450 Travel Guide

The Crystal Cathedral, designed by architect Philip Johnson and completed in 1980, is a landmark of modern sacred architecture — a soaring 41-metre tower of glass and steel in the shape of a four-pointed star, its roughly ten thousand panes filtering light into a luminous, shifting nave. Conceived by televangelist Robert Schuller as the home of the 'Hour of Power' broadcast, the campus was acquired by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange in 2012 and reconsecrated as Christ Cathedral. The adjacent arboretum and reflective calm make it a rare fusion of avant-garde design and contemplative space, a building that turned from media altar to civic spiritual landmark.

The University of California, Irvine (UCI), founded in 1965, is part of the UC system, known for its ring-shaped main campus and subtropical gardens. A top public research university, it is renowned in computing, social science and medicine; on campus, a flamingo pond, sculptures and the central park make a pleasant landscape blending academic energy with Southern California sunshine.