Kevin
Matt BlazeAT&T Long Lines "Oak Hill" Tower, San Jose, CA. 2021.
All the pixels, delivered station-to-station, or, for a small additional charge, person-to-person, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/51261791084
Captured with the Rodenstock 50mm/4.0 HR Digaron-W lens (@ f/4.5) on a Cambo WRS-1600 camera (with about 15mm of vertical shift to preserve the geometry), the Phase One IQ4-150 back (@ ISO 50) in dual exposure mode (which preserves a couple stops of additional dynamic range into the shadows).
The tower's shape is irregular; it tapers slightly.
The wide angle and panoramic orientation give a bit of context, alone on a hill (which is being rapidly encroached by adjacent residential development).
For much of the 20th century, the backbone of the AT&T "Long Lines" long distance telephone network consisted primarily of terrestrial microwave links (rather than copper or fiber cables). Towers with distinctive KS-15676 "horn" antennas could be seen on hilltops and atop switching center buildings across the US; they were simply part of the American landscape.
Most of the relay towers were simple steel structures. This brutalist concrete platform in San Jose was, I believe, of a unique design.
The San Jose Oak Hill Tower is unique in a number of ways. This particular concrete brutalist design appears not to have been exactly replicated elsewhere; it was site-specific. It sits atop an underground switching center (that was partly used for a military contract), which explains the relatively hardened design.
Today the underground switch is still there, owned by AT&T, but the tower space is leased to land mobile and cellular providers. The old horn antennas at top are disconnected
With a few exceptions (mostly towers atop downtown switching offices in populated areas), no one was trying to make any of this utilitarian communications infrastructure beautiful. It was form strictly following function, built to be reliable and rugged.
But there was, I think, quite a bit of beauty to find in it. Perhaps we'll look at our current neighborhood cellular towers, now often regarded as visual blight, the same way decades after they're (inevitably) gone.
Infrastructure is heroic.
Karl Auerbach@mattblaze In my mind one of the most interesting comparisons is that of the Golden Gate bridge as built versus what was originally proposed.
Both designs were "functional". But the original design by Strauss was a visual disaster while the as-built by Charles Ellis is a world-class gem. (Strauss was so jealous of Ellis that Ellis name was not to be found on the name plaque on the south tower - I don't know if his name was ever added later.)
Below is the original design, yuck. And we all know what was built.
https://www.goldengate.org/assets/1/6/ggb-exhibit3-1_2-2.jpg
@karlauerbach Looks almost like a drawbridge!
@mattblaze Strauss had only designed short drawbridges before taking on the Golden Gate. There are a couple of Strauss designed drawbridges over China Basin near the SF. baseball park, such as the one below...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lefty_O%27Doul_Bridge
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lefty_O%27Doul_Bridge#/media/File:Lefty_O'Doul_Bridge.jpg
Tim Panton@mattblaze these folks agree, https://atomteller.de they make faux willow pattern plates with closed German nuclear power stations in place of windmills. I bought a couple. ( plates not power stations!)
a HOT Rubie @mattblaze When I was a kid I thought this belonged to the county communications center because that is what I had heard. I saw it every single day from the lower east foothills. I never got close enough to see it in detail until highway 87 opened.
@hotarubiko That's on the same hill (and still there), but about a quarter mile away.
~n@mattblaze I’ve seen (and enjoyed) this picture multiple times now and only today did I realize what it reminds me of. Bell towers of modern (european?) church architecture. Especially with that four-sided cross-shaped structure… it looks less like purely functional radio infrastructure than a modern bell tower.
@nblr Yeah, I can totally see that now that you mention it.
@mattblaze There was always something feeling off - couldn’t put my finger on it. But now I know… It’s a category mismatch. “This one does not look like the others”
Recovered Expert@nblr @mattblaze Amazing! I had such a fuzzy “puzzled” feeling with that picture. I’m sure i wouldn’t have noticed that similarity myself, but now that I’ve seen your post I’m like… damn, it’s *so* obvious once you know.