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Mar.6,2005 -Mar.13,2005 |
A timeless sanctuary for worship
Acclaimed Spanish architect has created a landmark church in Los Angeles
By Mark Curtis
Originally Published: 2005-02-27
If religious faith is a mystery that's revealed to individuals over time, then the new cathedral of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is an apt metaphor for spiritual journey.
Designed by internationally respected Spanish architect Jose Rafael Moneo and officially dedicated just over two years ago, the new Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels is a building that presents a challenging counterpoint to the outsider's perception that California culture is about the here and now. The cathedral site can't deny this - it overlooks the fabled Hollywood Freeway, and Frank Gehry's appropriately playful Walt Disney Hall is also nearby. But the cathedral, of course, has another story to tell.
The cathedral's massive, sand-coloured, concrete façade on downtown Temple Street may seem uninviting to some, but the design highlights the fact that this is a building like no other in the centre of the sprawling metropolis. Like faith, it challenges one to discover complexities that ultimately can yield simple truths. The main entrance is not grand in its positioning - it's more like a side-door entrance. Once inside, though, the story begins to unfold. A gently inclining south hallway reveals a series of 10 interior chapels that are divided by shafts of light emanating from the still-obscured nave. One finally rounds a bend from the long hallway, and the grandeur of the naturally illuminated nave immediately becomes apparent. A 104-foot-high, cedarwood ceiling crowns the main worship space, which features a concrete cross lit by a large, Spanish alabaster-screened window; a six-ton, red-granite altar; polished-concrete walls; a polished-limestone floor; and seating for 3,000.
"A cathedral today has to speak more about enabling individuals to feel solitude vis-à-vis the presence of God, while at the same time providing conditions for them to feel solidarity with other human beings," says Moneo, whose firm partnered with Leo A. Daly Architects of Los Angeles on the project. The 68-year-old, Madrid-based architect earned his profession's most prestigious honour - the Pritzker Prize - in 1996. Along with his built work in his native Spain and the United States, the architect has held many academic positions, including a six-year stint as the head of Harvard's school of architecture. One of his best-known works is the National Museum of Roman Art in Merida, Spain. Moneo's sensitively designed museum is sited by the ruins of an ancient Roman settlement. The architect says study in Rome during his 20s was "fundamental to my career. To gain a knowledge of that great city produced a great impact in my education as an architect."
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