Completed in 1972, the iconic Transamerica Pyramid has become a symbol of San Francisco. Designed by architect William Pereira and built by Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Company, it was commissioned by Transamerica CEO John (Jack) R. Beckett, who requested that the design preserve light in the street below. The building no longer serves as the headquarters of the Transamerica Corporation, which moved its U. S. headquarters to Baltimore, Maryland.  

The Transamerica Building stands 850 feet tall and is a four-sided pyramid constructed on a base platform that minimizes shaking from earthquakes. A spire sits atop the building, and four cameras pointed in four directions at the top of this spire form a virtual observation deck. Four monitors in the lobby display the views of these cameras and are accessible to the public. An observation deck on the 27th floor was closed after September 11, 2001, and replaced by the virtual observation deck.

Credits and Sources:

“Transamerica Building.”http://thepyramidcenter.com/tourism/history.htm#.

Photographs courtesy of Travel San Francisco and American Society for Environmental History.