Architectural Tour: Cathedral of Christ the Light

The City of Oakland's Cathedral of Christ the Light will resonate as a place of worship and instill a sense of solace, spiritual renewal and respite from the secular world - it will be a sanctuary in the broadest sense of the word. Comprised of a 1,500-seat sanctuary with side chapels, a baptistery and dependencies, the Cathedral will honor its religious and civic obligations to both the Catholic Diocese and the City.

With a building form based on an inner wooden vessel contained within a veil of glass - both of which are anchored on a sculptural concrete "Reliquary Wall" - the design is meant to convey an inclusive statement of welcome and openness as the community's symbolic soul.

Craig W. Hartman, FAIA, is partner in charge of design for the San Francisco office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP. His work in the United States, Europe, and Asia ranges from entire urban districts to singular works of commercial, civic, and cultural architecture and is consistently sympathetic to issues of contemporary place and time as well as the sustainability of urban and natural ecologies.

Hartman's projects, such as Oakland's Cathedral of Christ the Light, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, Harvard University's Northwest Science Center and San Francisco's International Terminal, St. Regis Museum Tower, 101 Second Street and Treasure Island have been frequently included in international publications and exhibitions. His work has been recognized with over 60 awards for design which, in addition to a Gold LEED Certification, includes American Institute of Architecture awards for environmental sustainability at Treasure Island and the University of California, Merced. He has been an invited critic and visiting faculty member at several schools of architecture, and lectures internationally.

In 2001, he became the youngest recipient of the Maybeck Award, an award presented periodically by the California Chapter of the AIA to an individual in recognition of "lifetime achievement in architectural design."

Tue, May 20, 2008 6:00 pm

Tour of the Cathedral of Christ the LightPlace: Grand Ave at Lake Merritt Tour guide: Craig Hartman FULLY SUBSCRIBED!