Not a Concrete Case

I. M. Pei, Third Church of Christ Scientist, 1971.

The same Washington Post editorial I slammed below clues me in to the fact that parishioners at the Third Church of Christ Scientist want to raze their I. M. Pei–designed building:

A few blocks west, at 16th and I Streets NW, stands the exposed concrete of the octagonal Christian Science church. Also erected in the early 1970s, it was designed by I.M. Pei & Partners at a time when Pei's firm also was designing several other complexes for the church. The abstractly sculpted mass at the corner of the block adjoins a high, featureless concrete wall extending north to an eight-story office building. The concrete sanctuary, wall and office building constitute an ensemble framing a plaza facing 16th Street.

The D.C. Historic Preservation Review Board is considering historic landmark designation for the church, contrary to the wishes of many church members, who, according to press reports, dislike the building and its architectural brutality. It's too big for the shrinking congregation, which would like to demolish the building to make way for a smaller sanctuary and to redevelop this prime site, especially because the lifeless plaza has never succeeded as a civic space.

How's this béton brut beauty supposed to function as a civic space? It's a temple for a small congregation built near an adjoining Christian Science office building. That they'd like to sell the plot to developers, I 'll believe. What exactly would that do to "bring life" to 16th and Eye?

If possible, Lewis's suggestion for Pei's piece is worse than his idea about the Mies. There's nothing to the building if you can't see its shape, of course.

Posted by Kriston at December 17, 2007 12:29 PM