First Church of Christ Sci

Book excerpt: Bernard Maybeck is one of the pivotal figures in the regionalist architecture of the San Francisco Bay area. He was also an architect in the tradition of the artist: versatile, colourful, inventive and eclectic. With First Church of Christ, Scientist, Berkeley, Maybeck was drawn by his client's sincere demand to have a church which expressed the congregation's deep-seated faith, and looked not only to Romanesque, Gothic and Byzantine forms, but also to contemporary Arts and Crafts philosophies to create an edifice which would evoke the 'reinstatement of primitive Christianity', a guiding objective of Christian Science. Maybeck's design has a convincing unity which contains and far transcends its sources. Massive concrete piers are in counterpoint to large expanses of translucent industrial sash, and the rich, Medieval interior comes to brilliant life through a hierarchy of intricately applied colour. The reverence for detail is complete, from carved beams to delicate pew lamps and gilded tracery.