Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles
In the mid-90s, construction at Walt Disney Concert Hall had come to a halt. Estimated costs of the building had increased to $265 million, well above Lillian Disney’s initial donation of $50 million. At one point, Los Angeles County was close to pulling the plug on the civic project. The building itself was little more than a steel skeleton.
It’s a far cry from the smooth Douglas fir columns and bright stainless steel curves that characterize Walt Disney Concert Hall today. The hall is undisputedly an iconic building. Some would go so far as to call it one of the most recognizable concert halls in the world, thanks to Pritzker Prize-winning architect Frank Gehry. With its sleek, machine-inspired aesthetic working with the warm interior woods and floral patterns, the hall has pushed Los Angeles to the forefront of cultural destinations.
In a short decade, Walt Disney Concert Hall moved from defunct project to a cultural icon. Most people admire it for its architectural highlights, others for the pure sound of the hall itself. But those who know the story of Walt Disney Concert Hall look past what the building is and instead look at what the building means.
A City’s Philanthropy
In retrospect, it’s some kind of miracle that Walt Disney Concert Hall was completed. After near failure, the project picked up momentum again with a few donations from civic leaders such as billionaire Eli Broad and former mayor Richard Riordan. Each contributed $5 million toward the rejuvenation of construction.
Broad, along with former Chairman of the Music Center Andrea Van de Kamp and County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, took the lead in fundraising efforts, drawing in donations from major corporations like Arco and Atlantic Richfield Co.
Catherine Babcock, Vice President of Marketing & Communications at Music Center, sees the donations as a major turning point for the concert hall. “Many of these corporations made the single largest gifts they’ve ever made as corporations to the building of this concert hall,” she said.
More was at stake than just the concert hall. The project was a linchpin in the redevelopment of Downtown LA as a cultural destination. If the hall failed, it would have signalled to the world that Los Angeles couldn’t pull together to support its cultural community.
But with Broad and others at the forefront, donations began pouring in. By the time the deadline for fundraising rolled around, Walt Disney Concert Hall had more than $100 million to complete the ambitious structure.
The Symbol of Los Angeles
Appropriately "Disney," the change in momentum gave the story a magical ending, proving that LA could come together to create a civic icon. It was also a reminder that Grand Avenue was once called Charity Street.
“Ultimately the contributions created an icon that influenced architecture in LA and also philanthropy in Los Angeles,” said Babcock.
There’s no doubt that the concert hall has a lot of heart. People point to Frank Gehry making LA his home, that Walt Disney Concert Hall helped him become a major voice in American architecture, that he worked so closely with Lillian Disney to understand what she wanted for Los Angeles.
Others point to the signatures in the steel beams holding the concert hall together, an imprint of the steel workers during construction.
Others point to the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the unsurpassed acoustic highlights of the concert hall.
And others look at what Downtown LA has become because of this historic building. Music Center showcases three other major cultural venues (The Ahmanson Theater, Mark Taper Forum and Dorothy Chandler Pavilion). Other Downtown cultural attractions include the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels and the Japanese American National Museum. The list goes on.
In the middle of all of this sits Walt Disney Concert Hall, a symbol for Los Angeles and a testament to the cultural force of this city. All it took was 16 years, $274 million, 30,000 architectural drawings, 300 tons of bolts and welds, 12,500 pieces of primary steel — and a whole lot of heart.
