Oakland

Hey all, James here... I'm going to try contributing occasionally to the blog, so here goes: I had the chance to run into Oakland last Monday for a little exploration and architectural sight-seeing. My brother-in-law Chuck came along, and we started with lunch at Hawker Fare, an up and coming thai restaurant near downtown Oakland. It was great food with a fun, vibrant atmosphere. After lunch we headed down to the Cathedral of Christ the Light, which has been on my architectural radar for a while now. It was designed by Craig Hartman, a principal at SOM's San Francisco office. The cathedral was really interesting, and definitely challenged my notion of what a cathedral is or does, much to the same affect as the cathedral I visited with Caitlin in LA. The interior of the cathedral was very interesting, and would have felt very busy if not for the subdued material choices. On a side note, the white angular panels in the ceiling and the screen that Christ's silhouette is punched into where all made by a company in Utah. The Mausoleum was probably the coolest area, and had some great lighting and material use. I also found the nearest skyscraper to be quite interesting, but I supposedly can't take any pictures of it, which I did anyways. We also walked down to the Museum of California, but it was closed, so I wasn't able to check out the inside. I've also posted a picture of some really cool brick that I found near Chinatown.