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John Burgee: The Latest Architecture and News

How the Crystal Cathedral Is Adapting for a New Life Out of the Spotlight

When the Crystal Cathedral was constructed near Los Angeles in 1980, its design was pure Hollywood: designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee for televangelist star Robert Schuller, the design combined traditional elements of church design with features that made it suitable for television broadcasts. However, when Crystal Cathedral Ministries filed for bankruptcy in 2010, the building was passed to a very different tenant, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, who then commissioned Los Angeles-based firm Johnson Fain to adapt the building to be a better fit for the Catholic Church.

A recent article by Mimi Zeiger for Architect Magazine investigates how Johnson Fain are converting the 1980 classic into something more suitable for its new life out of the spotlight—including modulating the light within the vast all-glass structure and rearranging the seating.

AD Classics: PPG Place / John Burgee Architects with Philip Johnson

AD Classics: PPG Place / John Burgee Architects with Philip Johnson - Skyscrapers, Facade, Cityscape
via Wikipedia Commons

The design of PPG Place, by Philip Johnson and John Burgee, melds the notion of the modern corporate tower with a neo-gothic monument. Clad in almost a million square feet of glass manufactured by the anchor tenant PPG industries, the architects ingeniously rethought accepted practices in curtain wall design to create "the crown jewel in Pittsburgh's skyline." (1) The 1.57 million square foot complex was one in a series of high profile corporate projects completed during Johnson's controversial foray into postmodernism.

AD Classics: PPG Place / John Burgee Architects with Philip Johnson - Skyscrapers, Facade, Lighting, CityscapeAD Classics: PPG Place / John Burgee Architects with Philip Johnson - Skyscrapers, FacadeAD Classics: PPG Place / John Burgee Architects with Philip Johnson - Skyscrapers, Facade, CityscapeAD Classics: PPG Place / John Burgee Architects with Philip Johnson - SkyscrapersAD Classics: PPG Place / John Burgee Architects with Philip Johnson - More Images+ 28

Architecture City Guide: Los Angeles

Architecture City Guide: Los Angeles - Image 11 of 4

The Architecture City Guide series heads to the West Coast this week. Los Angeles area is huge and it was nearly impossible to narrow down 12 buildings for this weeks list. Here’s what we suggest visiting if you are in LA, but we want to know what additional buildings you think we should add to our list! Visit the comment section and provide your can’t miss buildings in LA.

The Architecture City Guide: Los Angeles list and corresponding map after the break!