May 27th, 2012, marks the 75th Anniversary of San Francisco's beloved Golden Gate Bridge. Not only is the bridge graceful, iconic, and incredibly long, it's painted in one of the greatest colors ever — a lovely and complex orange-red. International Orange: it's not just for bridges anymore...
Last week I had the chance to take a little boat ride to the Golden Gate Bridge (for pastry reasons, of course), and got to watch the underside of the bridge being painted. It was so cool! Apparently, it takes an entire year to paint the whole thing. Also, there were porpoises.
- San Francisco's own Flax Art has the entire line of Cavallini Golden Gate Bridge paper goods, and the store is also hosting its own International Orange Art Exhibit.
- These next three items are all from Toast, and they all evoke that classic foggy, chilly, cozy feeling of being out near the bridge. The Gabi blanket can be wrapped around your shoulders on a boat ride, the Storm lantern will lead you back up the rocky cliffs to your cabin, where a Yaki mug of coffee made from excellent San Francisco beans will be waiting to wipe the chill from your bones. (Note: such an excursion might only exist in my imagination.)
- The tangerine-red Bear print from Banquet Atelier is also perfect for California and its bear state flag.
- Continuing the rugged bear-boat-lantern theme is this beautiful handmade ax from Best Made Company. I need it, I'm not sure why.
- Powder-coated steel Brick Bookends from Curiosity Shoppe bring a hint of industrial power to your bookshelf.
- Mark Goetz's Divide Bench is available at Rare Device and is 150lbs of indoor/outdoor awesome.
- Sausalito ceramic masters Heath Ceramics have created this Paprika Blend of tiles, "a blend of dual and solid glazes, in a combination of matte and glossy." The color variation perfectly captures the weathered finish on the Golden Gate Bridge.
(Images: As credited above.)
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Best Made axes are so beautiful! I also need one, but am not quite sure why.
When I was in my late 20's, I 'tried' walking the bridge for it's 50th anniversay. The friend that was to pick me up, came really late and we barely got on the bridge. There were so many people on the bridge that no one could move and the bridge 'bowed'. It was scary and exciting at the same time.
Heartwarming: An eldering gentleman was being pushed by his grandson in a wheel chair and we all told him to turn back because it was so crowded but he was determined to get to the other side. He walked the bridge as a young man when it FIRST OPENED.
My family and I woke up painfully early that day, hopped on a special transit bus and made it to the bridge. There are some pics of us "sitting" on the roadway, something we'll never do again (or want to). Getting stuck on the bridge for 3 hours was hard but thankfully, we were safe and makes for a great story.
This year, I'm gonna be as far away as possible...camping. Happy 75th, GGB!
I found this info online about the specific color for mixing:
The Sherwin Williams formula for GGB International Orange (SW4082) can only be mixed in huge quantities. The closest consumer 1 gallon version is Fireweed.
Closest color is:
PMS173M
CMYK 0-69-100-6
RGB 240,74,0
HTML F04A00
@Parnassus - Could I take those to Benjamin Moore and have them match based on the CMYK or RBG?
It is the color of my kitchen door. Valspar Apple Peel (which looks more Paprika than apple peel). Valspar has some great reds and oranges.
Public Bikes painted some of their bikes the exact color & finish of the bridge http://blog.publicbikes.com/2012/05/a-bike-for-the-bridge/
Vancouver's Lions Gate Bridge used to be green and International Orange, and they changed the colours when they repaired the bridge. Now it is green and silver, not anywhere near as nice. I miss the International Orange.
@PI, if you can, get the paint chip from S-W and take it to Benj Moore to match - that's what I would do since I haven't had much luck with S-W paints. Actually I think that's what I am going to do, since I have a door I've been wanting to paint orange-red for a while now. The pigments won't be exactly the same from the 2 paint companies, but that will get you closer than the CMYK or RGB.
I walked across it with a friend. All the way to the Saus'. We took the ferry back. Woot woot! (I need to see if I took photos of the feat)