Some cool photo gallery images:
San Francisco - Retail District: Xanadu Gallery
Image by wallyg
Xanadu Gallery, at 140 Maiden Lane, was designed in 1948 by Frank Lloyd Wright as the V.C. Morris Gift Shop. The store served as a physical prototype, or proof of concept, for the circular ramp Wright had already designed for Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, though that project wasn't finished until 1959 shortly after his death.
The street entrance is unassuming--a windowless façade of fine brickwork, broken only by an updated Romanesque arch and a vertical grille on the left, created by removing every other brick and backed by recessed lights. The arch gives way to a glass tunnel atriumthen onto the interior, with a circular mezzanine reached by a spiral ramp. The built-in wood and glass furnishings are also composed of circle segments. Light is provided by a grid of interlocked translucent globes suspended above the circular space.
In 1979, the V.C. Morris Building was purchased by Xanadu Gallery, an upscale gallery with an extensive selection of Asian arts, Oceanic, and ethnographic works of art. Upon its purchase, they commissioned Aaron Green to oversee a million dollar restoration.
The V.C. Morris Gift Shop was listed in 2007 at number 126 on the American Institute of Architects' list of the 150 favorite buildings in America.
San Francisco Landmark #72
San Francisco - Retail District: Xanadu Gallery
Image by wallyg
Xanadu Gallery, at 140 Maiden Lane, was designed in 1948 by Frank Lloyd Wright as the V.C. Morris Gift Shop. The store served as a physical prototype, or proof of concept, for the circular ramp Wright had already designed for Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, though that project wasn't finished until 1959 shortly after his death.
The street entrance is unassuming--a windowless façade of fine brickwork, broken only by an updated Romanesque arch and a vertical grille on the left, created by removing every other brick and backed by recessed lights. The arch gives way to a glass tunnel atriumthen onto the interior, with a circular mezzanine reached by a spiral ramp. The built-in wood and glass furnishings are also composed of circle segments. Light is provided by a grid of interlocked translucent globes suspended above the circular space.
In 1979, the V.C. Morris Building was purchased by Xanadu Gallery, an upscale gallery with an extensive selection of Asian arts, Oceanic, and ethnographic works of art. Upon its purchase, they commissioned Aaron Green to oversee a million dollar restoration.
The V.C. Morris Gift Shop was listed in 2007 at number 126 on the American Institute of Architects' list of the 150 favorite buildings in America.
San Francisco Landmark #72
