Trains, Boats, Planes

As with other infrastructure, engineers and planers play a significant role in transportation infrastructure. Architects don’t lay the tracks or plan the routes, but they do design the required structures.  Many architects designed railway stations such as Howard’s mission style terminal for the Southern Pacific Railway, one of three lines that ran through Berkeley.  Sadly, most of these stations are gone, but the street configurations and names still reflect their presence. Concurrently, ferries daily transported thousands of commuters around the Bay before the bridges were built. In addition, trains coming from the east stopped in Oakland to transport passengers to San Francisco by ferry.

The Saarinen designed terminal for Dulles airport is perhaps the most famous, but even the smallest airport requires a building for travelers. Ernest Kump’s Modesto Airport terminal resembles in scale and design many mid-century homes.