[7] Conceived to evoke a decaying ruin of ancient Rome,[1] the Palace of Fine Arts became one of San Francisco's most recognizable landmarks.

He took his inspiration from Roman and Ancient Greek architecture[10] (specifically Piranesi's etching of the remnants of the so-called Temple of Minerva Medica in Rome), and also from Böcklin's symbolism painting Isle of the Dead.

At the end of the war, when the United Nations was created in San Francisco, limousines used by the world's statesmen came from a motor pool there.

Originally intended to only stand for the duration of the Exhibition, the colonnade and rotunda were not built of durable materials, and thus framed in wood and then covered with staff, a mixture of plaster and burlap-type fiber.

[16] In April 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, plans were announced to convert the Palace of Fine Arts into a temporary shelter for 162 homeless people.

[17] Built around a small artificial lagoon, the Palace of Fine Arts is composed of a wide, 1,100 ft (340 m) pergola around a central rotunda situated by the water.

[18] The lagoon was intended to echo those found in classical settings in Europe, where the expanse of water provides a mirror surface to reflect the grand buildings and an undisturbed vista to appreciate them from a distance.

Ornamentation includes Bruno Zimm's three repeating panels around the entablature of the rotunda, representing "The Struggle for the Beautiful", symbolizing Greek culture.

[19] While Ulric Ellerhusen supplied the weeping women atop the colonnade[20] and the sculptured frieze and allegorical figures representing Contemplation, Wonderment, and Meditation.

[citation needed] Lucasfilm headquarters was constructed near the Palace of Fine Arts, which has been noted for its similarity to the city of Theed on Naboo as it appears in the film Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999).