Podlipodcast player Webplayer

Bay Curious

Bay Curious

Transamerica Pyramid: From 'Architectural Butchery' to Icon

Bay Curious · Jun 12, 2025 · 21:16

0:0021:16

Listen in the Podli app 🎧

Follow your favourite podcasts, listen offline and in the car with CarPlay and Android Auto, and always pick up where you left off. Free to try.

The Transamerica Pyramid, located in downtown San Francisco, is a skyline staple. But when it was proposed, people hated the idea of a towering symbol of capitalism so close to neighborhoods like North Beach and Chinatown. Turns out the block where the pyramid stands has a long and storied history. We dig into all that, as well as how public perception of the pyramid's place in the skyline has changed over the past 50 years.



Additional Resources:


The Transamerica Pyramid at 50: From 'Architectural Butchery' to Icon

Read the transcript for this episode

Sign up for our newsletter

Enter our Sierra Nevada Brewing Company monthly trivia contest


Got a question you want answered? Ask!


Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts



This story was reported by Carly Severn. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Gabriela Glueck and Christopher Beale. Additional support from Olivia Allen-Price, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Alana Walker, Holly Kernan and everyone on Team KQED.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episodes: Bay Curious

PodliGet the free Podli app
↓ App