Transamerica Pyramid

Infobox Skyscraper
building_name= Transamerica Pyramid


caption= "The Pyramid" as viewed from street level
preceded= Bank of America Center
year_built=
surpassed=
year_highest=
year_end=
plural=
location= 600 Montgomery Street
San Francisco
status=
groundbreaking= 1969
constructed= 1972
est-completion=
opening=
destroyed=
use=
spire= m to ft|260|abbr=yes|precision=0
roof= m to ft|260|abbr=yes|precision=0
top_floor=
floor_count= 48
floor_area=
elevator_count= 18
cost= $32,000,000
architect= William L. Pereira
engineer= Chin & Hensolt Inc
Glumac International
Simonson & Simonson
contractor=
developer=
owner=

The Transamerica Pyramid is the tallest and most recognizable skyscraper in the San Francisco skyline.cite web|url=http://www.sfgov.org/site/visitor_index.asp?id=8088 |title=SF Gov. Visitor Info|accessdate=2007-07-18|date=2007-07-18 |publisher=www.sfgov.org]

Built on the location of the historic Montgomery Block, it has a structural height of 260 meters (853 ft) and contains 48 floors of retail and office space. Construction began in 1969 and finished in 1972. It is currently ranked as the 100^th tallest building in the world.cite web|url=http://www.emporis.com/en/bu/sk/st/tp/wo/|title=Emporis.com Official World's 200 Tallest High-rise Buildings|accessdate=2008-08-21|publisher=www.emporis.com] Transamerica moved their headquarters to the new building from across the street, where they used to be based in another pyramid-shaped building now occupied by the Church of Scientology of San Francisco.

Its unique shape is the result of the desire by Transamerica to have a building whose top would be looked up to by the executives on the highest floor of the 555 California StreetFact|date=November 2007 , which is not only tall but also sits upon a substantially higher elevation. The land use and zoning restrictions for the parcel limited the number of square feet of office that could be built upon the lot, which sits at the northern boundary of the financial district. The pyramid is an innovative solution to this design challenge, and when viewed from the East Bay forms a prominent and unique skyline projection, forming an important element of San Francisco's "signature skyline".

Although it no longer houses the headquarters of the Transamerica Corporation, it is still strongly associated with the company and is depicted in the company's logo. The building is evocative of San Francisco and has become one of the many symbols of the city. Designed by architect William Pereira, it faced considerable opposition during its planning and construction, and was sometimes referred to by detractors in derogatory slang.

In 1999, Transamerica was acquired by Dutch insurance company AEGON. When the non-insurance operations of Transamerica were later sold to GE Capital, AEGON retained the building as an investment.

The building is a tall, four-sided pyramid with two "wings" on opposite sides of the building. The wing to the east of the building contains an elevator shaft, while the wing to the west contains a stairwell and a smoke tower. The top 64.6 meters (212 ft) of the building is the spire. There are four cameras pointed in the four cardinal directions at the top of this spire forming a virtual observation deck. Four monitors in the lobby, whose direction and zoom can be controlled by visitors, display the cameras' views 24 hours a day. An observation deck on the 27th floor was closed after the September 11, 2001 attacks, and replaced by the virtual observation deck. The top of the Transamerica Pyramid is covered with aluminum panels. During the holiday season, Thanksgiving, and 4th of July, a bright, white light is lit on top of the pyramid.

The Transamerica Pyramid was the tallest skyscraper west of the Mississippi from 1972–1974 (surpassing the nearby 555 California Street), at which point it was surpassed by the Aon Center in Los Angeles, which was designed by Pereira's former business partner Charles Luckman.

The building is considered to have been the intended target of a foiled terrorist attack, involving the hijacking of airplanes as part of Oplan Bojinka, which was foiled in 1995.

pecifications

* The building's façade is covered in crushed quartz, giving the building its pure white color.
* The four-story base of the building contains a total of 16,000 cubic yards (12,233 m³) of concrete and over 300 miles (483 km) of steel rebar.
* It has 3,678 windows.Emporis Research, Transamerica Pyramid [http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=118715] ]
* The building's foundation is 9 feet (2.7 m) thick and was the result of a 24-hour continuous concrete pour.
* Only two of the building's 18 elevators reach the top floor.
* The original proposal called for a 1,150 ft (350.5 m) building, which would have been for one year the second-tallest completed building in the world. The proposal was rejected by the city planning commission on the grounds that it would have interfered with views of San Francisco Bay from Nob Hill.
* The building occupies the site that was the temporary home of A.P. Giannini's Bank of Italy after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake destroyed its office. Giannini founded Transamerica in 1928 as a holding company for his financial empire. Bank of Italy later became Bank of America.
* There is a plaque commemorating two famous dogs, Bummer and Lazarus, at the base of the building.
* The hull of the whaling vessel "Niantic", an artifact of the 1849 California Gold Rush, lies almost exactly beneath the Transamerica Pyramid, and is marked by a historical plaque outside the building (California Historical Landmark #88).

Appearance in Popular Culture

* The 2007 film "Zodiac" features a time-lapsed scene of the building's construction between 1971 and 1972. The effect was achieved with computer generated imagery
* In Armistead Maupin's "Tales of the City" series — both the books and the miniseries — the pyramid is used as a symbol for the city's mysticism.
* Features prominently in both day and night scenes in the 1988 movie The Presidio starring Sean Connery, Mark Harmon and Meg Ryan.
* The building features on the cover of The Doobie Brothers 1977 album Livin' on the Fault Line, but not in downtown San Francisco. It is on the beach next to a rocky cliff, and partially submerged in the ocean on the rear cover.
* The building was parodied in the video game ""; in the game it was called the "Big Pointy Building", with "Big Prick" jokes strictly forbidden. It also appeared in the videogames " and "Midtown Madness 2".
* The building can be destroyed by player in the video game "Strike Commander".
* The building is frequently featured in the WB series Charmed along with other popular San Francisco landmarks as an intermission between scenes.
* The building appeared in a key scene in the 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, appearing to separate two main characters (one of whom would be revealed to be a villain a moment later).
* The Transamerica Pyramid makes an appearance as an Alliance-controlled building in the Sierra game "".
* The building is also featured in Christopher Moore's novel, ""
* The building is a destroyable landmark in , the videogame.
* Fritz Leiber award-winning novel "Our Lady of Darkness" (1977) features the building as a source of megapolisomantic power.

ee also

* 49-Mile Scenic Drive
* List of tallest buildings in San Francisco

References

External links

* [http://thepyramidcenter.com The Pyramid Center official website]
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/05/29/BUGO76TPTR1.DTL&type=printable SF Gate article on the Pyramid]
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* [http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?23439399 SkyscraperPage] – side-by-side diagrams of SF skyscrapers