The Ferry Building not only is a waterfront icon — one of San Francisco’s best-known landmarks — it also offers a rare vantage point to grasp how the cultures, values, and politics of American cities changed during the past 125 years.
Those shifts, as well as the symbolic power of architecture, are the subject of Portal: San Francisco’s Ferry Building and the Reinvention of American Cities, the recently published book by John King, urban design critic of the San Francisco Chronicle and a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism.
In a colorfully illustrated talk on Wednesday, August 7, at 7 p.m., King will explain how the Ferry Building came to represent so many aspects of Bay Area life. He’ll discuss how it was conceived as both a transit depot and a signpost of San Francisco’s national aspirations; how the advent of automobiles and urban renewal turned the city’s downtown waterfront into an endangered relic; and how its 21st Century rebirth defined the region’s “foodie” identity to the world.
Tickets for this program, available on Eventbrite, are $5 for club members and $10 for non-members.
A reviewer for The Wall Street Journal calls Portal “a book of great charm,” by “a stylish writer with an eye for the delightful detail. He lovingly recounts the restoration of the Ferry Building and celebrates its new role in the city.”
King has written about the Bay Area for more than twenty years, including critiques of the ongoing tension between growth and community character in Berkeley. We all recognize the Ferry Building, but King’s talk will forever change the way we see it.