CURVES AND ANGLES TAKING SHAPE AT DISNEY HALL FUTURISTIC STRUCTURE TO BECOME L.A. ICON?

Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer

It's hailed as Los Angeles' brightest flower, its flashiest ship of sail, its keenest architectural triumph - perhaps L.A.'s next cultural icon.

The half-finished Walt Disney Concert Hall, rising skyward to reflect hopes of a downtown cultural awakening, has become the buzz of L.A. as it transforms Bunker Hill.

``We've got a world-class building going up in our midst,'' Arvind Manocha, director of strategic operations for Walt Disney Concert Hall, declared.

``It's going to be the icon of Los Angeles.''

On Friday, the Los Angeles Philharmonic unveiled plans for Los Angeles' glitziest building before the New York press - first stop on a global tour to introduce architect Frank O. Gehry's Disney Hall to elite critics in Paris, London and Berlin.

The day before, the philharmonic splashed its Concert Hall dream on its Web site (laphil.org) without so much as a timpani roll. The site, however, does offer an aural fanfare from ``L.A. Variations.''

Some futurists argue that the hall will define Los Angeles as the Opera House does Sydney, Australia.

Others say the L.A. megalopolis defies definition.

But no one disputes Disney's stage is as breathtaking as its ``Fantasia.''

``It is one of the few buildings one can talk about in extravagant and exciting terms,'' said Michael Collins, executive vice president of the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau. ``When you walk up to it, you say, `Oh, wow,' - guaranteed.

``It not only defies gravity but seems to move ... (like) it's capable of being airborne at a moment's notice.''

Up to 600 workers now toil to construct the 293,000-square-foot structure planned for Grand Avenue and First Street. But there's nothing square about the fourth venue of the Music Center of Los Angeles County.

Its sweeping steel frame, its gleaming stainless cladding, its curves and swooping rooflines guarantee more than a moment's notice.

Begun in December 1999 at an anticipated cost of $274 million, the half- finished hall is expected to welcome 2,273 concertgoers to its curved wooden ``vineyard'' for its October 2003 opening. Audiences will sit around the stage and mammoth pipe organ.

The hall complex, built to house the 83-year-old L.A. Philharmonic, will also feature two outdoor amphitheaters, a multiuse theater and an art gallery operated by California Institute of the Arts.

``If I was the concertgoer, I would be absolutely overwhelmed,'' Manocha said.

``Walt Disney Concert Hall will be home to one of the world's greatest orchestras and the place for the finest symphonic music,'' philharmonic Executive Vice President and Managing Director Deborah Borda stated last week.

``It will be an icon for the city of Los Angeles and a symbol of civic pride.''

The Walt Disney Concert Hall is being built to help revitalize downtown, where new buildings like the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels and Museum of Contemporary Art bring ``grand'' back to Grand Avenue.

The renovated or newly constructed or renovated Colburn School of Performing Arts, Staples Center, Ahmanson Theatre and the Los Angeles Public Library also add luster to a downtown that failed to shine despite many attempts to revive it.

``You have a wonderful collection of buildings there,'' said Mara Marks, associate director for the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University. ``The question is: Will it be coherent - one, big cultural community, or isolated?

``The overall feel is very positive. This is very exciting for the city. The arts are alive in Los Angeles.''

Not everyone, however, thinks Gehry's landmark is destined to become the symbol for Greater Los Angeles.

No City Hall, no Hollywood sign, no Griffith Observatory dome can embody the sprawling neighborhoods surrounded by distant mountains and a string of bikini beaches.

``There's no such thing as L.A., but a statistical metropolitan area defined as L.A.,'' said Pepperdine University economist and cultural critic Charles Van Eaton, a resident of the San Fernando Valley.

``People will say, I live in West Hollywood, East L.A., the Valley. Aside from that, L.A. is an idea. This building is clearly eye-catching, but it will not become an L.A. icon - L.A. is L.A.''

CAPTION(S):

6 photos, map

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Will the Disney Concert Hall, a design - inset, above - by Frank Gehry, become an L.A. architectural icon?

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer

(3 -- color) A workman is dwarfed by the new steel frame that will be wrapped in a curving steel outer skin.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer

(4 -- color) Nearby, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels joins the L.A. skyline.

(5 -- 6 -- color) Even though it's still in the beginnings of construction, the new Disney Concert Hall, right and left, is a mass of curves and angles that will be covered by sheets of stainless steel.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer

Map:

Disney Concert Hall

Dan DeLorenzo/Staff Artist