INTERIOR SPLENDOR

When compared to other cities around the world, Los Angeles would most likely not rank very high on a list of places to visit beautiful, sacred buildings—that is, until now. What is most striking, especially to residents of Southern California like myself, is not only the realization that Los Angeles is such a rich font of the built sacred environment, but that so many gems are right around the corner. Thankfully, photographer Robert Berger takes us on a visual and written journey across the City of Angels that will leave the reader in awe of the beauty found in so many of her sacred buildings.

A veteran architectural photographer, Berger documented over 300 churches, temples and synagogues for Sacred Spaces: Historic Houses of Worship in the City of Angels eventually selecting 54 for the book, which were all 50 or more years old, and which had special “architectural or historical significance, or were just plain fun to look at.” Those selected represent not only the grand and monumental, but also the humble and vernacular. They are in the wealthiest of neighborhoods, and the poorest. Some are in pristine condition, while others are abandoned. They are houses of worship for Jews, Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists, and Muslims. And they are all fun to look at. With a keen eye for details, as well as artistic composition, Berger offers a well-balanced architectural documentation, in part and in whole, while still capturing the sense of the sacredness experienced if you were to be standing there yourself. While the majority of the book is imagery, each building is coupled with sometimes informational, sometimes factual, sometimes anecdotal histories by noted architectural historian Alfred Willis.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the book is Berger's focus on interiors. All too often this is left untreated, as most architectural visual documentaries focus on exteriors, sometimes not giving any treatment to interiors. While still offering overall exterior views, he uses full page photos of interior shots to describe what the congregation would inevitably be more acquainted with, thus transporting the reader to another place and time. It is hard to imagine, after peeking at just one or two images from this book, that even a non-believer would not want to further explore the depth of beauty found inside any one of these buildings. While hopeful more people will visit these churches, synagogues, and temples, Berger is also fearful of the eventual disappearance of many of these sacred buildings, which is always a possibility in Los Angeles' constantly changing landscape, and thus he provides the ethos of his project.

Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles, founded under the law of the Indies in 1781, was until the 1920s a predominantly Catholic city, at which time it can be described as having become more or less Protestant. Immediately following the Second World War, Los Angeles exploded in population with immigrants from all over the world, especially from the Far East and island countries, who brought with them as many different faiths. Thus Los Angeles began to alter its identity from a generally stable and constant Mexican American outpost, until it became the present-day metropolis, which is ever in a state of flux, and is never the same architecturally or politically for more than a week. Now home to nearly as many faiths as people, Los Angeles cannot be said to have a clearly identifiable architectural "style," as can be said of the historic centers of most other world cities. However, it is this very diversity which allows the sacred architecture of Los Angeles to span a broad spectrum of architectural styles and types. As Sacred Spaces: Historic Houses of Worship in the City of Angels depicts, this diversity is not merely developed through her various sacred buildings, but it is done with vigor, vitality, and beauty, to a degree which any city of any era would be proud to encompass.

Dom Forte is an architect in Santa Barbara, California.

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