The Casa del Prado building, originally named the "Varied Industries and Food Products Building," was constructed for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. Built at a cost of $98,342.41, the Varied Industries and Food Products Building was the largest of the temporary Exposition buildings.
The building was slated to be demolished after the Expo was over. However, World War I got in the way, and the building was saved because the Navy needed the space as a barracks. After WWI, it became the main exhibition hall for the San Diego County Fair from 1919-1930. Because of rodent problems, encroaching urban development (my house, among other things), and conflicts with the zoo next door, the county fair abandoned the site in 1931 (the fair relocated to Del Mar in 1936), and the building was abandoned until 1935, when it was renamed the Food and Beverage Building, and was part of the 1935-36 California-Pacific International Exposition. After 1936, the building was abandoned again until WWII when the Navy used the building yet again.
The San Diego Public Library moved into the building in 1952, while a new library was being constructed in downtown San Diego, and stayed until construction was completed in 1954. Clara E. Breed, the head librarian, described the building as "a vast empty barn-like structure divided into three enormous rooms with very high ceilings. There was almost no plumbing, no heat, and limited lighting. The building was populated with an amazing assortment of wildlife --- squirrels, bees, doves, flies, lost cats and dogs, lizards, fleas, termites, spiders and mice." Needless to say, there was much rejoicing when the new main library was completed.
By 1960, the building was on the verge of collapse. In the spring of 1968, for safety reasons, the city manager closed it to public use, and preservation groups started taking castings of the ornamentation. In the fall of 1968, the voters approved a $3.5M bond measure to build an identical building on the same site. The new building was dedicated as the Casa del Prado in 1971. Some changes were made during construction, including heat and air conditioning, and sturdier building materials and techniques.
This is the first outing with the 24-120 f/4. I've been looking for a walkaround lens for the D800 for months. The 24-120 doesn't get a lot of internet love, and indeed, it doesn't meet the lofty standards of perfection that the internet requires, but it seems fine to me. The only editing I did on this was to pull down the highlights so that the sky was blue.
What a beautiful building! It was well worth replicating the original (with improvements). Thank you for sharing its fascinating history. It is amazing that something so elaborate could have been built to serve a temporary purpose.
I like your photo very much and the perspective in the image gives a proper sense of ... perspective!
What you DON'T know is that Casa del Prado was one of my first commissions as an Architectural Photographer; I photographed it for Richard George Wheeler AIA in 1971 or 72, AND I wrote an article about it and published photos and article in San Diego Magazine. In fact, this was the project that landed me on staff as a contributing photographer and writer. The coincidences pile up :-)
Nice shot, actually. You've done it right; you're in too close to square it up, so make the keystoning obviously intentional and completely symmetrical. It looks fine :-)
What a lovely building and to think that this was originally built just to be torn down again!
I have a photographic question though, and I think I will start it as a forum thread: when and how much do you or should you change/straighten the perspective on achitectual images?
Just curious, because to me this angle portraits an imposing building and of great height of the facade. I am sure a "straightened" picture would not convey that as well.
I like the colours (especially the blue versus orange) and the symmetry in this image. And thanks for the explanation, always interesting to know more about what you see. The artwork on the columns and the building is really amazing.
Thanks for the great history story Ann. It's great that these old structures survive after so many different uses. I think the lens looks great from my POV. The 120 end should get you some interesting shots as well I bet.
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