Architectural Drawing Plan for Balboa Park House of Hospitality 1913

by Peter Ogden

Title

Architectural Drawing Plan for Balboa Park House of Hospitality 1913

Artist

Peter Ogden

Medium

Drawing - Drawing

Description

This is a restored copy of a 1913 architectural plan drawing for the Spanish Colonial style ornamental details of the House of Hospitality of the California Pacific International Exposition which took place in 1935. Design updated for the City of San Diego in 1993.
The California Pacific International Exposition was an exposition held in San Diego, California during May 29, 1935–November 11, 1935 and February 12, 1936–September 9, 1936. The exposition was held in Balboa Park, San Diego's large central urban park, which had also been the site of the earlier Panama-California Exposition in 1915.
The Exposition was held to promote San Diego and support its economy, which had slowed with the country's Great Depression. The first year was such a financial and attendance success that it was held over for a second year. The exposition had hundreds of exhibits on history, the arts, horticulture, ethnic cultures, science, and industry. Some concessions and exhibits were unusual, such as the Gold Gulch, Lost Continent of Mu, Zoro Garden Nudist Colony, and the "One Ton Mechanical Man."
The idea for an exposition came from Frank Drugan, a newcomer to San Diego who arrived in 1933. He recognized the potential of the buildings in Balboa Park left over from the 1915–16 exposition; the buildings had been designed to be temporary, but had been refurbished and upgraded several times and were available for use. In addition, Chicago's "Century of Progress" fair was just ending, and many of its exhibits could be transported for use in another fair. That exposition had paid for itself, and he was sure a San Diego exposition could do so as well. He promoted the idea of a new exposition, using the existing buildings and adding new ones, as a way of boosting San Diego's economy. He convinced local business people to support the idea.
The Exposition incorporated in August 1934. Construction of new buildings began in January 1935. The project was rushed through for a May opening. The foundations of some structures, such as the Electric Building and the Ford Building, were laid even before the final plans for the buildings had been drawn up. During March and April, 2,700 people worked around the clock on the Exposition. Approximately 65% of them were relief workers whose wages were paid by the federal government; the remainder were employees of private contractors.
The buildings from the 1915 fair were in Spanish Colonial Revival architecture style, designed by Bertram Goodhue and Carleton Winslow. Architect Richard Requa designed the new permanent buildings to be added for the 1935 fair. He wrote that his goal was to relate pre-Columbian Indian buildings and temples, like those found in the Southwest and Mexico, to the modern era; his model was the 1915 New Mexico Building, which he remodeled into a Palace of Education. Many of the new large buildings were in this style, including the California State Building (now the San Diego Automotive Museum), Palace of Electricity (now a gymnasium), and Palace of Water and Transportation.

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January 18th, 2020

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