s praised “pictorial effectiveness.” (15) Pacific House offered educational programs on Pacific affairs, including lectures, readings, exhibits, and concerts.
Willam G. Mechant’s Pacific House. Courtesy of the OpenSFHistory / wnp14.4912
William G. Merchant conceived a cruciform plan with four identical façades, each dominated by 50-foot-tall elliptical windows that flooded a three-story atrium with light and opened outward to the four points of the compass. The four sides symbolized the four continents of the Pacific. The building’s vertical emphasis—achieved through slender piers and a central spire—echoed Southeast Asian temple architecture while maintaining a streamlined, contemporary profile. (16) Merchant’s use of industrial materials like steel-reinforced concrete, described as “extremely modern construction,” coexisted with traditional craftsmanship, including a Gladding McBean terra-cotta relief fountain depicting Pacific geography located in its central “Theme Hall.” (17) Mexican artist Miguel Covarrubias’s six Pageant of the Pacific murals depicted the people, fauna and flora, art, economies, habitations, and transportation in vibrant, stylized forms, complementing exhibits on Asian art and industry. (18) Also, there was a 6,740-piece back-lit stained-glass map of Pacific trade routes by artist Edgar Dorsey Taylor on the back wall of Pacific House’s main display area. This fusion of modern technique and cultural homage made Pacific House a bridge between the exposition’s Pacific Basin fantasy and modern globalism.
Fountain of the Pacific in Pacific House. The fountain was designed by San Francisco artist Antonio Sotomayor and architect Philip Newell Youtz, and was executed by Sotomayor and assistants at Gladding McBean’s facility in Lincoln, California (16). Photo by Esther Born. Courtesy of the UC Berkeley Environmental Design Archives. https://exhibits.ced.berkeley.edu/items/show/2276
From Exposition to Naval Base: The Transformation of Treasure Island
When the exhibition closed in September 1940, the war in Europe was well underway, and U.S. military resources were focused on the European Theater of Operations. In contrast, a potential war in the Pacific was a concern but not a priority. In preparation for a Pacific war, the U.S. Navy sought to lease Treasure Island from the City of San Francisco, but their funding request was denied because Hitler was the military’s priority. Undeterred, U.S. Navy Admiral John Wills Greenslade negotiated a land trade with the City for property south of San Francisco, where San Francisco International Airport is today. By February 1941, the City had leased Treasure Island to the Navy, and by 1943, negotiations for the new south shore airport were completed. (20)
The conversion of the Island into a naval training center was slow, as financial resources remained focused on the European Theater. Ralph Stakepole’s grand Pacifica statue and Arthur Brown, Jr.’s Tower of the Sun were among the first structures demolished. However, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the nation’s priorities quickly shifted to the Pacific Theater. Within a month, the aggressive conversion of the Exposition buildings into barracks, offices, and mess halls was underway.
By the summer of 1942, the Colonnade of Pflueger’s Federal Building had been demolished. The other portions of Federal Building’s eight-acre complex proved more adaptable to new uses by the Navy. The North Wing served as a theater, mess hall, and general recreation area until it was demolished in 1961, while the South Wing was utilized for training facilities until the Navy departed Treasure Island in 1995.
Wurster’s Yerba Buena Club and Merchant’s Pacific House were demolished in 1942, with no indication of use by the Navy. The Official Guide Book-1940 for the exposition stated, “It is hoped that some of the tentative plans [for Pacific House] will make it a permanent part of San Francisco’s cultural and business life.” A vision likely unfulfilled due to the war. The Pacific Basin Fountain, located inside Pacific House, was moved to an intersection at 9th Street and the central corridor through Treasure Island’s Job Corps campus—the site of the Exposition’s Court of Pacifica. The fountain was eventually disassembled and stored on Treasure Island. (21)
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.
Acknowledgments
I want to acknowledge the following individuals and institutions for their help in preparing this article. Their expertise and willingness to share resources greatly enhanced this paper’s historical depth and accuracy.
Myles Cooper, Library Manager at the Mechanics Institute Library in San Francisco, for his help in providing access to archived materials on the Golden Gate International Exposition. The Mechanics Institute’s extensive archival collection proved instrumental in uncovering key details about the exposition’s architectural innovations and cultural significance.
Treasure Island Museum, its Director John Hogan, and the Board of Directors for generously sharing the resource Historical Study of Yerba Buena Island, Treasure Island, and Their Buildings (Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 1995). This comprehensive study provided details on the post-exposition fate of Treasure Island’s modernist buildings and their transformation during its military use.
UC Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design’s Environmental Design Archives for providing access to materials on William Wurster’s Yerba Buena Club.
I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to my dedicated proofreaders, whose meticulous attention to detail and insightful feedback have significantly enhanced the quality of this manuscript. Their keen eyes for consistency, clarity, and style have been invaluable in refining the text and ensuring its accuracy. I am grateful for their time, expertise, and support throughout the writing process.
Finally, I thank Docomomo Northern California for inspiring me to uncover the modernist gems within the Golden Gate International Exposition’s sea of Pacific Basin style buildings. Their dedication to preserving and celebrating modernist architecture encouraged me to delve deeper into the exposition’s overlooked modernist landmarks, shaping the focus and direction of this research.
References
“Feb 26, 1989, Page 265 - the San Francisco Examiner at Newspapers.com,” n.d., https://www.newspapers.com/image/461318061/. While I have seen references to this quote in two sources, I cannot verify the quote directly from a source TIME Magazine.
Reinhardt, Richard. 1973. Treasure Island: San Francisco Expositions Years. Scrimshaw Press, San Francisco, CA.
The Golden Gate International Exposition. Treasure Island Museum. https://www.treasureislandmuseum.org/youarehere/the-golden-gate-international-exposition.
“Pacific Pageant.” 1939. TIME Magazine 33 (1): 20. https://research-ebsco-com.ezproxy.sfpl.org/linkprocessor/plink?id=373da6bf-cc94-34ad-afbb-a9ca2b9ee774.
Court of Pacifica and Fountain of Western Waters, 1939. Baja California and the West Postcard Collection. MSS 235. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego. Stanley A. Piltz Company, Publisher, San Francisco, CA.
“Message Opening the Golden Gate Exposition in San Francisco. | the American Presidency Project,” n.d., https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/message-opening-the-golden-gate-exposition-san-francisco.
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Wikipedia contributors. “Second Bay Tradition.” Wikipedia, August 10, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Bay_Tradition.
Promotional Department, Golden Gate International Exhibition. 1939. “Pageant of the Pacific: A General Summary.” San Francisco, Treasure Island on San Francisco Bay, United States of America: Golden Gate International Exhibition. Archives of the Mechanics' Institute, 57 Post Street, San Francisco, CA 94104.
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Hamlin, Talbot F. 1939. “Some Fair Comparisons.” Pencil Points 647 (October). https://usmodernist.org/PA/PP-1939-10.pdf.
James, Jack, and Earle Weller. 1941. Treasure Island “The Magic City” 1939-1940. Pisani Printing and Publishing Company. San Francisco, CA.
James, 1941
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Neuhaus, Eugen, Ph.D. 1937. The Art of Treasure Island: First Hand Impressions of the Architecture, Sculpture, Landscape, Design, Color Effects, Mural, Decorations, Illumination, and Other Artistic Aspects of the Golden Gate International Exhibition of 1939. University of California Press: Berkeley, California.
Anneschnoe, “The Pacific Basin Fountain: Everything You Could Possibly Want to Know About the Glorious Terra Cotta Ruin That Is Hidden Away Now on Treasure Island,” Treasure Island Then and Now, October 7, 2016, https://treasureisland1939.com/2015/08/26/the-pacific-basin-fountain-everything-you-could-possibly-want-to-know-about-the-glorious-terra-cotta-ruin-that-is-hidden-away-now-on-treasure-island/.
Anneschnoe, 2016.
Note: Litographs of these six murals are displayed at the Mechanic’s Institute, 57 Post Street, San Francisco, CA 94104. Contact the Institute for access to view these lithographs.
Anneschnoe, 2016.
Mare Island Naval Shipyard BRAC Environmental Division. 1996. Historical Study of Yerba Buena Island, Treasure Island, and Their Buildings. San Francisco, United States of America: United States Navy. https://books.treasureislandmuseum.org/Historical_Study_of_TI_YBI/index.html.
Anneschnoe, “Treasure Island Then and Now,” Treasure Island Then and Now, August 26, 2015, https://treasureisland1939.com/.
Kevin H. Souza is a Docomomo Northern California Board member, bringing a unique blend of educational leadership and architectural interests to the organization. With a biology background and extensive medical education experience, Kevin previously served as Associate Dean for Medical Education and Chair of IT Governance at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). During his 30-year tenure at UCSF, he pioneered innovative educational technology programs and transformed IT governance. Now, Kevin focuses on exploring modern architecture, combining his passion for education with a deep appreciation for architectural heritage.