Cathedral of Christ the Light, Oakland, US

The Cathedral of Christ the Light and also called the Oakland Cathedral, is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland in Oakland, California. It is the seat of the Bishop of Oakland. Christ the Light, the first cathedral built in the twenty-first century, replaces the Cathedral of Saint Francis de Sales, irreparably damaged in the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989.

The worship space in Christ the Light is a vesica pisces shape (translated into english means fish bladder), the shape formed by the intersection of two circles. The walls are composed of overlapping panels of wood and glass rising skyward to form the vault, much like the scales of a fish. The design is inspired by the miracle of the loaves and the fishes in Christian tradition, among other motifs. Christ the Light is built with protective measures against earthquake damage.

Architect : Craig W. Hartman (Skidmore, Owings and Merrill)