Students on the Rooftop of the Cesar Chavez Student Center (Updated last month)

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

Students gather on the rooftop steps of the Cesar Chavez Student Center, some relaxing in the sun while others take part in what appears to be a film or media production exercise, complete with camera equipment and a boom microphone. Designed as part of the building’s distinctive “iceberg” architecture, the stepped rooftop served both as an architectural statement and an informal social space, regularly used by students for study, conversation, and hands-on coursework.

Tags: student union scenes

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

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Students on the Steps of the Cesar Chavez Student Center Students Around the Cesar Chavez Student Center Students on the Steps of the César Chávez Student Center Students Outside the Cesar Chavez Student Center Students Outside Cesar Chavez Student Center

Information

  • Identifier: TP-ATA-0692
  • 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 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."</p> <p>HUD suspended construction of the Student Union Towers demanding access for the disabled. Source: Zenger&rsquo;s (Jan. 29, 1975): 3.</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>
  • Geographic Coverage: San Francisco, CA
  • Type: Still Image
  • Format: 35mm Slide
  • Source: San Francisco State University Archives
  • Rights: Public

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