First Church of Christ Scientist Great Buildings Online Search Advanced Search Buildings ... ArchitectureWeek Architect Bernard Maybeck Location Berkeley California Date Building Type church Construction System exposed concrete, cement tile cladding, factory windows, Climate mild Context small city Style Ecletic Craftsman with Romanesque and Gothic motifs Notes personalized historicism - combining oriental, classical, Romanesque and Gothic motifs and indiustrial materials integrated to a powerful new whole. Images
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Photo, exterior Drawings Plan Drawing Discussion First Church of Christ Scientist Commentary "It is possible that if the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Berkeley, had been destroyed by fire, as so many of Maybeck's works have been, he never would have received the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects. No other building demonstrates so completely his imaginative architectural genius. His contributions to domestic design are outstanding and his efforts in architectural education noteworthy; but it is space, structure, color and light, that wins immediate admiration from lay and professional viewers. The church, designed in 1910 when Maybeck was forty-eight years old, is the visible statement of his design philosophy at its most fruitful stage." "Only the genius and perseverance of the architect made the materials usually associated with factories and utilitarian building appropriate and in harmony with the edifice." | |
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