Cathedral of Christ the Light

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 This Cathedral contains information about a building currently under construction.
It may contain information of a speculative nature, and the content may change dramatically and frequently as construction progresses and new information becomes available.
Cathedral of Christ the Light
Basic information
Location Oakland, California
United States
Geographic coordinates 37°48′38″N 122°15′47″W / 37.810553, -122.263096
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic Church
Province Archdiocese of San Francisco
District Diocese of Oakland
Ecclesiastical status Cathedral
Leadership Bishop of Oakland
Website Cathedral of Christ the Light
Architectural description
Architect(s) Craig W. Hartman, FAIA
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
Architectural style Modern architecture
Late 20th century abstract
General contractor Webcor Builders
Year completed To be completed 2008
Specifications
Materials ceramic frit, concrete, Douglas fir, glass frit, steel

The Cathedral of Christ the Light and also called the Oakland Cathedral, currently under construction, is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland in Oakland, California. It will be the seat of the Bishop of Oakland who will serve as pastor of the cathedral parish. Christ the Light, the first cathedral built in the twenty-first century, replaces the Cathedral of Saint Francis de Sales, irreparably damaged in the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989[1].

Christ the Light, as a larger Cathedral Center, will be composed of the cathedral church, chancery offices of the bishop's curia, diocesean conference center, rectory and priest residence. The mausoleum features twelve crypts reserved for the bishops of Oakland and burial sites available to the members of the diocese. The Cathedral Center will also house a cafe and bookstore, as well as a public plaza and garden[2].

Christ the Light is designed by architect Craig W. Hartman, FAIA of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill[3]. The Catholic Cathedral Corporation of the East Bay, the incorporated owner of the cathedral[4], chose Webcor Builders as the general contractor of cathedral construction[4]. Originally planned in 2000 under the direction of Bishop John Stephen Cummins[5] and broken ground on May 21, 2005[1], Christ the Light will be consecrated and dedicated by Bishop Allen Henry Vigneron on September 25, 2008[6]. On All Souls' Day November 2, the mausoleum will be dedicated and the first Bishop of Oakland, Floyd Lawrence Begin, will be reburied in one of its crypts.

Located on Lake Merritt adjacent to downtown Oakland, at the corner of Grand Avenue and Lakeside Drive, the cathedral will serve as mother church of approximately 530,000 professed Catholics[7] in the Counties of Alameda and Contra Costa[8].

Contents

[edit] Design

The Catholic Cathedral Corporation of the East Bay instituted a design competition for Christ the Light. Various designs were judged and the corporation announced Santiago Calatrava, of Valencia, Spain as the winner. He designed the post-September 11 World Trade Center Port Authority Trans-Hudson station in New York City. Calatrava's design for Christ the Light was chosen before a site was appropriated for the project. By the time a site was chosen, a parking lot formerly dedicated to the construction of the tallest building in Oakland, Calatrava's design fell out of favor and instead replaced by a design of competition runner-up Craig W. Hartman, FAIA of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill offices in San Francisco.

Hartman, designer of the international terminal at San Francisco International Airport, created a 20th century abstract building from the family of styles developed by architects like Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, famous for creating steel shapes filled with glass. Hartman's vision for Christ the Light was likened to the image of a bishop's mitre[9], shaped by steel and filled with glass frit[10].

The worship space in Christ the Light is oval in shape, like that of a loaf of bread. The walls are composed of overlapping panels of wood and glass rising skyward to form the vault, much like the scales of a fish. The design is inspired by the miracle of the loaves and the fishes in Christian tradition, among other motifs[1]. The Oakland Tribune wrote of the Hartman's description of light, "The design allows light to filter in, reminiscent of how light filters through a canopy of tall redwood trees in a wooded glade, Hartman said"[1].

Like the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels which serves the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Christ the Light is built with protective measures against earthquake damage.

[edit] Costs

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Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008)

The Catholic Cathedral Corporation of the East Bay was an outgrowth of a February 2000 meeting of representatives from parishes of the Diocese of Oakland. The summit reached consensus to proceed with the planning of a new cathedral. The newly incorporated Catholic Cathedral Corporation of the East Bay, a non-profit organization independent of the chancery of the Diocese of Oakland, began soliciting donations for its Cathedral Campaign.

Despite considerable support, the Cathedral Campaign gained critics concerned with the chosen modern design and its price-tag for construction, estimated at USD 191 million in donations. There was debate as to whether or not traditional church architecture was more appropriate than Hartman's modern architecture.

Each year Catholics and Catholic organizations contribute over USD 386 million in social services and education to people of all faiths in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties; the cost to build Christ the Light would be equivalent to 7% of that contribution over the seven years of the cathedral design and construction. Suggestions were made to use the donations for other projects instead, like those administered by the diocese to help the poor.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d "Cathedral In The News"
  2. ^ The Cathedral of Christ the Light
  3. ^ Biography, Craig W. Hartman, FAIA
  4. ^ a b Webcor Builders - Current and Recent Projects
  5. ^ The Cathedral of Christ the Light
  6. ^ The Cathedral of Christ the Light
  7. ^ Oakland (Diocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]
  8. ^ Parish Directory
  9. ^ Oakland Cathedral design project - Domiane Forte
  10. ^ The Cathedral of Christ the Light

[edit] External links

 This article or section contains information about expected future buildings or structures.
Some or all of this information may be speculative, and the content may change as building construction begins.