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For better or worse, Los Angeles has been viewed as the model of a truly suburban city. New growth has always been targeted for the undeveloped edges of the sprawling metropolis. But recently, thanks to a resistance to longer and longer commutes and an increase in the cost of surrounding land, the eyes of architects and developers have turned toward L.A.'s core. The result: a spate of new construction inside the city boundaries. An even more startling break from tradition is a boom in the artful rehabilitation of existing structures. Both trends highlight L.A.'s sophisticated design consciousness and may soon turn the city into a denser urban environment.
The change is most evident downtown. For years, the urban core, ringed by freeways, was more likely to be driven past than visited. Soon, thanks to major new public buildings, downtown Los Angeles may resemble cities that came of age in the 19th century and may draw a wide swath of residents to its cultural and civic attractions.
Pritzker row
In two years' time, a stroll along Grand Avenue will take pedestrians past buildings designed by three Pritzker Prize winners: Jose Rafael Moneo, Frank Gehry, FAIA, and Arata Isozaki. At the eastern end of Grand, abutting Freeway 101, cranes tower over the 5.6-acre site of Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral. This $163 million project--designed by Moneo with Leo A. Daly as executive architect--will be the major place of worship for a growing archdiocese.
The design involves immense volumes, and the architects are banking on the adobe tones of concrete and the bright California light to make the cathedral warm, even embraceable. The base of each section of exterior wall juts out, and the cathedral's green roof, tilted at many angles, furthers the impression of complexity. Inside, two huge wall screens and over 20 windows lined with alabaster will spill soft light off the buttresses and into the 3,000-seat nave.
The client, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, insisted that the cathedral have a 500-year life span--an unpredictable goal because, as project architect Hayden Salter notes, ``We're using a material that's only been around for 100 years.'' The architects added a waterless moat around the cathedral to act as air space: The 58,000-square-foot building, resting on more...