De Young Museum

The De Young Museum, located in the heart of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park (left image), has quickly become a must-see for out-of-towners and locals alike, since its reopening in late 2005. One of San Francisco’s premium examples of innovative and exciting contemporary architecture, equally beloved by art critic and the public alike, the building has quickly become a mainstay of my life in this city.

I’ve seen many examples of Herzog & de Meuron’s work, mostly in Europe, and this building certainly ranks right up there at the top with their most successful designs. The gallery spaces are varied but logical in terms of layout, and the vast De Young Collection, ranging everywhere from African art, to Pacific Rim art, back to contemporary and classic European art, and literally everything else in between, is easily accommodated within the museum’s spatial limitations, under the guidance of the museum’s talented curatorial staff. The facade itself is a living and evolving entity, the original copper stain slowing metamorphosing into a green patina. Over the years I imagine the building will fade deeper into the surrounding trees of the vast park in which it’s located.

I have a substantial collection of images of this wonderful building, and I expect to compile a more in-depth overview in the near future. Until then, this is an image of a cantilevered portion of the roof, located above the exterior seating of the cafe.