Puneet Varma (Editor)

Seventeenth Church of Christ, Scientist (Chicago, Illinois)

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Location
  
Chicago, Illinois

Denomination
  
Christian Science

Phone
  
+1 312-236-4671

Architectural type
  
Modern architecture

Country
  
United States

Capacity
  
764

Completed
  
1968

Architect
  
Harry Weese

Seventeenth Church of Christ, Scientist (Chicago, Illinois)

Address
  
55 E Upper Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60601, USA

Similar
  
Metropolitan Correctional Center - C, Wacker Tower, Kemper Building, First United Methodist Church of, 35 East Wacker

Seventeenth Church of Christ, Scientist, built in 1968, is an award-winning modern style Christian Science church building located in The Loop at 55 East Wacker Drive, (at Wabash Avenue) in Chicago, Illinois in the United States. It was designed by noted Chicago-based architect Harry Weese, whose most famous work is the Washington Metro but who is remembered best as the architect who "shaped Chicago’s skyline and the way the city thought about everything from the lakefront to its treasure-trove of historical buildings."

Built by Sumner Sollitt Construction Company of concrete in a circular design, the building has no windows. Outside light comes through a skylight at the top of the oculus in the center of the conical roof. Pedestrian entrance to the building is via a bridge over a sunken garden, which Weese said "was for the benefit of the [subterranean] Sunday School, which didn't have any windows." The semicircular auditorium which seats 764 is designed so that no seat is more than 54 feet from the Readers' Platform, which is the focal point of all Christian Science church auditoriums. An invisible sound reinforcement system with 350 hidden microphones allows those in attendance at the Wednesday evening testimonial meetings to give testimonies without having to leave their seats. Off street parking is provided by a subterranean parking garage. A feature of the lower lobby is an acrylic painting on canvas entitled "Millenium Garden: Psalm 23,” completed by Chicago artist Anne Farley Gaines in 2001. In 1996, Seventeenth Church received the 25 Year Award of the Chicago Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

In film and television

The church's exterior was shown in the 2011 film Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

The church's interior amphitheater was the set for the Choosing Ceremony scene in the 2014 film Divergent.

References

Seventeenth Church of Christ, Scientist (Chicago, Illinois) Wikipedia


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