miniatures buildings

Miniature buildings at San Francisco Int’l Airport

Here’s a great reason to hope – or plan – for a long layover at San Francisco International Airport: there’s an exhibition featuring more than sixty miniatures of columns, obelisks, arches, cathedrals and historic European structures on loan from the incredible collection of Ace Architects.

Eiffel Tower miniature

Eiffel Tower, Paris (clock) c. 1887
France/Collection of Ace Architects

“Some of the objects document buildings as they existed only at a particular time in history, while others depict structures that no longer exist.  Some are not true souvenirs, but were made singularly as project proposals or elaborate gifts.  All the miniatures, however, convey the architectural essence of the buildings they represent.  The objects also suggest the range of structures considered important to those nineteenth-century travelers to Europe wishing to return with a symbol of their cultural inheritance.”

Arc de Triompe ace architects

Arc de Triomphe, Paris (box) c.1870
France, Collection of Ace Architects

Grand Miniatures 19 th Century Souvenir Buildings from the Collection of Ace Architects is on view in the International Terminal Main Hall through May 22, 2011. The exhibition is pre-security on view 24-hours a day.

If you can’t make it to the airport before then or just want to learn more about this incredible collection, here’s a link to the exquisite catalog for the show. 

Pantheon Rome Ace Architects


Pantheon, Rome (double inkwell) c. 1870
Italy, Collection of Ace Architects