OH! San Diego 2020
Celebrating architecture, urban design & the built environment
One weekend. Free access. Iconic architecture. The doors are open for you to explore.
OH! San Diego 2020
Celebrating architecture, urban design & the built environment
One weekend. Free access. Iconic architecture. The doors are open for you to explore.
Founded in 1887 and home to Ellen Browning Scripps, who built her house on the ocean side of Prospect Street, “The Jewel” has become an educational and cultural epicenter anchored by Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the La Valencia Hotel, La Jolla Playhouse, University of California San Diego, the Salk Institute, and Birch Aquarium. Visitors come from around the world to visit sea lions at Children’s Pool, stroll Prospect street’s shops and restaurants, hike Torrey Pines State Beach, explore tidepools and sea caves, and swim, surf and sunbathe at iconic beaches.
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73 ATHENAEUM MUSIC & ARTS LIBRARY
1008 Wall Street
Self-guided tour / Guided tour every 30 minutes / SAT & SUN 10AM – 4PM
The Spanish Revival-style building is home to this non-profit membership library, dedicated to the study of music and art. It is one of only seventeen such libraries in the country. The site is comprised of three historic buildings, joined together to create a cohesive space. It features stylized arched windows and classical columns at the front portico and an iconic rotunda, which houses the music room. Eminent La Jollan and philanthropist, Ellen Browning Scripps, was the first president of the organization, which was founded in 1899. As the oldest cultural institution in La Jolla and one of the oldest in San Diego, the Athenaeum today is a vibrant cultural center, presenting exhibits, concerts, lectures and art classes.
William Templeton Johnson, 1921 / William Lumpkins, 1957 / David Singer, 2006
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74 GRANDE COLONIAL HOTEL
910 Prospect Street
Guided tour every hour / SAT & SUN 10AM – 4PM / Reservation required / Saturday reservations / Sunday reservations / Walk-ups accepted
The Colonial Apartments and Hotel, as it was originally known, is La Jolla’s oldest hotel. The main four story, concrete hotel, boasting the first fire sprinkler system west of the Mississippi, was built in 1928. During construction, the original wood-framed structure on the site by architect Richard Requa, was moved to the rear of the property where it still operates as part of the hotel. Putnam’s La Jolla Drugstore and Soda Fountain was located there for many years and was managed by actor Gregory Peck’s father. Today, the property includes two designated historic landmarks – The Little Hotel by the Sea, by architect Thomas Shepherd, and the Garden Terraces.
Richard Requa, 1913 / Thomas L. Shepherd, 1925 / Frank Stevenson, 1928
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75 SIXTEENFIFTY CREATIVE INTELLIGENCE
7509 Girard Avenue (Address incorrect in map & guide)
Self–guided tour / SAT & SUN 10AM – 4PM
Making La Jolla cool again, this former furniture store renovation began in 2018 and is ever-evolving. Now the global headquarters for Sixteenfifty Creative Intelligence, a creative marketing agency, this epicenter of innovative ideas includes a curated collection of art on display from private collections and their very own art gallery in residence; Quint Gallery. Key fun features of the space include an amethyst wall room, cactus themed study room, and Simple Coffee Co.
Built 1960 / Renovated 2018
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76 J. CRAIG VENTER INSTITUTE
4120 Capricorn Lane
**TOURS CANCELED AS OF MARCH 4**
J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), is a leader in genomic research, with a commitment to environmental stewardship. The architecture of this 44,000 SF, three-story laboratory and research facility, is a direct response to the client’s challenge that a building should generate more energy than it consumes. The LEED Platinum-certified building contains some of the most innovative water conservation and energy-efficient systems available and serves as a model for sustainable research buildings worldwide. It also houses the offices of at least one Nobel Prize winner.
ZGF Architects, 2013
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77 LA JOLLA HISTORICAL SOCIETY | OH! SAN DIEGO HUB
780 Prospect Street
Self–guided tour / SAT & SUN 10AM – 4PM
Housed in Wisteria Cottage, a fine example of vernacular architecture of early La Jolla, the Society serves as a popular resource and gathering place where residents and visitors explore history, art, ideas, and culture. Over the years, this simple structure has served as a guest house, an elementary school, and a bookstore, with early renovations by Master Architect, Irving Gill. The surrounding garden terraces with cobblestone walls feature the Venturi Pergola and Garden. The interior of the former house has been adaptively reused as exhibition gallery space, and will feature Tijuana 1964: The Photography of Harry Crosby. On a magazine assignment in 1964, Harry Crosby created a rich photographic record of Tijuana’s urban landscapes, community life, and daily events. This exhibition explores shops, arcades, street vendors, fashion, architecture, and entertainment in the neighborhoods of this bustling Mexican city more than a half century ago.
Built 1904 / Irving J. Gill, 1909 / IS Architecture, 2013
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78 ST. JAMES BY-THE-SEA EPISCOPAL CHURCH
743 Prospect Street
Guided tour every 30 min / SAT 10AM – 4PM & SUN 11:15AM – 4PM
Like other important structures in La Jolla, this church has a strong connection to the Browning Scripps family. Eliza Virginia Scripps was instrumental in the founding of a church on this site in 1909. In 1928, Ellen Browning Scripps laid the cornerstone of the bell tower in memory of her beloved half-sister, Eliza Virginia. She selected the nephew of established architect Irving Gill to design the structure. He drew his inspiration for the iconic tower from the Campo Florida church in Mexico City. Today, the richly decorated Chimes Tower houses a working set of tubular bells and a newly renovated art gallery. The interior features a rugged wood beam ceiling.
Louis J. Gill, 1929 / Restoration, 2014
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79 THE SALK INSTITUTE
10010 North Torrey Pines Road
**TOURS CANCELED AS OF MARCH 4**
The Salk Institute was established in 1960 by Jonas Salk, MD, developer of the first safe and effective polio vaccine. Salk envisioned spacious, unobstructed laboratory spaces that could be adapted to the ever-changing needs of science, with building materials that were simple, strong, durable, and as maintenance-free as possible. The result: two mirror-image six-story structures, constructed of concrete, teak, lead, glass and steel, flanking a grand courtyard. Three floors house laboratories with the level directly above each of them providing free access to their systems and utilities. Towers jutting into the courtyard house study spaces for senior faculty.
The monumentality of world-renowned architect Louis Kahn’s vision is particularly felt in the open courtyard of travertine marble, bisected by a ribbon of water which leads your eye to the ocean beyond. In 1992, the Salk received a 25-Year Award from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and was featured in the AIA exhibit Structures of Our Time: 31 Buildings That Changed Modern Life. The Salk Institute has been described by many as the single most significant architectural site in San Diego.
Louis I. Kahn, 1965
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80 WARWICK’S
7812 Girard Avenue
Self–guided tour / SAT & SUN 10AM – 4PM
Established in 1896, Warwick’s is the oldest family-owned and operated bookstore in the United States. Known for its highly curated selection of books, including architecture and design books, eclectic gifts and jewelry, as well as fine stationery and office supplies, Warwick’s has the vibe of a community marketplace. Over the years, the events program has grown tremendously and the store is a popular place for authors to speak. Enjoy a game of chess on the giant chess board in front of the store.
Built 1918
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81 IRVING GILL & THE SCRIPPS SISTERS | A WALKING TOUR OF LA JOLLA’S CULTURAL ZONE
780 Prospect Street
Guided tour / SUN 1PM / Reservation required (Tour FULL)
Join Architectural Historian Dr. Diane Kane and UCSD Professor and Author Molly McClain for a leisurely stroll around La Jolla’s Cultural Zone. Learn about the unique partnership young architect Irving Gill forged with Ellen Browning Scripps and her half-sister, Virginia Scripps, as these two elderly philanthropists built a seaside community to their Progressive Era specifications.
Included in the tour are Gill’s Craftsman remodel of Wisteria Cottage (1907-1909), the sites of Gill’s St. James Episcopal Church and Ellen Browning Scripps’ Moulton Villa II (1915), the strikingly Modernist La Jolla Women’s Club (1912), Kautz Residence (1913) La Jolla Recreation Center (1915), Bishop’s School (1910-1924) and the La Jolla Metabolic Clinic (1924). Included are the various landscapes designed by Kate Sessions that accompany Gill’s architecture. Together, they create a harmonious unit that transports visitors back to 1915 La Jolla and the community’s Bohemian roots.
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82 THE CONRAD PREBYS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
7600 Fay Avenue
Self–guided tour / SAT & SUN 10AM – 4PM
Free music and dance performances on Saturday
The new Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center has rapidly become a hub of cultural, arts education and community event activity in La Jolla, bringing world-class performances to the community as the new, permanent home of La Jolla Music Society. The facility appears as a composition of smaller structures and open spaces, in keeping with the scale of the Village location. It boasts a 500-seat concert hall with world-class acoustics, stage configurations and media projection capabilities, alongside a 2000-square foot flexible performance space. Both surround a large central courtyard which serves as an outdoor lobby, protected from the street by a terracotta veil. The building will come to life with family-friendly music and dance performances and tours during OH! weekend.
Epstein Joslin Architect and JWDA with Yasuhisa Toyota of Nagata Acoustics America, 2019
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83 SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY AT UC SAN DIEGO
8630 Kennel Way
Self–guided tour of buildings listed below / SAT 10AM – 4PM / Check in at Pawka Green
Special map and handout featuring all Scripps sites
Parking: Paid public parking is available in Lots P002 and P003 (Kennel Way entrance from El Paseo Grande, off La Jolla Shores Dr.) Permits can be purchased from the pay station in Lot P003. Limited free parking is available on nearby surface streets.
Founded in 1903, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) at UC San Diego features a dozen architecturally and historically significant structures on its 177 acre campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean. From the Irving Gill designed 1910 George H. Scripps Memorial Marine Biological Laboratory, to the midcentury modern classic IGPP Munk Laboratory, to contemporary additions, SIO’s rich history and mission to teach and communicate scientific understanding of the oceans and atmosphere, is on display at every turn.
GEORGE H. SCRIPPS MEMORIAL BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY (OLD SCRIPPS BUILDING)
8630 Kennel Way
SAT 10AM – 3PM
The first building on the Scripps campus is named for the younger brother of Ellen Browning Scripps. Early on, it housed a public aquarium, research laboratories, offices, and the residence of the institution’s founder and first director, William Emerson Ritter, and his wife, physician Mary Elizabeth Bennet Ritter. Designated as San Diego Historic Site in 1977, Old Scripps became a National Landmark in 1982. Today it contains administrative offices and meeting rooms, some featuring artifacts of Scripps history.
Irving Gill, 1910
ELLEN BROWING SCRIPPS MEMORIAL PIER
8648 Kennel Way
SAT 11AM – 1:30PM
Named for the most significant donor to the institution in its formative years, the 1,084 foot long reinforced-concrete pier replaced the original wooden pier built in 1915. Data about ocean conditions have been recorded from the pier continuously since 1916, providing an unparalleled source of information on the coastal Pacific Ocean. Walk to the pumphouse at the end of the pier where the seawater supply for Birch Aquarium originates and see where small boats are launched for scientific diving operations.
Ferver Engineering, 1988
CENTER FOR COASTAL STUDIES
2130 Naga Way
SAT 11:30AM – 1PM
Originally a holding tank for seawater pumped from the end of the pier, the concrete base of the building was converted to labs and offices in 1963 to become the Center for Coastal Studies. For over 55 years it has been home to Scripps scientists who study physical processes of the ocean and beaches, including coastal erosion, shoreline pollution transport and sea-level rise. The 3-story building was completely renovated in 2019 and will soon reopen to researchers.
Risley & Gould, 1963 / Miller Hull Partnership, 2020
OLD DIRECTOR’S HOUSE
8670 Naga Lane
SAT 11AM – 1:30PM
Ellen Browning Scripps provided funds to build this two-story, Craftsman-style, redwood bungalow as a home for the institution’s director. The Ritters moved into it in December 1913, and made it their home until Dr. Ritter’s retirement in 1923. Subsequent directors T. Wayland Vaughan and Harald U. Sverdrup and their families occupied the house through 1948. The house was converted to office space in 1954 and today provides space for a faculty lounge and visiting scientists. It recently underwent a historic renovation.
ECKHART BUILDING
8755 Biological Grade
SAT 12PM – 3PM
Named for Carl Henry Eckart, director of Scripps from 1948-1950, this three-story reinforced concrete building served for 37 years as the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Library and Archives. In 2012 the collections and services were consolidated into Geisel Library on the main UCSD campus. The Eckart building is currently occupied by the graduate, undergraduate, and master of advanced studies programs, and Scripps Information Technology offices.
Liebhardt & Watson, 1975
IGPP MUNK LABORATORY
8800 Biological Grade
SAT 11:30AM – 2PM
Dance performance at 12PM & 1PM
Scripps scientist Walter Munk, and his wife, architect Judith Horton Munk, worked with Lloyd Ruocco, one of San Diego most renowned architects, in designing this iconic redwood and glass structure perched on a coastal bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The laboratory has supported decades of important geophysical research, including projects such as the global network of seismometers that measures earth movements throughout the world. It is also beloved and appreciated today for its mid-century modern style and surrounding historic landscape.
Lloyd Ruocco, 1964
