A molten blend of steel, music and psychedelic architecture, this iconic concert venue is the home base of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, but has also hosted contemporary bands such as Phoenix and classic jazz men like Sonny Rollins. Frank Gehry pulled out all the stops: the building is a gravity-defying sculpture of heaving and billowing stainless-steel.
The auditorium, meanwhile, feels like the inside of a finely crafted cello, clad in walls of smooth Douglas fir with terraced ‘vineyard’ seating wrapped around a central stage. Even seats below the giant pipe organ offer excellent sightlines. Forty-five-minute, free, self-guided audio tours are available most days, and there are guided tours available too, but they won’t let you see the auditorium. The best way to experience the hall is to see a show.
