Architecture
Bernard Maybeck’s 1910 masterwork, First Church of Christ, Scientist, Berkeley, has been a calming oasis of progressive architecture within the city’s “town-and-gown” community for over a century. Its tradition-breaking structure and artistic details reflect Maybeck’s academic training, his creative approach to design, his central role in promoting the Arts & Crafts movement in the Bay Area and, not least, his respect for the sincerity of the all-woman Plans Committee that inspired him to design their church.
Above photo courtesy of Friends of First Church, Berkeley
A National Historic Landmark
Maybeck’s First Church of Christ, Scientist is an internationally significant work, acknowledged in virtually every published survey of American architecture. Regularly shared with the wider community, the church is especially notable, and admired, for its innovative use of modern materials on a religious structure and its colorful, dramatic interior. Wide expanses of window walls, low-pitched rooflines and the robust use of structural wood hint at Japanese traditions, while other details reflect Gothic, Romanesque and Classical architecture.
Through Bernard Maybeck’s unique sensibilities, the factory-sash windows, set with panes of textured Belgian glass, suffuse the auditorium with ethereal light. Decorated reinforced concrete, massive timber trusses, delicate Gothic tracery and bold color all combine to bring these elements into lively visual play. While some of the decorative details of the church evoke Medieval religious structures, the open plan of the church expresses the inclusiveness of modern Christian Science.
Previous Preservation Work
and Current Conservation Needs
In 2003, an Historic Structure Report was undertaken to guide future work on the building. Needed roof repairs and a seismic upgrade were completed in 2007 with support from Save America’s Treasures and Getty Foundation grants. A 2006 Partners in Preservation Campaign grant from American Express funded seismic strengthening of the south wall. In 2009-2010, a University of California, Berkeley, Chancellor’s Community Partnership grant funded new landscaping.
Today, the large expanses of windows, key to the unique interior lighting and to the emotional response the architecture inspires, are in poor condition and require conservation. These steel sash window assemblies, set in concrete sills, have been exposed to the elements for more than a century; the steel is badly corroded in places, and the concrete sills are severely compromised.
To protect the integrity of the structure, and to stop air and moisture intrusion, these assemblies must be conserved with the highest urgency. Please join us in supporting this critically needed work.
