Hallidie Building and First Glass Curtain Wall: Modernism's Dawn

Why is it significant?

Stand on the north side of Sutter Street and gaze across at the glittering, gossamer glass facade of 130 Sutter Street, the legendary Hallidie Building.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Stand on the north side of Sutter Street and gaze across at the glittering, gossamer glass facade of 130 Sutter Street, the legendary Hallidie Building. Completed in 1918 by visionary San Francisco architect Willis Polk, this extraordinary seven-story commercial structure holds an uncontested, pivotal place in global architectural history. Decades before the sleek glass-and-steel skyscrapers of Mies van der Rohe swept New York and Chicago in the 1950s, Willis Polk engineered what is recognized worldwide as the very first all-glass curtain wall building in human history.

Look closely at how the glass facade is suspended. Polk hung the entire glass wall three feet in front of the building's structural concrete frame, using delicate metal brackets so that the exterior surface appears as a continuous, shimmering sheet of transparent glass. To balance this revolutionary technological modernism with California decorative tastes, Polk framed the glass wall with exuberant, gilded Victorian cast-iron fire escapes and an ornate gothic roof cresting that seems to float against the sky like black lace.

The building was commissioned by the University of California as an investment property and named in honor of Andrew Smith Hallidie, the inventor of the San Francisco cable car and an early university regent. The revolutionary design flooded the interior printing presses and offices with natural daylight, dramatically reducing electric lighting costs. The meticulous craftsmanship visible in every historic facade, stone retaining wall, and coastal terrace serves as an enduring testament to the city's extraordinary ability to reinvent itself while honoring its authentic heritage. The meticulous craftsmanship visible in every historic facade, stone retaining wall, and coastal terrace serves as an enduring testament to the city's extraordinary ability to reinvent itself while honoring its authentic heritage.

In 1971, the Hallidie Building was designated San Francisco Landmark number forty-two and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Walk half a block east along Sutter Street to number one hundred eleven, the soaring French Chateau of the Hunter-Dulin Building.