View of the San Francisco State Quad from Above (Updated two months ago)

You can view this bundle in the SFSU Over the Years collection area.

View of the central quad at San Francisco State University’s Lake Merced campus. Visible are the original J. Paul Leonard Library (left), the César Chávez Student Center with its stepped concrete terraces (center), and nearby campus buildings including the former bookstore. The Parkmerced apartment towers rise in the background, situating the campus within its surrounding neighborhood.

Tags: aerial views of sf state campus - lake merced

Added to SFSU Over the Years on July 31, 2026.

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Information

  • Identifier: TP-ATA-0502
  • Context: <p>A signature building of the San Francisco State campus is the Cesar Chavez Student Center. The unique design was one of seven proposals which students had voted on in 1966. Originally, the proposal of Canadian Architect Moshe Safdie had won the student vote. The administration dismissed his design following the 1968 Student Strikes and welcomed back the other finalists to design a student&nbsp;center that could be &ldquo;a place that facilitated student gathering but not student uprising," described in architect Paffard Keatinge-Clay&rsquo;s biography. The final design was created by Paffard Keatinge-Clay in collaboration with student input through the form of a class. Together they designed an &ldquo;iceberg&rdquo; building with two pyramids. &ldquo;The pyramid of silence is aligned with the axis of the north star, and faces northeast for &ldquo;quiet, introspective activities; while the second pyramid faces west&rdquo; and is intended for more &ldquo;boisterous, public activities."&nbsp;The building was completed in 1975.</p> <div class="metadata-fields"> <div class="metadata-field" data-form-field-index="0" data-form-field="fieldData[5].data[0].value" data-form-widget="html" data-form-validate="text" data-form-editing="false"> <div class="field-data-display" data-format="text" data-widget="html"> <p>The Library first opened its doors in 1954. In 1976, the San Francisco State Library was renamed the J. Paul Leonard Library after the University&rsquo;s fourth president. Leonard played a major role in expanding the University by opening the 19th and Holloway campus.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Credits:</strong>&nbsp;Some descriptions were developed with the assistance of ChatGPT, an AI language model by OpenAI.</p> </div> </div> </div>
  • Geographic Coverage: San Francisco, CA
  • Type: Still Image
  • Format: 35mm Slide
  • Source: San Francisco State University Archives
  • Rights: Public

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