José Rafael Moneo designed the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, opened in 2002 and among the most ambitious religious buildings raised in America this century. The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels was designed by Spanish architect José Rafael Moneo and opened in 2002, replacing the previous cathedral of Saint Vibiana which was damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The building cost more than two hundred and forty million dollars and seats 3,000 worshippers in a space that feels simultaneously ancient and entirely modern: massive concrete walls that Moneo designed to admit alabaster-filtered light, tapestries by John Nava depicting 135 saints and blessed souls on the long walls of the nave, and an outdoor plaza that is used for public events year-round.
The 25,000-square-foot plaza serves as a public space for the neighborhood, and the cathedral is accessible from the Grand Avenue side by a footbridge over the Hollywood Freeway. The architects designed the entrance deliberately without a cross or traditional religious exterior symbols, intending the building to invite people of all faiths. The bronze doors, 27 feet tall, were designed by sculptor Robert Graham.
Go inside; the interior light is unlike anything else in the city.