♪♪♪ Ernie Myers: San Diego, with its miles of coastline and near perfect weather, it is a city better known for its beaches than for its buildings.

But like any city, the real story of San Diego can be found in its man-made environment, from the skyline along the harbor to the freeways we travel on and the homes we live in.

The city that began as a sleepy port town dominated by missionaries and Spanish dons has emerged as one of the fastest growing urban centers, the eighth largest in the nation.

The story of our architectural growth from adobe missions and haciendas to glittering high rises is the story of the city itself.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Our landscape has been evolving for over 2 centuries, but most dramatically during the last 100 years under influences as varied as the people who have made San Diego their home.

By looking at San Diego's past through its architecture, we can better understand why the city looks the way it does today and what we might do to shape its look in the future.

♪♪♪ The most distinctive and prevalent form of architecture in San Diego is also the oldest.

When the Spanish first settled here in the late 1700s, they brought with them a style that would shape much of the city in years to come.

This is reflected in the stuccoed adobe walls and tile roofing of San Diego's oldest building, the 171-year-old Mission San Diego de Alcala.

San Diego's growing appreciation of this mission's beauty and significance can be seen in the carefully restored facade that bears little resemblance to the decaying structure photographed back in 1869.

The Mission architecture eventually influenced people's homes as well.

The simple buildings that made up Old Town in the early 1800s reflect the functional adaptation of this classic Spanish style.

From these modest pueblo designs emerged the Gran Presidio or Rancho style of architecture.

The Casa Estadio with its handmade thick adobe walls, tiled roof, and heavy wooden doors was a typical hacienda built around a rambling courtyard.

Each of its 14 rooms featured a separate entrance, the forerunner to our modern apartment buildings.

As California reached statehood in 1850, San Diego attracted an influx of Yankee settlers.

These new citizens introduced a variety of architectural innovations, including the replacement of adobe with fired brick.

The Whaley House was the first such structure in California, introducing a look that would soon carry over to nearby residences.

The merging of these new settlers with San Diego's Spanish roots created a mix of peoples and perspectives that made a great impact on the city's developing architecture.

A fine example of this intermingling can be found in old town's Casa de Bandini.

This multi-purpose structure was originally a one-level Spanish hacienda that adopted the Yankee style when a second story was added to make it a hotel and later a stagecoach station.

This unique building is now the site of a Mexican restaurant, and its new facade recalls the building's original Spanish design and pays tribute to a colorful architectural legacy.

Old Town continued to serve as the city's center until a visionary named Alonzo Horton bought land for 27.5 cents an acre and shifted activity to the harbor.

His Horton House Hotel and surrounding plaza marked the emergence of Newtown as the commercial hub of the city.

Any last traces of the Spanish style were abandoned for the new Yankee innovations.

This new classical American influence can be seen today in San Diego's first granite structure, the Bank of Commerce building standing in the heart of downtown, a tribute to the elegance of a past era.

♪♪♪ As Newtown flourished, the buildings took on a different look.

♪♪♪ The Vaquesto building with its ornate wood detailing and tall narrow windows is a fine introduction to the Victorian architecture that was sweeping the city in the late 1800s.

♪♪♪ The residential areas that sprang up around Newtown's business district quickly adopted this latest building rage as the frontier home was replaced by the flamboyant gingerbread castle.

♪♪♪ Villa Montezuma has the name of a Spanish hacienda, but its look is pure Victorian.

The extravagant use of carved wood and stained glass, and the elaborate tower and cupola took this new style to an eccentric extreme.

The villa's fairy tale charm has not faded with age.

Its well-preserved magic now attracts the artistic and the curious to its museum, art exhibits, poetry readings, and concerts.

A variety of other unique Victorian residences can be found throughout Golden Hills and uptown neighborhoods.

Many of them have been restored as the best of the old becomes beautifully new.

♪♪♪ By the mid 1880s, San Diego's steady growth exploded into a sudden land boom, one of many to sweep the area.

More and more people flocked to the city in search of warm, sandy beaches and new opportunities, and resort hotels were quickly constructed to accommodate the overflow of visitors.

The most impressive of these was the Hotel del Coronado.

In the architectural tradition of the time, the hotel was encrusted with balconies and crowned with sharply peaked towers.

With its grand seaside location, the hotel was a constant reminder of all that was desirable about San Diego.

The Hotel del Coronado continues to beckon, a symbol of a golden time in San Diego's history.

♪♪♪ It was the height of luxury nearly 100 years ago, and it remains one of the most elegant hotels in the city, still drawing tourists from around the world.

The powerful attraction of the coastline is also typified by the tangle of apartments and condominiums that fight for the space surrounding La Jolla Cove.

Amidst this jumble are two reminders of a quieter beach community.

These early California beach bungalows were patterned after those found in Hawaii and Polynesia, with a dash of Victorian frills.

They were originally built as summer retreats where beach lovers could escape into the peaceful isolation that La Jolla offered in the late 1800s.

By the turn of the century, the boom had faded.

Despite the sudden increase in population, San Diego was still a city of unpaved roads and undeveloped land.

It was also a city that was ready to grow and ready to develop a different style of architecture.

The buildings of Irving Gill were responsible for much of San Diego's new look.

These buildings reflected the city's past in their simple lines that followed the early Spanish missions, but Gill's innovative use of tilt slab construction and poured concrete pointed to San Diego's future.

More importantly, Gill's designs took their inspiration from the temperate climate of the city.

Instead of looking to Europe or the East Coast, Gill looked no further than Southern California in designing his porches and porticos.

For the very first time, San Diego had a style to call its own.

A striking example of Gill's distinctive design was found in the Klauber House, a simple stucco statement that was bold and modern, long considered one of Gill's finest creations.

Despite community efforts towards preservation, the Klauber House was leveled in 1981, leaving behind an empty lot and a regrettable loss to San Diego's architectural history.

Irving Gill's architectural achievements dominated San Diego's landscape for years until the 1915 Panama-California Exposition captured the imagination of San Diego and the attention of the world.

What began as a celebration of San Diego as the first port for ships crossing the new Panama Canal became the biggest cultural and architectural event in the city's history.

The Cabrillo Bridge and the California Building were the first structures to welcome fairgoers to Balboa Park for the exposition.

The California Building designed by Bertram Goodhue remains the crown jewel of Balboa Park.

It is impossible to visit the park without being drawn by the sight of the tower and the sounds of the carillon that continue to chime from inside.

The lavishly intricate Rococo designs of the building and its graceful tower are outstanding examples of the Spanish Baroque Revival architecture that characterized much of the Expo.

[carillon chiming] Ironically, all of the Exposition structures, including the tranquil reflecting pond and Lath House were meant to be only temporary additions to the park.

Demolition plans were quickly abandoned, however, when it became clear that these temporary buildings had become permanently fixed in the hearts of San Diegans.

The elaborately gilded mission-style designs of these structures represented a cultural sophistication that still acknowledged San Diego's Spanish roots.

The popularity of the Exposition buildings had a profound and lasting effect on San Diego architecture as the Rococo and Spanish styles were redefined for the next 50 years.

The Santa Fe Railway depot captures this growing influence, and over the years has become an historical landmark while still functioning as an integral part of the city.

Exposed roof beams and bright open spaces created by its high ceilings and vaulted arches exemplify the station's Expo style.

Another example can be found in the Marine Corps recruit depot.

The distinctive archways, thick walls, and flowing promenade still make it a showcase for the military.

♪♪♪ By the 1920s, simplified versions of the Rococo architecture emerged in residential areas throughout the city, most notably in the tile-roofed homes of newly developed Kensington, now a preferred neighborhood in San Diego.

♪♪♪ Downtown, the skyline was changed by new high-rise buildings.

The arched entrances, windows, and handcrafted cornices of the San Diego Trust and Savings Building reflected the Exposition style as it crossed over to the commercial center of town.

♪♪♪ The Samuel Fox Building erected across the street, utilized cast iron grills and terracotta sculptures in another variation on the Spanish theme.

It was also the last major downtown building to be constructed until the 1960s.

To the north, the Serra Museum is frequently mistaken for an early Spanish mission, but its tile roof, heavy concrete walls, and graceful arches clearly reflect the Expo's rediscovery of our Spanish heritage.

In 1935, Balboa Park again established itself as the cultural center of the city when it was the host of yet another Exposition and the site of a new trend in San Diego architecture.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ The Ford building is an enduring example of the simpler and more progressive look of the California Pacific International Exposition.

The lavish details seen in the 1915 structures were simplified and the building streamlined.

The circular rotunda now houses San Diego's renowned Aerospace Museum.

♪♪♪ Even after the 35 Expo ended, its buildings continued to influence the style of construction throughout San Diego until the city's landscape was permanently altered by events occurring over 2000 miles out in the Pacific.

World War 2 brought overnight changes to the city.

The ornate beauty of the park's Spanish Expo buildings was forgotten, and San Diego's unique architectural identity was abandoned.

The old General Dynamics plant along Pacific Highway is one of the more notable examples of World War 2's no-frills building concept.

The plant's sawtooth roof design provided natural light and ventilation for the workers producing war materials.

The Convair plant adjacent to the airport was also designed with functionalism in mind, reflecting the new international movement toward modernism.

San Diego was taking on the anonymous appearance of a wartime city.

Wartime industries created the need for quick, inexpensive worker accommodations.

Linda Vista is one of the many suburbs that developed out of the hastily constructed housing.

Its dense population also made it an ideal location for a shopping center, the first in the United States.

By the end of the war, San Diego's population had nearly doubled.

Once again, newcomers were attracted by the beaches.

The tight-knit communities in Ocean and Mission Beach were built to house the people whose lives were devoted to sun and fun.

The clusters and design of the small cottages reflected a subculture that thrived on the intimacy of crowded neighborhoods and the thrill of claiming the beach as a backyard.

As the oceanside communities developed, San Diego's urban architecture began to change.

The Fifth Avenue Design Center typifies the shift from pre-war conservative to post-war modernism.

The steel and glass frame, wood trellises, and angular design signaled the end of one architectural era and anticipated the excitement of the era to come.

The post-war population boom that swelled San Diego in the '50s exploded in the '60s with a force that has yet to lose momentum.

As San Diego's boundaries began expanding in all directions, Mission Valley emerged as the city's new urban center.

This sprawl of land surrounding the San Diego River was once covered with lush greenery, interrupted only by cow pastures and a lightly traveled four-lane highway.

But as San Diego's population multiplied, the four-lane road became a concrete maze and the freeway became one of the city's most prevalent forms of architecture.

Mission Valley suddenly found itself at the heart of miles of highways connecting the far-flung communities that merged to form a new metropolitan area.

The freeways brought swarms of people traveling across Mission Valley, but it was the convenience of the shopping centers, restaurants and hotels that turned this peaceful area into the busiest, most congested part of the city.

Mission Valley's centrality also made it the ideal spot for San Diego's Jack Murphy Stadium, a monumental structure that is considered one of the finest sports facilities in the country.

Even when it's empty, the stadium's massive walkways, circular columns, and sweeping lines make it an awe-inspiring tribute to America's fascination with sports.

But when the stadium is filled with tens of thousands of enthusiastic fans, it becomes the central meeting ground for a city whose immense size and freeway lifestyle make the shared feeling of community a rare event.

With the wide variety of building styles that accompanied Mission Valley's growth, San Diego was moving further and further away from a cohesive architectural identity.

The post-war building boom added more buildings but little inspiration to our landscape until high technology and medical industries settled along the city's northern coast, bringing with them a new look.

Few buildings better reflect the scientific and intellectual energy that surround the La Jolla and Torrey Pines area than the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, a bold architectural statement.

It's a building still ahead of its time, making innovative use of construction techniques and materials, poured-in-place concrete featuring a natural finish, tinted slightly to blend with the surroundings, highlighted by unfinished teak and stainless steel frames, permanent materials meant to last at least 1000 years.

The Salk Institute is also notable for its complete abandonment of our traditional Spanish influence.

It pays tribute to both the rough landscape of its oceanfront site and the high technology of the research being undertaken within.

The La Jolla and Torrey Pines area was also the site of educational growth.

The University of California buildings followed the Salk Institute in their use of concrete and modern innovative designs.

UCSD's controversial library, which appears to be springing out of the ground, is an extreme example of the new architectural freedom brought on by technology and mass communication.

But this freedom of expression has only evolved in San Diego during the last 25 years.

This can be best shown by these award-winning buildings of the past quarter century.

Since 1960, these structures have been judged by the architectural community to be worthy of special honors.

As can first be seen in the design trends of the '60s, experimentation in form and materials had begun, and the severe functionalism of the '50s was left behind.

♪♪♪ The '70s ushered in an expanded outlook toward our architectural potential.

This can be seen in both public and residential buildings as new designs reflected international trends in their use of clean lines and high-tech materials.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ And while the award-winning structures of the '80s continue to explore innovative concepts, many also signal a renewed interest in the restoration and remodeling of older buildings.

Also, there seems to be a thrust towards pure artistic expression and a willingness to adopt influences from other urban centers throughout the country.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ What these buildings have in common is their diversity.

As a group, they seem to make no single statement about our city, and we may not see the effects of their individual influence for quite some time, if at all.

But when we look back at the buildings that have survived the constant changes San Diego has undergone, we see that they have endured not because they fit a certain style, but because they truly enrich the area in which they were built and often represent important turning points in the city's history.

The timeless qualities that made these structures significant in the past assure that they will be appreciated well into the future, even as San Diego continues to grow.

Today, our community is rapidly spreading towards the north and east with a seemingly endless array of new building projects.

Redevelopment is quickly changing the face of downtown.

It is time to reflect on what our city means to us and how we choose to leave it for our children.

It is not a simple question of whether our manmade environment conforms to a particular architectural style or plan.

What is most important is that the structures we will build remain responsive to their unique surroundings and continue to speak intimately to San Diegans for generations to come.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ male announcer: This program was made possible by grants from San Diego Architectural Foundation; Ralph Bradshaw/Richard Bundy & Associates; Pacific Associates, Planners & Architects, Incorporated; Homer Delawie Associates; Martinez/Wong & Associates, Incorporated; and by KPBS-TV, San Diego.