As the first cathedral in the world dedicated in
the new millennium, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los
Angeles, offers a spiritual anchor for the archdiocese of Los Angeles,
the largest and most diverse Roman Catholic archdiocese in the United
States, a reality reflected in the cathedral's mission as well as its
design. Situated along the Hollywood Freeway and located between
Los Angeles's civic and cultural centers, Our Lady of the Angels is a
gateway to the area's religious community and to its civic and cultural
life. The construction of the cathedral began in May 1999 and was
completed in spring 2002. The sale price of the property was
$10,850,000, and the estimated construction cost, some $200 million.
Since opening in September 2002, this contemporary, 11-story cathedral,
which was designed by the Spanish-born architect and professor Jose
Rafael Moneo, has drawn millions of visitors.
Our Lady of the Angels serves its members and the
surrounding community. The archdiocese of Los Angeles alone comprises
three southern California counties--Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and
Ventura. According to statistics from the archdiocesan office, the total
Catholic population for the archdiocese as of January 2005 was over 4.3 million.
The community of Our Lady of the Angels is not only
large, it is also diverse, representing many backgrounds and cultures.
Founded in 1781 by a small group of Hispanic people, Los Angeles has
come to be the home of African Americans, Armenians, Chinese, Filipinos,
Japanese, Koreans, Mexicans, and Poles, among many others. According to
a 2003 government estimate, Los Angeles has a population of more than
3.8 million. It was this diversity that the architect Jose Rafael Moneo
bore in mind when he designed the cathedral. Moneo's own diverse
teaching experience at the Spanish schools of architecture in Barcelona
and Madrid, at Princeton and Harvard universities in the United States,
and later at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, figured into the
mix.
Moneo approached the design of Our Lady of the
Angels using two key theological truths. The first was the light of God
as revealed in salvation history, especially through Jesus Christ. The
second was the pilgrimage toward redemption and the kingdom of God in
heaven. Inspired by the twin themes of light and journey, Moneo chose
Spanish
alabaster for the windows and a slightly inclined ambulatory at the
entrance to the cathedral that encircles its interior and leads to the
nave.
From these foundational principles, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels came to comprise 11 devotional
chapels. The main cathedral includes a set of bronze doors designed
by the Mexican-born Los Angeles sculptor Robert Graham, who also created
the "Olympic Gateway" at the Los Angeles coliseum. The
tapestries in the nave were created by the renowned California
figurative painter John Nava, and the bronze tabernacle and 12 bronze
candleholders are by the sculptor Max DeMoss, known for his bronze work
and for his sculpture for sacred spaces. The
altar was designed by the fourth archbishop of Los Angeles, Roger
Cardinal Mahony, with artisan Louie Carnevale; the life-size bronze
crucifix by the master binder and sculptor Simon Toparovsky; and the
ambry, or holy-oil cabinet, for the cathedral's
baptistery was designed by Jeff Tortorelli, a liturgical artist whose work focuses exclusively on pieces used in community worship spaces.
It was, however, the vision of the architect, whose
work includes the Barcelona Concert Hall (1990) and the museums of
Modern Art and Architecture in Stockholm, Sweden (1994), that was
fundamental. Muneo has said that his biggest challenge in creating the
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels was determining the meaning of a
sacred space for today. Answering that question meant that he had to
address the emblem of Christ--the
cross, a 50-foot (15-meter) concrete lantern-style version of which
adorns the front of the cathedral. At night its glass-protected
alabaster windows are illuminated and can be seen from afar. In a 2002
interview Moneo said, "I like to see the cathedral reduced and
oversimplified to the image of the cross ... The cross connects with the
city. It is the symbolic element that is so important and so
determinant in this faith."
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