The rounding sweep of portico and pillar reveals the architectural style of Festival Hall. In the sculpture and decorative friezes, an effect of airiness has been achieved. Through the graceful arches, formed by Ionic columns, one notes the impressive windows, showing the French influence. The cupola, topped by the slender figure of the "Torch-Bearer," gives an inviting charm to the side entrance, considered ornate but in accord with the architectural design of the Palace. The site of Festival Hall is somewhat raised and the slopes that lead down to the Avenue of Palms are in terraces of velvety lawn, broken by wide flights of steps. On either side of the main stairway are two sculptural groups, the "Flower Girl," before which, on one side, is placed an enticing "Pan" and on the other, a shy, girlish figure partially concealed in the shrubbery.
Festival Hall
Mermaid Pool in the Mist
The skillful use of pools in which is secured the charming reflection of palaces and architectural structures, with the softening accompaniment of trees and shrubbery, is one of the pleasant features of the Exposition.
There is enchantment in a foggy day, for one sees as in a dream, lovely vistas of courts, glimpses through consecutive arches, and always the charm of mirroring pools and lagoons, where, should there be no wind, the reflected image makes as perfect a picture as the mist-enshrouded original.
Palace of Horticulture
The Dome and East Entrance
The huge dome, constructed almost entirely of glass, upon a framework of steel, is the prominent feature of the Palace of Horticulture. It is French Renaissance, influenced by Byzantine, and its proportions (it is one hundred and fifty-two feet in diameter and one hundred and eighty-two feet high) are almost perfect. The spires and porticos, the colonnades and entrances are replete with rococo decorations. There are garlands of girls used in the friezes at the base of the minarets, caryatides repeated in the vestibules, and everywhere a wealth of ornamentation suggestive of a bountiful harvest. The brilliancy of design is heightened by the color scheme of green and ivory used upon the lattice work and travertine material. Messrs. Bakewell and Brown of San Francisco are the architects.
Palace of Horticulture
Dome and Spires by Night
At night, when the powerful searchlights within the dome are played upon the translucent glass, the effect is magical, the reflections weirdly changing in color and shape. The rich details of the decorations are softened in the night light. The slender shafts of the obelisks accentuate the vast proportions of the dome. Even the rare color combinations, which add so much to the appearance of the Palace of Horticulture by day, are scarcely dimmed beneath the artificial lighting. Minarets and sculptured friezes and the floral designs so abundantly used in the decoration are seen in fairy-like grace.
Of this beautiful building Mr. Edwin Markham has written: "I looked at the dome of the Palace of Horticulture and saw strange colors at play within its dark green depths. Circles and clefts of blue and red and green shifted, faded and returned like hues within a fiery and living opal. It was the workshop of a maker of moons, who cast his globes aloft in trial flights."
Palace of Horticulture
The Colonnade on the East