Disney's New Concert Hall by Frank Gehry

Disneys New Concert Hall by Frank Gehry
Walt Disney Concert Hall with 16 years and $274 million in the making, the building already is heralded as a rare design landmark and a symbol of Los Angeles' aspirations.

The architect is Frank Gehry, a Santa Monica resident whose gravity- defying work has changed people's notions of what buildings can do.

The local power brokers who raised money for this new home for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, meanwhile, see it as a chance to prove that the land of sun and sitcoms is a center of serious culture - and centered on a "real" downtown.

Wonder of wonders, it almost lives up to the hype.

The future of architecture isn't wrapped inside Gehry's coiled waves of stainless steel; nor is the project without flaws in both the design and execution.

And even if it does become "an unbelievable tourist attraction," as one politician promised the crowd at a Friday preview, Disney Hall isn't likely to dislodge the Hollywood sign as the structure that comes to mind when people think of Los Angeles.

But savor what actually exists: a sensuous spectacle to be relished and explored.

Someone who never buys a ticket can discover hidden terraces 70 feet in the air, or lean against the thin steel panels that frame the travertine stairway that sweeps upward from the corner of Grand Avenue and First Street.

Disney Hall offers tri