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The
Roman
Catholic
Church
has
never
adopted
one
particular
style
of
architecture.
There
has
always
been
a
appreciation
for
the
creative
spirit
indigenous
to
the
local
community.
Founded
in
1781
by
44
Hispanic
people
from
the
San
Gabriel
Mission
area,
the
City
of
Los
Angeles
began
its
history
with
a
distinctive
diversity
of
peoples,
of
cultures,
and
of
languages.
Although
various
sections
of
Los
Angeles
became
populated
with
dominant
ethnic
groups,
Chinese,
Japanese,
Korean,
Mexican,
Armenian,
African
American,
Filipino,
and
Polish,
among
others,
the
Church
chose
to
keep
virtually
all
of
the
parish
communities
territorial,
rather
than
designated
by
ethnicity.
The
challenge
in
designing
and
building
a
new
Cathedral
Church
was
to
make
certain
that
it
reflected
the
diversity
of
all
people.
Rather
than
duplicate
traditional
designs
of
the
Middle
Ages
in
Europe,
the
Cathedral
is
a
new
and
vibrant
expression
of
the
21st
century
Catholic
peoples
of
Los
Angeles.
Just
as
many
European
Cathedrals
are
built
near
rivers,
Moneo
considered
the
Hollywood
Freeway
as
Los
Angeles'
river
of
transportation,
the
connection
of
people
to
each
other.
The
site
is
located
between
the
Civic
Center
and
the
Cultural
Center
of
the
city.
"I
wanted
both
a
public
space,"
said
Moneo,
"and
something
else,
what
it
is
that
people
seek
when
they
go
to
church."
To
the
architect,
the
logic
of
these
two
competing
interests
suggested,
first
of
all,
a
series
of
"buffering,
intermediating
spaces"
--
plazas,
staircases,
colonnades,
and
an
unorthodox
entry.
Worshippers
enter
on
the
south
side,
rather
than
the
center,
of
the
Cathedral
through
a
monumental
set
of
bronze
doors
cast
by
sculptor
Robert
Graham.
The
doors
are
crowned
by
a
completely
contemporary
statue
of
Our
Lady
of
the
Angels.
A
50
foot
concrete
cross
"lantern"
adorns
the
front
of
the
Cathedral.
At
night
its
glass-
protected
alabaster
windows
are
illuminated
and
can
be
seen
at
a
far
distance.
The
151
million
pound
Cathedral
rests
on
198
base
isolators
so
that
it
will
float
up
to
27
inches
during
a
magnitude
8
point
earthquake.
The
design
is
so
geometrically
complex
that
none
of
the
concrete
forms
could
vary
by
more
than
1/16th
of
an
inch.
The
Cathedral
is
built
with
architectural
concrete
in
a
color
reminiscent
of
the
sun-baked
adobe
walls
of
the
California
Missions
and
is
designed
to
last
500
years.
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