Inside The Botanical Building In Balboa Park

by NL Galbraith

Title

Inside The Botanical Building In Balboa Park

Artist

NL Galbraith

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

The Botanical Building in Balboa Park was built in 1915 for the Panama-California Exhibition which celebrated the 1914 opening of the Panama Canal. Bertram Goodhue built it after making changes to the original plans done by Carlton Winslow. This lath house was built to provide shade for some of the subtropical plants that would be inside this structure while accentuating an open air theme which reflected San Diego’s wonderful year round weather. It is one of the largest lath houses in the world with Its dimensions of 250 feet long by 75 feet wide by 60 feet tall, which had deviated from its original plan of 600 feet square by 100 feet high in a Spanish Renaissance style. Known as the “Lath Palace,” it was constructed of redwood lath with arches and a central dome or cupola with extensions on both ends (one extension is shown here), has about 2,100 plants and trees inside, along with some benches to sit and take in all the beautiful light streaming through the lath planks and onto the plants. As sunlight filters through the intricate latticework of the Botanical Building, it casts intricate patterns and shadows on the walls and plants below.
(information from https://balboaparkbotanical.org and from https://sandiegohistory.org/archives/amero/botanical/ written by Richard Amero)

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February 1st, 2025

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