The Cathedral of Christ the Light

The Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland, California, completed in 2008, examines the meaning of a cathedral at the dawn of the third millennium and its implications for sacred space and architectural form. Designed by Craig W. Hartman of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP , it combines ancient geometries drawn from nature and early Christian metaphors with the most contemporary methods of computational design to create a luminous, welcoming structure for its multicultural, Pacific Rim city. Since its completion, the Cathedral of Christ the Light has attracted international acclaim for its architecture, its relationship between urban and natural ecologies, and the reimagining of sacred space for contemporary society. The architecture is a study in light. The Christian symbol of the fish is embedded in its geometries and its innovative structure of glass, wood, and concrete. A glazed, bivalve exterior envelops the building, while a veil of fritted glass diffuses light and solar heat. Inside, an oculus in the forty-meter-high vaulted wooden ceiling opens the space to the sky. The aisles, like rays, lead to the rectangular altar. The unique omega window behind the altar was created using a new technology developed specifically for the cathedral: a Romanesque relief from the tympanum of Chartres Cathedral was digitized, after which a laser was used to perforate aluminum panels, rendering an eighteen-meter-tall pixilated image of Christ that is visible only through natural light. This richly illustrated monograph presents the first cathedral to be designed and built entirely in the twenty-first century.