Religious buildings symbolize the intimate bond between god and humans. It’s a space where one feels disassociating from their world and connecting with the divine. In all of this, the role of architecture is just that of a catalyst. The designed volume, which a person occupies, even for a moment, decides the amount of time one will spend towards its introspection, and the relation it will form with the space. One such building is the Genevieve and Wayne Gratz Center designed at the Fourth Presbyterian Church, located in Chicago, Illinois. Designed by Gensler and his team, the structure is an addition to the existing, 1912-built Neo-Gothic church to serve the visitors with extra facilities. The aim for bringing up the extra arrangement was to take care of the growing number of community members and programs.
Design Philosophy | Fourth Presbyterian Church
The idea of bringing up the center was about revival, the revival of the past hundred years of the church, which is a testament to the expansion of the community and its initiatives. But it doesn’t stop there. Apart from revitalizing history, the key suggestion was to make a new structure that could be a beacon of light for the next hundred years in the future.
The philosophy adopted was done after considerate thinking by involving the stakeholders of the church, across all age groups, about how the new structure should be devised, and what kind of spaces they wished to have. The research was unique and surely paid off. That led to the notion of cohesivity, not only among the growing congregants and the center but also between the existing church and the center. The aim was to unite the old with the new and look forward together.
Concept
It did take some time for Gensler, led by architect Brian Vitale, to hit the right note. Initially, they thought of taking a cue from the limestone wall details of the church until their point of view changed. Next time around they zoomed further and focused on the copper details, which were abundantly used in the roofs, downspouts, and gutter pipelines, and instantly and thoughtfully felt that copper was the material that would be chosen.
The concept sings well, for it lends not only a sense of modernity hinting at the future but also strongly holds the significance of the existing church with its monumental past. Thus, the new as well as the old complement each other while simultaneously having their own identities. Copper becomes the tangible aspect that stitches the old and the new intangibly. Copper creates magic.
Another interesting consideration that was thought about the Gratz Center, was that it was to be specifically designed not to be taller than the Fourth Church Sanctuary steeple.
Planning | Fourth Presbyterian Church
The site is juxtaposed with the church and is rhomboidal in shape spanning over 76,000 square feet in area. When the construction started it was phased into two parts: the north side and the south side. The construction started with the north side, touching Delaware street, and upon finishing it, the work on the south side started adjacent to Chestnut street.
The building is smartly planned by Gensler and spans five floors, to hold different functions of the community and for all age groups. The ground floor is the meeting space for all the members after the congregation or other purposes. The first floor is a double-height space that holds the Buchanan Chapel which is an extension for worshiping or sermons. On any day one can sit quietly and contemplate peacefully.
The other floors constitute the toddler rooms, classrooms for teaching kids, library, and other cultural zones that add efficiency to the overall design. The planning is aptly done to serve the growing number of members and to keep the legacy alive. Dining zones on the lower floors were provided keeping in mind to serve the homeless and needy. The open space between the two buildings acts as a space for kids to play and learn concurrently ensuring their safety.
Design, Style, and Construction
The challenge soon turned into an opportunity, which led to the creation of a structure that was rhomboidal in shape too. The style opted for was to keep the center simple, but also be contemporary at the same time. The four sides of the facade are divided according to the directions.
The east-west axis is a glass facade to capture views from the church, and the north-south is a patinated, greenish-blue colored copper-paneled facade which becomes the recognition of the building, with a large recessed window to pour in natural light into the Buchanan chapel and garner views from Chestnut street. The area lost on land is partially displaced on the top of the roofs above floors two, three, and five, in the form of green roofs accompanying the building services.
The material chosen for the project became the concept for it. Playing with copper outside and inside, the reason for weathering the 16 by 84-inch copper panels on the outside before installation, was to blend the color of copper with the color of copper of the elements on the church. On the other hand, the copper used on the inside of the chapel is un-patinated brownish, the reason being that it would not be exposed as much as the outside panels will be. Thus, treating a single material differently led to dual design languages.
Coming to construction, steel is used for the entire skeletal framework of the building leading to the speedy erection of the building. The steel beams have holes to pass ducts and wires for services and reduce the ceiling height. The copper panels were pre-fabricated, by bending and weathering and then transported directly to the site. Overall, the motive of fitting the building comfortably within the urban fabric was comfortably achieved.
Innovative and inspirational elements
A few of the design ideas incorporated, in the making of The Genevieve and Wayne Gratz Center at Fourth Presbyterian Church by Gensler, are the unsung heroes of the project. Firstly, the intriguing labyrinth floor in the chapel is like a puzzle for people to walk in and is very amusing. More amusing is the placing and making of the tiles. Each tile was numbered so that after tightly placing it in sequence, the finished final picture would add depth and also create a sense of peculiarity. The flooring is an intriguing feature that makes people walk inside it and lose themselves in the peaceful environment.
The presence of clerestories in the chapel gives a feel of a church while being synchronic with this era. The use of wood and copper looks earthy and soothing. The attendance of various kinds of lights like pendants, slot flights on walls, and LED stripes look touching.
The cantilevered portion on the entry parallel to Chestnut Street looks very welcoming and during the day looks like it’s floating mid-air. The idea might be commonplace, but the setting is appropriate, to house various zones on the upper floors and blur the line between the street and the structure.
The modern structure does well in putting its point forward without affecting the identity of the existing church and gels up comfortably with the surrounding buildings. The center was planned, as per Gensler, to complement and not mimic the church.
The design solution is one of its kind and revives copper, as a material, which was abundantly used in the past. A beacon of light, at night it looks like a lantern.
Remembering Art Gensler | Fourth Presbyterian Church
“Design to me is a really big picture attitude.. How it’s going to interact with your surroundings and with the people who are going to use it”. Quoting Mr.Gensler, it makes one feel that each word resonates with the structure and its making and how it leads to creating an inseparable bond between the living and the nonliving, between a human and a building.
References:
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- www.architecture.org. (n.d.). Members Only: Fourth Presbyterian Church and Gratz Center Tour. [online] Available at: https://www.architecture.org/programs-events/detail/members-only-fourth-presbyterian-church-and-gratz-center-tour/ [Accessed 16 Oct. 2022].
- Chicago Tribune. (2012). Fourth Presbyterian Church’s new Gratz Center, a welcome and brave grace note. [online] Available at: https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-xpm-2012-12-19-ct-ent-1220-4th-pres-20121219-story.html [Accessed 16 Oct. 2022].
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