San Diego is a coastal city situated on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California, immediately adjacent to the border of Mexico and the United States and 120 miles away from Los Angeles. It is known for its mild, sunny climate throughout the year amongst other things. The topography of the city can be categorized into broad mesas, canyons, and wide valleys. It is the second-largest city in the state of California and the eighth-most populous city in the United States. Historically, the settlement was confined inside the walls until the 1820s leading to the beginning of building the Old town by the residents. Modern-day San Diego was laid out 5km south of Old Town in 1867 and its growth remains as the product of the climate and the arrival of the Santa Fe Railway in 1885. San Diego’s architecture is a unique blend of its Spanish, modern and brutalist influences. Here are some of the places to visit in San Diego for the travelling architects:
Salk Institute | Places To Visit in San Diego
Designed by one of the most influential architects of the 20th Century, Louis I. Kahn, Salk Institute is a facility of striking aesthetics and functionality that go hand in hand. Jonas Salk, the scientist who discovered the vaccine for polio approached Louis Kahn to design a biological research center on a picturesque site along the Pacific Coast. A research facility that wasn’t just aesthetic but also provided an inspiring and welcoming environment for scientific research.
As a response, Louis Kahn designed a scheme for the Institute similar to a monastery, a secluded community for intellectuals. He creatively used the space with the highest regard for natural light. He took into account the oceanside location and made use of materials that could have sustained the environment.
Salk Institute has also received awards and recognition and is considered one of the most significant architectural sites in San Diego.
Geisel Library
Located at the center of the University of California, San Diego, at first glance, the Geisel Library may look like a spaceship landing, though any unique interpretation can be considered appropriate for the building that is named after Theodor Geisel, children’s author better known as Dr. Seuss.
The building was designed by William L. Pereira, the library is an intersection of brutalist and futuristic architectural styles. A combination of minimalist lined construction yet elaborate and dynamic at the same time. The building consists of 8 stories forming stepped levels making it appear as though hands are holding a pile of books. The library houses a collection of six million books. The library is featured on the logo of the
university.
Torr Kaelan | Places To Visit in San Diego
Torr Kaelan, which is Gaelic for a rock outcropping or a boulder, is a small yet one of the most innovative structures mentioned in the list. Designed by San Diego’s architect Rob Quigley, it is five stories, solar-equipped, zero energy, mixed-use building. Built-in 2015, it houses Quigley’s offices and two residences on the top floor. Open balconies, bay windows, and sweeping interiors were used to promote a dialogue with the street below and its creative tenants. The exterior texture is that of dribbling, spilling mortar designed specifically to reflect the bright sunshine of San Diego. The architecture is artistic and modern and spectacular at night when the interior lights emphasize its stepped façade.
Coronado Bridge
Commonly known as the Coronado Bridge, this architectural marvel is built over San Diego Bay to connect Coronado to San Diego. The steel and concrete bridge have piers with Chicano murals. The bridge provides a panoramic view of the city. At night when lights adorn this 5-lane bridge, one could witness the spectacular view of the architecture from across the road. The reflection it casts on the water enhances its aesthetic appeal. It is not allowed to stop on the bridge, but one can drive slowly across it to take in the picturesque glimpse of the water surrounding the city.
San Diego Convention Center | Places To Visit in San Diego
The convention centre in San Diego is an architecturally exciting structure. Wherever one looks, one can see elements that resemble a ship at full mast or angles that reflect an oar entering the water. The front overhangs look like a wave moving across the ocean. Internal, translucent, barrel-vaulted ceilings bring in sunlight.
Created in 1989 to celebrate San Diego’s maritime history, the center was a joint venture. The design and execution of the project included Arthur Erickson Architects, Loschky Marquardt & Nesholm, and Ward Wyatt Deems of Deems Lewis McKinley. Fentress Architects designed an addition in 2015 that added exhibition space and several acres of rooftop parkland overlooking San Diego Bay.
California Temple
An aesthetic building situated near the La Jolla Community of San Diego, William S. Lewis Jr.’s temple was designed in 1993. The two main pinnacles of the symmetrical architecture, constructed with white marble and plaster finish, create an ultra white glow in sunshine and turns golden when it reflects the sun rays of late afternoon. At night it is lighted from the outside and glows from the inside. During Christmas, it displays a dreamy light decoration. The top of the spires houses the statue of Prophet Moroni. The temple, though not open to Non-Mormons is a piece of beautiful architecture to witness and photograph from the outside.
San Diego Central Library
An eye-catching piece of architecture, the San Diego Central Library is another building designed by Architect Rob Quigley. It has received the National Award for Excellence in Structural Engineering. A striking feature of the building is the steel and mesh dome umbrella over the architecture which remains the point of attraction for visitors. The library is equipped with an auditorium, a wall constructed entirely with discarded books, and an open terrace. It also houses a school on the sixth and seventh floors. The massive central space in the interior is defined by a gigantic arch, and floating stairway. The sinks of the restrooms are molded into the shape of books and contribute to the overall character of the building.
The California Tower
The California Tower is one of San Diego’s iconic historic sites with Spanish architectural design and Mexican detailed colors. The Museum of Us is located in the tower together with the California building. The three-level tower consists of a lower quadrangle, a middle octagon, and a circle at the top. From its eighth floor, the Spanish colonial architecture promises breathtaking views of San Diego from the Pacific Ocean to the Cuyamaca Mountains. The music of the chimes can be heard throughout Balboa Park and attracts visitors, making it a must-see architectural beauty.
Hotel Del Coronado
Hotel Del Coronado popularly called Hotel Del is a Historic beachfront hotel across the San Diego Bay, designed as a Victorian wooden resort. Since its designation in 1970, it remains a California Historical Landmark. The rotunda, the crown room, and the lobby are the attractive features of the hotel. The architectural masterpiece is featured in multiple film shots with its dragon trees and palm trees lining its path bulging in the direction of the clean beaches.
Price Centre | Places To Visit in San Diego
Situated adjacent to the Geisel Library, UC San Diego’s student center first opened in 1989. Every day, It aids more than 30,000 visitors, inside its giant premise lining fast-food restaurants, bookstores, and movie theatres, all the facilities and places that serve as a hub among students. The Price Center has undergone multiple expansions that have added immensely to the building’s architectural appeal. The four floor structure houses art installations like the 74-foot-long mural on the western wall of the central atrium and the Black Legacy mural which adds to its appeal as a liberating and empowering architecture.
Superior Court of California
The 22 stories high, Superior court is not the tallest building in San Diego but it still stands out in the city skyline due to its unique canopy construction that shades its eastern facade. To “celebrate the unique light of San Diego,” according to its designers, Shaped aluminum panels reflect light onto the underside of the canopy. The courthouse was completed in 2017 and was designed by architect Javier Arizmendi of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.
Point Loma Nazarene University Science Complex | Places To Visit in San Diego
The building is designed by San Diego-based architecture firm Carrier Johnson + CULTURE and built by Rudolph and Sletten General Contractors. The 36,000-square-foot complex is located in the heart of the San Diego campus. It features a curved stainless steel environmental screen and a prominent waterfront location, the innovative design becomes an unforgettable home for the university’s fast-growing and acclaimed interdisciplinary science program that unites Christian values with a broad curriculum and state-of-the-art technology, laboratories, and classrooms.
According to Ray Varela, the architect in charge of Carrier Johnson + CULTURE, the building project is an important addition, both academically and architecturally. “Through the long arch of the perforated stainless steel wall, the building subtly sanctifies its Christian foundations in a distinctive design element,” adds Varela. This unique perforated screen filters sun and shade into the common areas in a subtle echo of the qualities one finds in a cathedral space.
Congregation Beth El
Built in 2000 by Stanley Saitowitz and Natoma Architects, this temple is a blend of American and Eastern European influences. The sanctuary is described as a box of light with a light penetrating the skylight, the airy exterior, and even into the synagogue itself at every turn. The plan makes optimum usage of the difficult topography with an entry turnaround and parking platform in the valley. From this level, a lift ascends to a courtyard created between the existing structures – community hall, offices, and school building – and the new sanctuary; arcades added to the facades of existing buildings unify the area.
Casa De Balboa
The Casa De Balboa is situated in the Balboa park of San Diego and encompasses the Museum of Photographic Arts, the San Diego History Centre, and the Balboa Art Conservation Centre inside its elaborate walls. The Casa which seems like an arch with detailed towers is an example of the Spanish Renaissance architecture style that consists of several caryatids and eclectic elements and ornaments sculpted and engraved on the white towers. A number of Heritage tours are organized by the park to understand the glorious architecture of the Casa.
The Q | Places To Visit in San Diego
Built in 2010, this seven-story residential, office and commercial space managed to bring a modern touch to Little Italy while preserving the old. The structure includes the oldest house in Little Italy, an 1889 Gothic Victorian that is incongruously but elegantly displayed. Designed by Jonathan Segal FAIA, the building features 27 apartments and common areas powered entirely by solar panels on the building’s roof.
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