Parting words

The year unfolded in translucent panes of alabaster that filtered bright L.A. sunlight into sepia tones and turned a new building into a cathedral. It whistled in from space, a composer’s ear tuning ours to the cosmos. Closer to the skin, it sang insistently: “The Story Is in the Soil Keep Your Ear to the Ground.”

At its best, 2002 in the arts and architecture offered a transformative vision. At its worst, it served up the mundane, the unfulfilled promise. Our critics scan the year’s offerings for both.