Third Church of Christ, Scientist
- Architect
- Araldo Cossutta
- Year
- 1971
- Style
- Brutalism
- City
- Washington, DC
- Collection
- concrete washington
Built in 1971 at 900 16th Street NW for a congregation established in 1918, Third Church of Christ, Scientist was a Brutalist, sculptural poured-concrete church designed by Araldo Cossutta of I.M. Pei & Partners. Its stark concrete form was an unusual choice for a downtown church and never won over its own congregation, which shrank over the decades the building stood.
the building
A contested landmark. The congregation sought a demolition permit in 2007 to redevelop the site and relocate, but the building had been individually designated a DC Historic Landmark in 1991 after an earlier demolition threat. Following a lawsuit and hearings, the District issued a demolition permit in 2009, and the church was torn down in 2014.
the style
Cossutta, who worked alongside I.M. Pei, gave the church a sculptural Brutalist form in poured concrete — a treatment more associated with civic and institutional buildings than downtown churches, which is part of why the design proved so controversial with its own congregation.
More on Brutalismthe architect
Araldo Cossutta was a partner at I.M. Pei & Partners; Third Church was among his notable independent commissions, executed in the raw-concrete Brutalist idiom the firm was known for.
significance
Individually designated DC Historic Landmark #L_0700 in 1991, the building was nonetheless demolished in 2014 after a protracted legal fight; the congregation merged with First Church of Christ, Scientist in 2015 and continues its activities in a portion of the new building on the site.
nearby
- The St. Regis Washington, D.C.
- United States Chamber of Commerce
- Saint John's Church
- Barr Building
- Decatur House
- American Peace Society house