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Questionable? Clearly you've never been inside the Embarcadero Hyatt. It's very beautiful (and surprising so if you've only ever seen the outside).

Here are a few quicktime VRs I just Googled up.

http://www.worldserver.com/turk/quicktimevr/Hyatt1.html

i went to visit the xanadu gallery when i was in SF last year visiting. but it was closed :-(
i did peek through the windows to see as much as i could.
how is the de young museum not on this list? i was awestruck by that building!

Really? I think the De Young is a confusing, cold-hearted mess on the inside, and looks like a cross between a Mayan temple and a beached container ship on the outside. I think SF Moma is vastly superior.

Whether you like his Frank Lloyd Wright on steroids atriums or not, San Francisco's Embarcadero Hyatt is certainly one of the best examples of John Portman's work. I'd rather be trapped in one of his Mayan temples than the De Young any day - at least his has a bar.

I'm actually surprised San Francisco placed as many buildings on that list as it did. I lived there for a decade, and thought the city sported surprisingly awful architecture for a design-conscious place.

Love it or hate it, the Hyatt is archetypal for it's time/style. The real gem is the FLW store on Maiden Lane.

- Whaaaaa... no Ferry Building? I demand a recount! Lovely, graceful, and useable design both inside & out. The floor cutouts in the rehab only add to its splendor. And shouldn't a large, tall, major building that has survived over a century through *two* major earthquakes with (almost) no structural damage get some sort of architecture award?

- Portman's Hyatt Embarcadero design was so successful, the Hyatt used the design in other cities - Phoenix comes immediately to mind. My only quibble is with the entrance. The architecture is so influential, *three* major motion pictures were filmed inside within a five years of its completion - High Anxiety, The Towering Inferno (glass atrium & lobby) and Time After Time.

- I *love* the de Young. It should be on the list, and I'm sure Ourousoff of the NY Times would agree. It's a wonderful, wonderful space outside & inside. The copper sheath on the outside varies from a warm copper glow to leather-like when the (frequent) fog rolls in. Inside, it easily and gracefully handles the mass of people coming through every day. Wide ramps, dramatic staircases, large galleries that flow together with ease, yet the building has never felt cold or harsh to me. I even love the fern & slate atrium in the middle and the upper galleries finished in all eucalyptus wood. The twisted tower is functional (holding offices & education centers) and fanciful with the public observation deck at the top.

btw, the coolest gift shop gift ever is the hand-carved twisted tower jewelry box. Expensive, but gorgeous.

For you nature-loving folks - the new de Young building is so efficient, it reduced the building footprint in the park by 1/3 from the old building, but greatly increased useable space on the inside.

My company had our holiday party at the Asian Art Museum (old main library) this year. While the Beaux-Arts details are nice in that building, it's incredibly *annoying* to move around in. Entire groups of people couldn't find each other all evening. The de Young would've been 100% better. Happily, our party this year will be in SF City Hall.

SFMoma is a great space, both architecturally and functionally. And, I might add, designed partially to honor the beauty and not cover up the grand building behind it, the gorgeous art deco Telephone building.

While the Xanadu building is really cool, it would not be on this list at all if Wright's name wasn't on the design, and its ramp didn't foreshadow his Guggenheim design.

In reply to Sunspot -- I'm baffled at your snipey comment that "...the city sported surprisingly awful architecture..." There's an abundance of incredible architecture, with a rich history, within the city of SF, that can date back from the late 1800's to now; from victorian to ultra-modern, so there's something for everyone.

Of course, not all of the architecture in SF is a design coup. Certainly, most would agree that the 1970's, boxy, hi-rise, concrete structures that sporadically, blight the city are ugly, with a UH. However, for the urbane, there's something to behold at the turn of most every corner of the 'little, big city'. It's a shame you couldn't appreciate it while you lived there.

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