UN Plaza

San Francisco’s United Nations Plaza, located on Market Street at the eastern edge of the city’s Civic Center complex. The Plaza is the gateway to City Hall, and at night offers one of the best views of City Hall and Civic Center Plaza.

UN Plaza is named after the United Nations, whose charter was signed in San Francisco. Fulton Street at Hyde Streets were closed to create this 2.5-acre pedestrian space in the 70s as a part of the Market Street Reconstruction Project which coincided with building of the Market Street BART stations in San Francisco.

The red brick plaza was designed by local legend, Lawrence Halprin, with architects Mario Ciampi and Associates, and John Carl Warnecke and Associates.

Features on the Plaza include columns bearing the names of the United Nations member countries; a statue of Simón Bolívar, considered by many to be a hero, visionary, revolutionary, and liberator in Hispanic-America; and a sunken fountain.

The plaza is neighbored by City Hall, the War Memorial Opera House, Asian Art Museum, Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, and the Main Branch of the San Francisco Public Library, in addition to many other destinations.

Both BART and MUNI are accessible via the underground station at the Plaza, the F-Line and Citibike can both be found above ground at the Plaza.

Sources: Wikipedia, SF Recreation and Parks Department, and The Cultural Landscape Foundation