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580 California Street

I was looking up an organization I regularly run across and saw their address in San Francisco and it seemed to be in what I thought was an unusual part of the city for it. I looked at Google Maps, as I often do, to see where it actually was. At 580 CALIFORNIA - 580 California Street it was more or less the building I thought it was.

Then I looked at the 580 California Fun Facts - 580 CALIFORNIA page and looked at the second fun fact and my focus shifted drastically. This is the building I have had a deep fascination with since the late 80s. These sculptures on the roof’s ledge always drew me in, but largely to sort out what they were. I had seen them so many times coming down California Street toward the Bay and trying to sort out what they were. After I started working in San Francisco I had seen the 580 California Street sculptures a few times from above looking out from 555 California Street’s Bank of America president’s boardroom at the top of the tower looking down at 580.

I never could sort out what the sculptures were. To me they (well at least one of the sculptures) looked like the “Grim Reaper" with a scythe. But, it wasn’t clear if there were faces or not. Was it many Reapers? Other friends and people I’d met in San Francisco had different hunches or beliefs about what the sculptures were. There are 12 of them, with three sculptures repeated on each side of the building.

Getting the Facts Finally, At Least Mostly

Today finding they are the creation of Muriel Castanis - Wikipedia and they don’t have any historical foundations nor ties to mythologies, “… other than what she has called her interpretation of the ‘corporate goddesses.’” It is rumored to be the architect Philip Johnson’s “jab at the very 12 board members who posed such an obstacle to the realization of his vision.”

The 580 California Photo Gallery - 580 CALIFORNIA has good photos of the sculptures and the building. There is a really good look at them from a conservation and repair project, California Street Sculptures - EverGreene. The SF Gate has a quite good overview of the sculptures and architecture of 580 California, The ‘Grim Reaper’ building that watches over downtown San Francisco.