Time capsule turns Transamerica Pyramid into a portal to the past
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Transamerica Pyramid Center's new time capsule exhibition. Photo: Courtesy of SHVO
The Transamerica Pyramid Center unveiled a new exhibition this week showcasing artifacts from a time capsule buried in 1974.
State of play: It takes people back in time to a window of San Francisco long left behind.
Driving the news: When it opened in 1972, the Transamerica Pyramid was seen as a symbol of the city's growth.
- To commemorate the event, a team put together a time capsule and buried it 6 feet beneath the Pyramid's annex with a plaque instructing it to remain untouched for 50 years.
- Over time, the capsule was forgotten. But in 2024, as the Pyramid finished its first phase of renovation, a tip based on a treasure hunt book and an old map led to its rediscovery.
Zoom in: The 14-by-16-inch steel capsule— contained a range of mementos marking the history that led to the pyramid's development.
- That timeline dates as far back as the Gold Rush, when the site sat along the San Francisco waterfront. It was later occupied by the Montgomery Block, a famous artist enclave.
- Relics of that time include a copy of the book "Ark of Empire: San Francisco's Montgomery Block," by Idwal Jones, and shreds of redwood logs used in the 1850s as an earthquake-proof foundation for the building.
- Other items revolved around the Pyramid's construction, ranging from Polaroids and newspaper clippings to the recipe for Pisco Punch, a signature cocktail invented at the original Bank Exchange Saloon.
Friction point: Not everyone in the 1970s was happy about the Pyramid's radical design, which faced protests and petitions to shut it down.
Flashback: "It was cloak and dagger," said 92-year-old John Krizek, the Transamerica Corp. employee who conceptualized the capsule.
- Because they knew an appeal would be filed as soon as they got permits approved for the project, they intentionally went to City Hall during lunch and hustled the employees into an impromptu groundbreaking ceremony with a signed-off note that's now in the exhibition, Krizek told Axios.
- In the capsule is also a sign with a cartoon of two ancient Egyptians arguing while pyramids are erected behind them. It was dispatched as a counterpoint to a protest against the Pyramid, according to Krizek.
The intrigue: To combat the negative attention, Krizek and his team spent one morning making up little slogans, typing them up and shipping them off to the nearby fortune cookie factory. One such slogan was "People who protest the Pyramid seek cheap publicity."
- "I barely got back a basket of these things in time to pass out at that demonstration," he said. "We turned that whole protest into a party."
What they're saying: Krizek, who now lives in Arizona, had not returned to San Francisco for almost a dozen years prior to the Transamerica Pyramid's reopening last fall.
- "I don't know of a square block in the western United States that reeks with so much history and significance as that piece of ground, and I feel it's important for people to remember that," he added.
What's next: The exhibition opens to the public on Sunday.
