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Community Christian Church (Kansas City, Missouri)
Encyclopedia
Community Christian Church was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
and sits across from the Country Club Plaza
's main shopping district on Main Street at East 46th Street in Kansas City, Missouri
.
In April 1940, members of the church congregation contracted Wright and asked him to design a new building to replace their previous church which had been destroyed in a fire. Wright based his design on a parallelogram
including some features previously conceived for his last building for Johnson Wax Company, along with one additional unique feature: a spire of light. Due to high building costs, the scale of the church was reduced during construction. The auditorium was cut back from a planned 1,200 seats to 900 seats, many details were eliminated, and the building was sheathed in gunite, a form of lightweight concrete, over Wright's objections. The spire of light also could not be built and illuminated due to technical limitations of the times. However, the church was dedicated on January 4, 1942 and served the congregation well.
In 1994, the Spire of Light was finally completed as planned. The components are housed on the church roof inside of a perforated dome on the building's northwestern corner. The spire is created by four (4) 16" xenon
bulbs ignited by 40,000 volts of electricity, that, in combination with a parabolic reflector
, produces 300 million candlepower
of illumination (per light, 1.2 billion cp total) in a near perfect column. The spire can be seen for miles around Kansas City, and reportedly can be spotted 10 miles (16.1 km) north of the Plaza, depending on conditions. It has been calculated to stop at least 3 miles (4.8 km) up above the earth, about half the maximum height at which jet airplanes fly. The spire of light is lit regularly on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays; has extended hours on holidays; and remains dark on the two days before Easter
. Its lighting is one of the features of the annual Plaza lighting ceremony.
Tours of Community Christian Church are open to the public and free of charge.
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
and sits across from the Country Club Plaza
Country Club Plaza
The Country Club Plaza is an upscale shopping district and residential neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. It was the first shopping center in the world designed to accommodate shoppers arriving by automobile...
's main shopping district on Main Street at East 46th Street in Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
.
In April 1940, members of the church congregation contracted Wright and asked him to design a new building to replace their previous church which had been destroyed in a fire. Wright based his design on a parallelogram
Parallelogram
In Euclidean geometry, a parallelogram is a convex quadrilateral with two pairs of parallel sides. The opposite or facing sides of a parallelogram are of equal length and the opposite angles of a parallelogram are of equal measure...
including some features previously conceived for his last building for Johnson Wax Company, along with one additional unique feature: a spire of light. Due to high building costs, the scale of the church was reduced during construction. The auditorium was cut back from a planned 1,200 seats to 900 seats, many details were eliminated, and the building was sheathed in gunite, a form of lightweight concrete, over Wright's objections. The spire of light also could not be built and illuminated due to technical limitations of the times. However, the church was dedicated on January 4, 1942 and served the congregation well.
In 1994, the Spire of Light was finally completed as planned. The components are housed on the church roof inside of a perforated dome on the building's northwestern corner. The spire is created by four (4) 16" xenon
Xenon
Xenon is a chemical element with the symbol Xe and atomic number 54. The element name is pronounced or . A colorless, heavy, odorless noble gas, xenon occurs in the Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts...
bulbs ignited by 40,000 volts of electricity, that, in combination with a parabolic reflector
Parabolic reflector
A parabolic reflector is a reflective device used to collect or project energy such as light, sound, or radio waves. Its shape is that of a circular paraboloid, that is, the surface generated by a parabola revolving around its axis...
, produces 300 million candlepower
Candlepower
Candlepower is a now-obsolete unit which was used to express levels of light intensity in terms of the light emitted by a candle of specific size and constituents...
of illumination (per light, 1.2 billion cp total) in a near perfect column. The spire can be seen for miles around Kansas City, and reportedly can be spotted 10 miles (16.1 km) north of the Plaza, depending on conditions. It has been calculated to stop at least 3 miles (4.8 km) up above the earth, about half the maximum height at which jet airplanes fly. The spire of light is lit regularly on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays; has extended hours on holidays; and remains dark on the two days before Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
. Its lighting is one of the features of the annual Plaza lighting ceremony.
Tours of Community Christian Church are open to the public and free of charge.