On July 19 SHARP members and guests were treated to an exceptional talk, via Zoom,  by architect James Dixon. Mr. Dixon’ talk started with the story of Daniel Burnham and the City Beautiful movement of the late 1800’s and continued for over two hours and included breaking down differences in styles of some our local houses. We learned that Daniel Burnham had proposed a adventurous design with broad boulevards with many green areas crossing broad areas of the city.

The Twin Peaks would be topped by an Athenaeum with terraces and courts, topped by a tall Statue of Athena. Buarnham had also envisioned a wide road that would extend Market Street all the way to Lake Merced.  His influence extends to buildings like our City Hall.  Streets like Sloat Blvd. were influenced by Burnham’s vision

You can view some of Mr. Dixon’s talks about architecture over the years on his web site.