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Calatrava proposes a retractable clam shell By Michael S. Rose |
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There's a debate over whether Santiago Calatrava's proposed design for a new Oakland
Cathedral more resembles a clam shell or skeletal remains.
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(OAKLAND, California) — Did you hear the one about the giant clam in Oakland?
I refer to the newest cathedral proposed for the San Francisco Bay area: It looks not like a church, bien sur, but like a giant clam, or perhaps a ribcage or the jaws of whale that open and close.
Yep, it’s designed to be the first cathedral with a retractable roof. No kidding.
Less cynical critics have likened the cathedral’s form with its great upward-arching vertebral seam to “a miter with a hat brim,” or “hands joined in prayer.” The San Francisco Chronicle described the proposed church as “a rib-like armature of painted steel, glass...
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