Naturally, San Francisco has a downtown area, complete with high-rises of all shapes and sizes. City dwellers may get off on this, but my take is that one high-rise is pretty much like any other...

Except for the TransAmerica Pyramid, a truly unique building when it comes to skylines. Situated at the north end of downtown, east of Chinatown, south of North Beach (the Italian) district, and visible from all points of the bay, this building has graced the San Francisco skyline since 1972.

Built to be Stable

Here the Pyramid is seen emerging from behind some more conventional buildings at the northern end of downtown, as seen from Portsmouth square. Right away you see that this building is very different...

An optical illusion brought about by its shape, the Pyramid seems to just go on forever when seen from its base. This shot catches the Pyramid beneath a wintery full moon.

Moonlight and the Pyramid

Scratching the Sky

The unusual shape of the building also causes it to interact with the weather different than regular block-shaped buildings. Here, the tip scratches wisps of fog blowing past it. The air-dam effect of other buildings causes the fog to blow over them. It's almost hypnotic staring up at this...

Probably one of the best places to get a view of the San Francisco skyline is to follow Market street westward, then up along Portola until you come to Twin Peaks. A vista point overlooks the city, and offers an excellent view of the bay as well. Here we see the last few seconds of the setting sun strike the highest towers of Downtown, as well as headlights of traffic on the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge.

Last Moments of Sun on Downtown

Portola view Skyline at Night

Coming back an hour later, we see how the city pushes back the shroud of darkness with all manner of lights. The Bay Bridge is also seen illuminated as well.

This panoramic view of Downtown and the east bay includes a wonderful sunset cloud-show.

Rosy Clouds over The Bay