City Hall

Why go

City Hall is defined by the grand staircase, rotunda, stone surfaces, and surrounding plaza. Another layer comes from the visual axis linking City Hall with Civic Center institutions. Plan City Hall by remembering to check security and public access before planning an interior visit. After City Hall, choose Asian Art Museum or War Memorial buildings; this keeps City Hall geographically coherent and avoids forcing City Hall into an unrelated crossing.

What to look for

• Look closely at the grand staircase, rotunda, stone surfaces, and surrounding plaza.
• Notice the visual axis linking City Hall with Civic Center institutions.

The full story

The principal architect was Arthur Brown, Jr., of Bakewell & Brown, whose attention to the finishing details extended to the doorknobs and the typeface to be used in signage. Brown's blueprints of the building are preserved at the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley. Brown also designed the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House, Veterans Building, Temple Emanuel, Coit Tower and the Federal office building at 50 United Nations Plaza. The building as a whole contains 7,900 tons (7,035 metric tons) of structural steel from the American Bridge Company of Ambridge, Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh. It is faced with Madera County granite on the exterior, and Indiana sandstone within, together with finish marbles from Alabama, Colorado, Vermont, and Italy. Much of the statuary is by Henri Crenier. While plaques at the Mall entrance memorialize President George Washington's farewell address and President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, the primary themes of the statuary are to the past mayors, with the dates of their terms in office. The medallions in the vaults of the Rotunda are of Equality, Liberty, Strength, Learning and, as memorialized in the South Light Court display, Progress.

Useful to know

• For City Hall, check security and public access before planning an interior visit.
• Pair City Hall with Asian Art Museum or War Memorial buildings when the route and opening conditions align.

Your next visit

Estimated · Declared scenario and planning estimates; no live opening, weather, queue or booking service.