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Hated by many at first, the Pyramid is now loved as an icon of the city. Recalling pyramids of ancient cultures, to some it is a symbol of the mysticism that has always played a part in the San Francisco mentality. At 853 ft (260 m), it is the tallest building in the city, but its shape keeps it from casting a shadow on the neighborhood.

This 52-story structure was the first skyscraper to be erected in the city, in 1972. The color was a mistake – the granite that faces it was supposed to be pink, not brown, but by the time delivery was made, it was too late.

Quoting Renaissance architecture in thoroughly modern ways, SFMOMA has established itself as the city’s premier Post-Modern effort. The interior has a flexibility and functionality that works perfectly with the collections displayed.

Perched on Telegraph Hill, this Art Deco sentinel takes the form of a giant fluted column. Reminiscent of Renaissance towers, the column is 63-meters tall and is perforated around the top with arched openings and windows, which visitors can reach by elevator for stunning views of the city.

This bit of Neo-Classical fluff was designed by architect Bernard Maybeck for the Pan-Pacific Exposition of 1915. It is patterned on an 18th-century engraving by Giovanni Piranesi entitled The Isle of the Dead (see Palace of Fine Arts and the Exploratorium).

Centered on the City Hall that would do any state proud, the core buildings are in a grand Beaux-Arts style; and befitting the city that started the Gold Rush, gilt is everywhere.

This Queen Anne-style mansion, built in 1886, is one of the few Victorian beauties in the city that accepts callers. It’s a wonderful glimpse into the way of life among San Francisco’s upper-middle classes from about 1890 to 1920. Outside, it features gables, a turret, and patterned embellishments; inside, you can see parlors, a dining room, one of six bedrooms, and the ballroom, all with period furniture.

Executed in the medieval French Gothic style, echoing in particular Notre Dame in Paris, yet accomplished using steel-reinforced concrete. It is the third largest Episcopal church in the US.

Dating from 1948, this is the city’s only building by American master Frank Lloyd Wright. The sweeping spiral ramp predates that at Wright’s controversial Guggenheim Museum in New York.

Critics abound who are ready to dismiss this parabolic form, but the soaring curves take the attention upward, in much the same fashion that tracery and peaked vaulting do in Gothic cathedrals (see Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption).