Liquid Cathedral

Enhancing the ecclesiastic richness of Greed Square is Liquid Cathedral. One might not normally expect to find a cathedral in a crowded business district like Greed Square, but "miracles never cease." In fact, one might say that business brought religion upon Greed Square's inhabitants. Since the nearby Stock Exchange opened a year ago, speculators have flocked to the area in hopes of making a fast buck. Unfortunately, for each success story, there were ten more of extreme loss. In an attempt to better control their destiny, many speculators began openly praying on the steps of the Stock Exchange.  Since nothing else worked, why not try praying?  A few of these speculator-zealots turned their luck, and as the word spread, praying caught on as a hip new pass-time for the aspiring greed-monger. Stock-Exchange executives were not overly ecstatic about the growing hordes of faithful blocking the entrance to the exchange.  Businesses on the first floor of the building complained that the freaks were keeping away customers. A few zealots tried to utilize the Ogel TV ministry nearby, but were curtly refused entry.  Ogel wasn't interested in petty walk-in service, when he could more substantially profit from the uneducated masses slurping down their daily dose of TV sermons. The exchange executives contemplated their options.  As the flocks of the faithful grew each day, the executives knew that there was a need for a permanent facility to house them. Although most of the zealots were not overly rich, many had money saved up from their "day jobs" that could be put towards activities that might help their luck.  Seizing on this, the executives came up with the "pay for pray" concept. The idea was to provide a beautiful new house of prayer to get the zealots off the front steps, but make them pay admission in hopes of turning a tidy profit. Thus, the seed for the cathedral was planted.
A perfect site for the cathedral was found next the Stock Exchange.  Unfortunately, the site was currently occupied by the DeathZone skate park as well as various roads.  Luckily, LEGO towns are easily changed.  The skate park was moved back, and the roads were removed (being unnecessary anyhow due to the availability of public transit). The design for the cathedral was derived from an award winning, computer-generated submission (see the plans here). Some color changes were performed and additional details added to make the real-life version. Construction was not overly difficult as most of the needed parts were already stocked in BrickTopia's spare coffers, although a few small BrickLink purchases were needed to complete the building. The entire structure is built atop a graceful pool of water. This is the source of the building's name, "Liquid Cathedral." The main area of the cathedral is completely encased in glass.  To keep the sun out, various gray shades are suspended above the glass, supported by buttressing columns. At the center of the building, rises a high dome. At the top of the dome is situated a powerful air conditioning unit that bathes the interior areas with a cool breeze, even when outdoor temperatures are sweltering hot.
In this picture, one can see the cubistic glass projections that fill the two towers in the front of the building. The yellow and white tower of the stock exchange can be seen rising in the rear-left of the image. The Greed Square line of the BrickTopia monorail runs around the front and sides of the building. The DeathZone skate park is barely visible on the far left.  In a strange twist, the cathedral has found a growing market in nervous skaters who want some emotional comfort before braving the challenges of DeathZone.
Here, one sees some of the buttressing work details. On a classical cathedral, buttressing is used to hold up the bulk of the structure.  On the contrary, buttressing on this building is used only to hold up the "shades" above the glass walls of the cathedral, and for ornamental effect.

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