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Disneyland Matterhorn as Architecture

Christopher Reynolds of the Los Angeles Times asks if the Disneyland Matterhorn could be Orange County, California’s defining structure. It’s actually a story related to the opening of a new concert hall.

Sydney has its Opera House. San Francisco has its bridge and Transamerica pyramid, St. Louis its arch, Seattle its needle. New York had its Twin Towers and still has its Empire State and Chrysler buildings. Since 2003, Los Angeles has had Disney Hall.

Many of Orange County’s highest and mightiest are counting on this Costa Mesa hall as their own crowning icon. But what’s the competition?

The Crystal Cathedral, says the new hall’s donor, Henry Segerstrom, but not the Matterhorn.

The Matterhorn, says thriller writer T. Jefferson Parker, but not South Coast Plaza or Fashion Island.

South Coast Plaza and Fashion Island, says Los Angeles architect Eric Owen Moss, but not the Crystal Cathedral or any part of Disneyland.