On Saturday, I was feeling a bit home sick, although I don't exactly know what "home" is these days. I think a quote from the movie Garden State sums it up best:
Andrew: You know that point in your life when you realize the house you grew up in isn't really your home anymore? All of a sudden even though you have some place where you put your shit, that idea of home is gone.
Sam: I still feel at home in my house.
Andrew : You'll see one day when you move out it just sort of happens one day and it's gone. You feel like you can never get it back. It's like you feel homesick for a place that doesn't even exist. Maybe it's like this rite of passage, you know. You won't ever have this feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, you know, for your kids, for the family you start, it's like a cycle or something. I don't know, but I miss the idea of it, you know. Maybe that's all family really is. A group of people that miss the same imaginary place.
Today was epic. My roommate and I set out to attend the 1pm tour at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels (2002), designed by Rafael Moneo. When we got there, we unfortunately learned that there was a funeral going on, so there was no tour for the day. We found out that the funeral was for Dino De Laurentiis (who I didn't know of and didn't know had died because I've been out of the news loop due to work) who was an Italian film producer, behind several of Hollywood's most successful movies. The only connection I know is his grand daughter, Giada De Laurentiis, who hosts a show on the Food Network. So my roommate and I walked around the exterior, wishing we could see the interior. At one point, we just sat on a bench, watching all these powerful Hollywood folk walk by us. We noticed that everyone was in black and red, which we guessed and later found out was requested by De Laurentiis. |
| Governator |
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| David Lynch |
As I was sitting there, listening to the kind of man that Dino was, I couldn't help but reflect on my own life. He seemed like an amazing man, full of energy and ambition. Even at age 91, he kept plowing through life, not letting anything get in his way.
Afterward, my roommate and I explored and photographed the interior. The cathedral is beautiful; the use of materials, the filtration of light, the geometries... all of it was just breath-taking. When we got down to the mausoleum, I was a little less impressed. It felt a little corporate and out of place. But, I did find Gregory Peck's columbarium down there.  |
| Bradbury Building |
When we finished examining the cathedral, we headed over to Broadway to find the Bradbury Building. I didn't know much about the building other than its appearances in a few movies. From the outside, it doesn't look like much. It actually reminded me of the Monadnock building in Chicago. I was pleasantly surprised when I entered; it was like stepping back in time. It was just gorgeous. The detail, the look, the feel... it was awesome. It even had the old cage elevators that are manually operated.  |
| Grand Central Market |
Across the street, I saw the Million Dollar Theater (one of the first theaters built in America) and then walked through the Grand Central Market where I bought a smoothie. On the other side of the market, we noticed the Angels Flight Railway, which is the shortest railway in America that shuttles people up and down a steep 298 feet hill. For a quarter each, we rode the railway up and then
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| Angels Flight Railway |
Our last stop of the day was the Central Los Angeles Area High School #9 by Coop Himmelblau. Sadly, I wasn't very impressed. It's definitely different than usual high schools, and I love the fact that there's so much outdoor space, but I didn't like the symbolic tower that didn't serve much of a purpose other than a visual signal. It looked as if it were trying to become a Morphosis building but didn't work out. I was also confused about the swirl/ramp which I just researched and found out it is supposed to look like the number "9." I don't know; I left with a feeling of "ehhh."To avoid driving home in LA rush hour (which is an absolute nightmare), we ended up having dinner in Chinatown before concluding our day of epic adventures. More tomorrow!
Great posting...I can't believe you were at the funeral of Dino D. definitely a great LA story. FYI the bronze virgin mary sculpture at the entrance is by Robert Graham. He also did the bronze sculptures for the LA olympics at the USC football stadium. I love his work. He also used to live near you in Venice. He died and his wife actress Angelica Huston put their Venice House up for sale this summer for $18million you might want to check it out near Windward St. below is a link.
ReplyDeletehttp://la.curbed.com/archives/2010/05/angelica_houston_lists_her_famous_venice_fortress.php
I also have an LA Cathedral story. When I was living in LA in 2004 I was with Florian who was just 1 year old. Unlike his older sister he did not like being strapped in his stroller looking at architecture or museums for the most part. One day I set out to visit Disney Hall and The Cathedral for the first time for me and I had Florian. It was hot and he was just in no mood for looking at buildings. I was getting very frustrated and basically double strapped him in the stroller told him to stop the whining and started wheeling him around downtown LA. He was really out of sorts by the time we reached the Cathedral. I took him out of the stroller and I was carrying him around as he was squirming in my arms--thinking to myself I can't believe I'm stuck with a 1 year old and I just want to see this damn building. We walk into the Cathedral and once he saw the main space he just STOPPED moving. I put him down to walk around and he did not make a sound and just slowly walked around and looked up. We were the only ones in the Cathedral at the time. But I always think of that time as the power of architecture even for a small non-verbal person. The space just speaks to those qualities of a great building.
We are not religious but for Xmas that year we went to the early mass just to experience the building with people in it. Florian had his Santa Claus suit on (from my sister not me!). He was published in the LA Times in his santa suit looking at the Creche outside the cathedral.
the bradbury building is so neat! it is so cool you are seeing all these celebrities!! even if it is... during a funeral. i liked the thing you wrote about home, and i agree with what you said about malls! basically this comment has no real insight but i liked your post and it sounds like you're having lots of fun when you're not working :) today in class we talked about frank gehry and a lot of the stuff we talked about was around where you are and i thought about you :) hope you're having an awesome day!
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