[ CAC: 1963-Present | Work Cited ]
At the 1935 World’s Fair Exposition, plans for the San Diego City and County Administration Building were hailed as a prototype of American civic center architecture. The building received the label of San Diego’s first "skyscraper;" the ten-story tower was still imposing despite its reduction in height. The Center’s location on the bay was intended to provide a welcome to seafaring travelers; in keeping with John Nolen’s desire that the city make effective use of its natural waterfront, building design assumed an impressive, aesthetic approach that has since remained unparalleledd in the construction of government buildings.
Architecture and ornamentation of exterior.
Intended to complement Balboa Park structures, the architecture of the Civic Center is Spanish Revival, in style, with a strong beaux-arts [ World-renowned school in Paris that taught a specific classical design emphasizing simple details on a large scale, spaciousness, and commanding elevations (such as the Civic Center tower). Civic Center architect William Templeton Johnson had attended from 1909-1911.] classical influence. Head architect Samuel Hamill claimed that the initial inspiration for the blueprints came from the Nebraska State Capitol, which had been designed by New York architect Bertram Goodhue. Goodhue had already made a significant impact on San Diego with his designs for the 1915 Pan Pacific Exposition in Balboa Park, which had spawned the popularity of ornate Spanish Revival design in the region. The four Civic Center architects had exhibited an affinity for the Spanish Revival form of design through other structures they had erected, and it provided the artistic foundation for their planning. Hamill and his associates softened the classical characteristics of Goodhue’s work, adding touches that gave the building more of a Southwestern feel: a red Mission tile roof, glazed Franciscan inlaid pottery tile, and arched door and window openings. [ "Architect Recalls Struggle to Build Landmark, " The Los Angeles Times . August 25, 1986.] The building also was designed to include the authoritative elements of P.W.A. Moderne [with the central office tower symbolizing the efficient business of government] combined with the detail of ZigZag Moderne [evident through the recessed windows in vertical patterns, smooth surfaced volumes, and ample ornamentation]. [ County Administration Center Historical Overview and Analysis . Unknown source. San Diego County Public Affairs files.]
The exterior of the building is a vast display of intricacy, as well as a visible tribute to San Diego government. Exterior concrete walls are covered with a white cement wash that isembellished with forty separate cast cement figures; consisting mostly of eagles, they provide a familiar government motif. Four large governmental emblems on the steps of the Civic Center also fuse intricacy with authority by incorporating shields with various detailed designs. Even the imposing cement facade of the ten-foot tower rising above the entrance is faced with decorative tile, as is the inlaid arch above the doors; such elaborate ornamentation was unusual for government buildings. Symbolism also greatly contributed to the building’s design, as evidenced by the central panel over the main entrance; this was intended to represent the history of San Diego, beginning with the date of discovery and working upward to a fish, a naval vessel, the California tower, and an airplane bearing the date of construction. The city seal and redesigned county seal appeared on both sides of the entrance. Central to all designs is the shield of the federal government and governmental inscriptions that grace the entrances: the west side exhibits a quote by Virgil, "The Noblest Motive is the Public Good," and the east side reads "Good Government Demands the Intelligent Interest of Every Citizen." [ National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form. Completed by Citizens Coordinate for Century 3. San Diego County Special Projects File.] It appears that these inscriptions serve as a necessary reminder of the building’s purpose; when viewed from afar, many a visitor to San Diego has mistakenly identified the Civic Center as a museum or other aesthetic attraction.
Interior adornments.
The radiance of the exterior is matched by the splendid appointments of the interior of the Civic Center. WPA grants allowed for the use of marble, bronze and mahogany to give the inside of the building a polished appearance. The main and second floor lobbies display rich Tennessee Roseal and Verde Antique marble walls, bronze elevator doors and bronze detailing around entrance doors and the second floor lobby area. Original light fixtures of wood and glass still remain in these parts of the building. Mahogany staircases extend from the basement to the top of the tower and at the ends of the wings. Most interior woodwork found in offices and hallways of the building is also of Philippine mahogany. [ National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form. Completed by San Diego Historic Site Board. San Diego County Special Projects file.] The extreme attention to detail by which the center was designed is evidenced by the marble floors; thin bands of brass were inset between slabs of the stone. Floors in the lobby and corridors arconstructeded of terrazzo with office space incorporating brown, marbleized asphalt tile; in many cases, this has been gradually replaced by carpeting. Long, narrow halls and a spacious interior feeling evidence the inherent Beaux-Arts influence in the structure.
Interior artwork.
Some of the most prominent artistic features of the interior of the building were the murals in the County Supervisor’s Chamber and the City Council Chamber. Murals were considered fashionable for public buildings during the era of Civic Center construction, and especially during the depression they provided a means for employing local artisans. A WPA Federal Art Project commissioned several southern California artists to create mural panels that would be painted with egg tempura (a water medium used by Italians from the 13th to 15th centuries), which was considered to be the oldest and most durable of all painting mediums. The County’s three murals were undertaken and completed by artists Arthur Ames and Jean Goodwin. Each depicts a different aspect of life in San Diego County: recreation, agriculture and conservation are among the themes found in their work. The city’s murals were painted by Charles Reiffel and George Rhone, and each presented a scene from San Diego and its busy waterfront.
The County Seal.
Architect Samuel Hamill was responsible for creating the design of the seal of San Diego County, which was explained in detail by the Board of Supervisors:
The central element of the seal is a double-headed axe rising from a bundle of sticks, which served as a symbol of authority in ancient Rome. Also included in the seal are the stars and stripes of the United States, a stylized dolphin representing the fruits of the sea, and a horn of plenty representing the fruits of the land. A clipper ship recalls San Diego’s historic background of the sea, and the airplane looks into the future. Mt. Palomar Observatory represents a world renowned achievement in science and San Diego’s position on the threshold of scientific history. The observatory overlooks an orange grove, which reflects the agricultural riches of the county. Encircling the seal is the motto "The Noblest Motive is the Public Good"--a quotation from Virgil that was chosen by the Building Committee as the motto to adorn the Civic Center Building. At the bottom is the date 1851, which is the date the county was founded. [ Resolution of the Board of Supervisors of San Diego County; February 11, 1937.]
The choice of this design elicited considerable confusion among the citizens, many of whom did not understand what it was meant to represent. One citizen commented "this emblem which is to adorn the Civic Center... represents nothing in the Heavens above, nor the Earth beneath, but is an object of mirth to you men. Still since it is to cost the tax payers 1,000 bucks it is nothing to make merry over." [ W.J. Dougherety. Letter to the Board of Supervisors of San Diego County. February 20, 1938. Records of the Board of Supervisors of San Diego County.] Despite such complaints, the seal was officially adopted by the Board of Supervisors in 1937, replacing an earlier seal that had been chosen in 1933. It adorned the northern entrance to the Civic Center until the city moved out in 1964, when it was also placed over the southern entrance.
The Guardian of Water.
The "Guardian of Water" sculpture fountain on the harbor side of the building began as a separate project prior to completion of the Civic Center. A large bequest to the San Diego Fine Arts Society began the project. Helen Towle, a resident of San Diego, had willed between 30 and 40 thousand dollars to the Fine Arts Society, six thousand of which could be used exclusively for purchasing "works of art of a permanent nature, to be given to the people of San Diego." [ San Diego Union . July 2, 1937.] It was decided that the funds would be best put toward the creation of a public sculpture. The Works Progress Administration supplied the remaining fourteen thousand dollars necessary to fund a commissioned sculpture by prominent local artist Donal Hord. This sculpture would serve as a fountain on the western side of the Civic Center.
In July of 1937 a 22-ton granite block removed from a Lakeside quarry was delivered to Donal Hord’s studio. Over a period of two years, Hord gradually shaped it into a figure of a pioneer woman holding a water jug, which was meant to symbolize the guardianship of water as one of San Diego’s most precious resources. Part of the project involved the creation of a base for the statue that would be covered by mosaic tiles. Also designed by Hord, the mosaic symbolizes clouds in the form of kneeling nudes, who pour water from jars over a dam which flows into a conventionalized citrus fruit orchard. The interior basin, which is 17 feet 6 inches in diameter, has been carved into relief with the shapes of dolphins and fish, as was the circumference of the basin, which bears a design of sea snails. When asked to explain the meaning behind the mosaic patterns, Hord claimed that it was his idea to produce these different areas almost as though a pebble were dropped in the water: the water first coming from the clouds, giving life to the land, then spilling over into the sea, represented by fish forms, and finally ending on a shoreline in the drawing ofsea snails. [ "Dedication Set for Statue, " San Diego Tribune . June 9, 1939.] Both elements of the fountain--the statue and the base--stress the significance of water. The combined statue and base rise 22 feet 3 inches, with the statue itself reaching a height of 13 feet 3 inches. The "Guardian of Water" was dedicated on June 10, 1939 in a ceremony at the new Civic Center.
At first, the "Guardian of Water" produced general confusion regarding the ethnicity of the woman featured in the granite statue. During the statue’s construction, complaints were voiced by the "Native Daughters of the Golden West," a group of women who felt that the statue represented a person of Aztec descent rather than an American pioneer. These women contended that "since Aztec civilization was not endemic to San Diego or California, we feel that the proposed statue is not suitable and would create a wrong impression so that the public would be misled relative to historical facts." [ Case, Elsie. Letter to the Mayor and City Council of San Diego. August 23, 1937. Records of the Board of Supervisors of San Diego County.] In response to the protest, a preview of the statue was arranged by WPA Art Supervisor Thyrsis Field to silent skeptics. Chairman John Siebert of the Civic Center building committee ended the controversy by expressing his approval of the statue. [ " ‘Never Was I an Aztec, ’ Says Center Model, " San Diego Sun . September 13, 1937.] Perhaps the growing presence of war cultivated a general suspicion and disapproval of other cultures in the American public.The desire for "genuine" American symbols pervaded the normally untouched realm of art. However, officials endorsed the features of the pioneer woman and defended the sculpture as an appropriate symbol of the spirit of water conservation.
Indicating the significance of Hord’s sculpture to the history of San Diego, a replica of the "Guardian of Water" was completed in 1960 and sent to Yokohama, Japan as a gift from the San Diego-Yokohama Friendship Commission. The fountain has remained a source of regional pride and a tribute to fine arts. Mechanical difficulties plagued the fountain for five years, but with a renewed pride in Hord’s sculpture, the water was turned on again in a ceremony on February 27, 1996.
Layout of the grounds.
The Civic Center grounds were originally lacked any specific order. Many of the plants,such as Birds of Paradise, Japanese cherry trees and twenty-six Washingtonia palms, were donated. However, the palms generated a series of complaints because many of them were dying; it was apparent that the grounds were not receiving the care that they needed. In 1938 it was decided that a landscape architect would be hired. The grounds were completed in 1939. The entire landscaping project cost $129, 944, of which$100,000 was borne by the WPA and $29,000 from a joint city and county. The new layout was described in a National Historic Site nomination form prepared by a group of citizens interested in historic preservation:
Various varieties of palm trees, varnish trees, Australian tea-trees, podocarpus, and scarlet bottle brush were planted. Shrubs such as natal plum and windmill jasmine were embedded. Annuals such as calendulas and jobelias surrounded east facing borders. Scotch and German marigolds filled the borders around the north parking lot. Flower beds of schizanthus, snapdragon, stock daisies, pansies and petunias surrounded the building and when they died out, they were replaced with zinnias, carnations, gypsophila, asters and ornamental dahlias. All annuals, under the supervision of head gardener, Pietro Farina, were developed from seed in a county-owned lath house. [ National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form. Completed by Citizens Coordinate for Century 3. San Diego County Special Projects file. ]
The grounds of the building have served as a figurative window into the state of the county. The disorder of the original landscape reflected the challenges of a new site, which was then redone with all the grandeur of yet another WPA project. In 1943, during the second world war, Victory Garden beets were grown in the flower beds lining the eastand west sides of the Civic Center. The vegetables were donated to the Home for Convalescent Children, the Children’s Aid Society , and the Boys’ and Girls Home.*** Cabbages were planted on the western side of the building for the same purpose during a time when San Diegans felt united under the common apprehensions of wartime America.
New palms and other varieties of trees, shrubs and flowering plants had been added during the following decades, but the overall aesthetics of the layout design still prevailed. During the 1980s, growing concern about the availability of water in San Diego led to the addition of a larger cemented area of the site, and a low use water demonstration garden was installed on the eastern side of the complex in 1984. This was intended to serve as an example of xeriscape techniques that could be utilized by local landowners, and it made use of indigenous plants and others that were well adapted to San Diego’s semi-arid climate. The current layout of the grounds fuses the initial luxuriance of WPA-era splendor with the contemporary demand for water conservation.
