For this writer, Los Angeles has always seemed like one of the most architec-turally impoverished cities in the world. At initial glance, it looks like nothing but a network of freeways, avenues and boulevards lined with unimaginative, horizontally-challenged buildings. LA has so much space that it hardly developed vertically like New York, except of course in the downtown business area. Most of its structures are of the simple ground floor variety, usually never more than two floors.
The typical architecture in LA is very utilitarian. The buildings are mostly of the business rental type, and the rest are built for residential housing and hotels, huge movie and television production barns, or entertainment theme parks like Disneyland and Universal Studios. A closer look at some of LA’s old buildings reveals interesting Art Deco detailing that echo the glory of Hollywood in the golden ’30s and ’40s.
Two imposing new buildings have gone up in the last two years that have added a much-needed shot in the arm to enhance and revitalize LA’s architecture. One is the massive Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels (better known to Filipinos as the site of national jewel Lea Salonga’s wedding early this year), and the stunning Walt Disney Concert Hall at the Music Center of Los Angeles County.
The cathedral is located on a 5 1/2-acre rolling terrain along Temple St. between Grand Avenue and Hill St., bounded by the 101 Hollywood Freeway. You may enter the cathedral grounds from South Grand Avenue through the campanile that houses 37 bells of different sizes and pitches, or from the car park at street level. You walk up the 2 1/2-acre Main Plaza which is very restrainedly landscaped with season plants and water jet fountains.
The moving spirit behind the conceptualization and completion of the cathedral is the dynamic Cardinal Roger Michael Mahony. The project was designed by Pritzker Architecture Prize winning Spanish architect, Professor José Rafael Moneo. Inspired by early California missions, Moneo used severe intersection of lines and planes to emphasize the massiveness and power of the church.
Entrance to the cathedral is via the huge Bronze Doors, each weighing 25,000 lbs. Designed by the Mexican-born Los Angeles sculptor, Robert Graham, they took nearly five years to make with the help of some 150 artists. Above the doors is an eight-foot image of the Virgin Mary portrayed as a confident woman sans the traditional veil, with the strong hands of a worker. Her thick, braided hair is reminiscent of Native American and Hispanic women. Her eyes, lips and nose are a combination of Asian, African and Caucasian features representing the multi-racial population of LA.
Unlike usual places of worship where you enter through the backdoor with the rear pews greeting you, entrance to the cathedral is through the ambulatory that surrounds the interior of the cathedral. At the end of the south ambulatory is a 17th century polychrome, gilded, black walnut, Spanish Baroque retablo. The ornate woodwork with its crucifix surrounded by saints and spiral columns can be traced back to 1687 from Ezcaray, Spain and is representative of the grandeur and majestic history of the church.
The cathedral’s 300-foot nave is the central gathering place for the faithful. Fixed seating allows for 1,900 people and an additional 1,100 in moveable seating. No pillars block the vision from any point in the nave, encouraging the full and active participation of all in the liturgy.
To the right of the altar is the grand pipe organ, rising 85 feet and stretching 28 feet across. It is encased in precious cherry wood which is also used for the pews and other structural woodwork in the cathedral. Under the organ is the choir area and to the left of the altar is the Presbyterium, a bigger space to accommodate priests and choral groups like The Los Angeles Master Chorale and Philharmonic Orchestra during High Mass.
Architect and Prof. José Rafael Moneo chose natural light to flood the cathedral. The cathedral faces east, the direction of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and the rising sun. Sunlight enters the cathedral through a stunning 27,000 square feet of Spanish alabaster, the largest installation of alabaster windows in the world, painting a constantly changing palette of ethereal light. This blankets the cathedral interior with a very spiritual, warm, even, milky white glow.
Through an international design competition held in 1988, architect Frank Gehry, a long-time resident of Los Angeles and winner of the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1989, was selected to create the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Gehry’s free-spirited design and innovative use of shapes and materials have earned him worldwide fame as one of the world’s brightest architects.
Anyone passing Grand Avenue and its adjacent streets could not help but be intrigued by the shiny structure that looks more like a piece of sculpture than a building. Its dramatically curved exterior is clad in 22 million pounds of primary steel joined from 12,500 individual pieces that range from 13 inches to 110 feet long. They say that no two pieces are alike and some weigh as much as 165,000 pounds.
In contrast to the metallic exterior, the interiors of the Walt Disney Concert Hall are filled with the comforting warmth of Douglas Fir wood featured on floors, walls and ceilings. The undulating curves of the exterior are echoed in the structural posts and curving lobbies. A modern art and bookshop can be found on the inner main lobby.
The concert hall was envisioned to have an acoustical quality intended to surpass the best concert halls in the world. Architect Gehry collaborated with world-renowned acoustics expert Yasuhisa Toyota from Nagata Acoustics and used the sail-like curves of the ceiling and the flow of the interior walls to excite the acoustics by scattering the sound, producing more reflections. Thorough testing, tuning and experimentation with full-scale models resulted in an extraordinary hall with a warm sound of exceptional clarity and resonance.
Walt Disney Concert Hall encompasses two outdoor amphitheaters, including the Keck Children’s Amphitheatre and a second performing space as well as an area for pre-concert events. The Walt Disney Concert Hall is the home of The Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Master Chorale.