Saving a city

I'm going to post some of the many e-mails I've been getting about Sunday's articles in Forum and A&E. The articles dealt with finding a vision and a identity for our core city through arts, culture and entertainment.

It got me thinking about LA, where I was on vacation last weekend, and how that city is trying to revive its downtown with a massive development project, including a small arts district (pictured) that includes two performance halls, a theater and MOCA -- the Museum of Contemporary Art. Don't get me wrong -- I think it will all be spectacular when it's done. But at the moment, people still drive downtown, park to see a show, and leave -- just like Cincinnati. The town was virtually, except for a marathon, abandoned over the weekend.

The Grand Ave. project, a mixed-use project of condos, a hotel, and presumably other things too, at $1.8 billion and rising, is anchored by Walt Disney Concert Hall. It's all designed by architect-of-the-moment, Frank Gehry.

Last Sunday, because Walt Disney Hall was right next door to the opera house, I took a tour of the gorgeous new home of the LA Philharmonic, led by Esa-Pekka Salonen (FOP -- friend of Paavo). Anyone may call and reserve a tour for $15.

(Our tour guide named Joanne said her daughter, an architect, had worked on Paul Brown Stadium. Small world!)

Now that Music Hall is likely to get some updating, it was interesting to see what you get if you have $274 million and change.

The new hall replaced the 1964-era Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, were the LA Phil played for 40 years. It all started with a $50 million gift from Walt Disney's widow, Lillian, in 1987. (Sadly, she didn't live to see it completed.)

One enters past the sweeping sheets of stainless steel exterior (a Gehry trademark) into a lobby with a high atrium, surrounded by fluid shapes, curved walls, lots of glass, travertine stone floors and warm douglas fir wood. On the main floor, there's a beautiful gift shop and a coffee shop that is open daily to the public. One is surrounded by "Gehry trees" -- interior posts that look like trees that help support the building.

The building has incredible nooks and crannies through several levels, yet there is a great feeling of spaciousness throughout. In one nook there was a gallery with a changing exhibit. In another, a jazz concert was going on, and it resounded through the entire building.

The auditorium is a wonderful theater-in-the-round, where audience members can sit BEHIND the orchestra, if they want to see the conductor's face. With 2,265 seats, it is reportedly a fine acoustical environment (unfortunately, the orchestra was on vacation, so I didn't get to hear it). The designers tried to emulate the Philharmonie in Berlin, with the same kind of "vineyard" seating. The LA Phil chose its acoustician after performing in Suntory Hall in Tokyo, designed by Nagata Acoustics.

The organ builder (Manuel Rosales ) collaborated with Gehry in the design for the organ pipes (6,134 pipes, fabricated in Germany). The wooden pipes are functional, and Gehry found his inspiration for them in a box of French fries!

We walked around the outside, where on the roof, there is a built-in system to clean the stainless steel. The back has a little patio with a children's amphitheater.

You can look out over one of the rooftops to see the new Grand Ave. project that is about to break ground. For more info, visit the links in this blog.