University Unitarian Church
Encyclopedia
University Unitarian Church was designed by Seattle architect Paul Hayden Kirk in 1959. The church is located in the Wedgwood, Seattle neighborhood at the corner of 35th Avenue NE and 68th Street. The building is approximately a mile and half Northeast of the University of Washington
Campus and sits across from the Northwest Branch of the Seattle Public Library
. It was designed during the time when architect Kirk was working as a sole practitioner.
The University Unitarian Church won Paul Hayden Kirk the American Institute of Architects
Award (1960).
was brought to United States
by the pilgrims
and the puritans, with its origins found in the individualism and rational temper of those whom settled Boston
, Salem
, and Plymouth
. In 1909 the Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition, which as a tribute to the City Beautiful Movement
, sought to bring about social and political reform. The exposition encouraged the church to branch out West, to the University of Washington. As a direct result of the exposition, the University Unitarian church was established in 1913. In the beginning, the congregation met in a rented hall for its Sunday services. With the help of the Woman’s Alliance for fund-raising, and the acquisition of Unitarian Universalist Association grants, the church was able to hire ministers and purchase their first church in 1915. They hired Ellsworth Storey to design their first building for $5000. The church was located at the corner of NE 47th Street and 16th Avenue NE, in Seattle.
From 1927 to 1931 the Great Depression
deeply affected the church’s financial resources, requiring two ministers to come out of retirement to work without compensation.
The 1940s are reflected upon as the ‘golden age’ of the church as a result of the end of great depression and general upbeat attitudes of the patrons during this time. In 1955 the church commissioned their second building, which was to be designed by Paul Hayden Kirk.
. It is also evident that many of Paul H. Kirk’s designs draw upon the teachings of Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe
. Although Paul H. Kirk was a follower of Mies’s motto, “God is in the details”, he made it clear that he was not a supporter of the international style. Kirk believed the international style is “an architecture which has been imposed on the land by man.” Where he differentiated himself from international style architects, was through the belief that architecture should respect and respond to its environment. This mentality shows through his work in the use of materials that are reflective of the northwest. Wood, rough-cut stone, and glass are seen throughout his projects. He also often incorporated large ceiling to floor windows in his residential designs because, with the Northwest’s small diurnal temperature fluctuations, it could afford the heat loss in exchange for the feeling of openness. Aside from the modern style, Japanese architecture also had a powerful influence on him. This can be seen through the use of shoji
screens for interior partitions, large simple openings, p. 9and his treatment of roof conditions. The combination of modernism, regional materials, and Japanese
influences were all integral in assisting Kirk in beginning to define the Pacific Northwest
regional style.
residential Seattle neighborhood. Its name originates from Wedgwood, an English bone china-maker. In respect to the built environment, developments in the neighborhood “were tremendously enhanced by the saving of some of the existing trees.” Other typical architectural features in the neighborhood are brick veneer, hip roof
s, asphalt shingle
s, planter boxes, small porches, stock wrought-iron railings, and one story houses. When masonry
is employed, it is typically solely decorative.
is placed at the base of the western wall to further serve as a buffer to the street, which is highly used by the community. The building embraces this courtyard, indicative of Kirk’s desire for site integration. The west façade
of the University Unitarian Church exposes its structure and adheres to straight lines, typical of Kirk’s work. The large structural vertical elements support detailed glass and screens. The detailed woodwork of the screens is another typical characteristic of Kirk’s designs.
Clerestory
windows are hung by large bolted beams on the upper portion of the East Facade, allowing for natural light to enter the space. The roof beams in the sanctuary transfer weight from the western walls to the shorter vertical supports of the eastern wall, resulting in a traditional church construction of evenly spaced bays, but an atypical sloped ceiling plane. Kirk uses change in ceiling height to bring attention to the sequential experience when walking through his building.
. The church, having been built in 1959, is now eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in respect to the ‘fifty-year rule.’ This rule is a commonly accepted principle that for a building to be listed on the National Register for Historic Places, it must be at least fifty years old, that is, unless they are of ‘significant importance.’ Aside from its age, there must be a case made for the building's historical significance and/or aesthetic significance to be considered for acceptance. In the case of the University Unitarian Church, it has clear architectural significance, with its ties to the roots of Northwest regionalism. The justification for acceptance of buildings on the National Register based on aesthetics came around the late 1880s, with the desire to preserve colonial revival style buildings. The National Register’s currant stance on determining significance of a property is association with events, activities, lives, or developments that were important in the past, have significant architectural history, landscape history, or engineering achievements, or if it has the potential to yield information through archeological investigation. The University Unitarian Church has the potential to argue for significance based on its connection to Paul Hayden Kirk as well as its connection to the origins to Pacific Northwest Regionalism, allowing it to be deemed significant in terms of architectural history.
The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards' for the treatment of historic properties address four treatments of properties; preservation
, rehabilitation, restoration, and reconstruction
. Since the building is still in use today by the UUC congregation and is still in great physical condition, the most logical of treatments for the University Unitarian Church is preservation, defined by James Marston Fitch
as, “the maintenance in the same physical condition as when it was received by the curatorial agency. Nothing is added or subtracted from the aesthetic corpus of the artifact. Any interventions necessary to preserve its physical integrity are to be cosmetically unobtrusive.”
houses utilized the cedar, which was easy to split to form boards. In addition to this, climate, terrain, history and social attitudes from British Columbia
to Portland, Oregon
all contribute to define the Pacific Northwest style.
calculator, that sum is equivalent to approximately $1,819,517.95 in 2009.
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
Campus and sits across from the Northwest Branch of the Seattle Public Library
Seattle Public Library
The Seattle Public Library is the public library system serving Seattle, Washington, USA. It was officially established by the city in 1890, though there had been efforts to start a Seattle library as early as 1868. There are 26 branches in the system, most of them named after the neighborhoods in...
. It was designed during the time when architect Kirk was working as a sole practitioner.
The University Unitarian Church won Paul Hayden Kirk the American Institute of Architects
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
Award (1960).
Early years
UnitarianismUnitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
was brought to United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by the pilgrims
Pilgrims
Pilgrims , or Pilgrim Fathers , is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States...
and the puritans, with its origins found in the individualism and rational temper of those whom settled Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Salem
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...
, and Plymouth
Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town...
. In 1909 the Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition, which as a tribute to the City Beautiful Movement
City Beautiful movement
The City Beautiful Movement was a reform philosophy concerning North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of using beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. The movement, which was originally associated mainly with Chicago,...
, sought to bring about social and political reform. The exposition encouraged the church to branch out West, to the University of Washington. As a direct result of the exposition, the University Unitarian church was established in 1913. In the beginning, the congregation met in a rented hall for its Sunday services. With the help of the Woman’s Alliance for fund-raising, and the acquisition of Unitarian Universalist Association grants, the church was able to hire ministers and purchase their first church in 1915. They hired Ellsworth Storey to design their first building for $5000. The church was located at the corner of NE 47th Street and 16th Avenue NE, in Seattle.
From 1927 to 1931 the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
deeply affected the church’s financial resources, requiring two ministers to come out of retirement to work without compensation.
The 1940s are reflected upon as the ‘golden age’ of the church as a result of the end of great depression and general upbeat attitudes of the patrons during this time. In 1955 the church commissioned their second building, which was to be designed by Paul Hayden Kirk.
Architect
Paul Hayden Kirk was born in Salt Lake City on November 18, 1914. He traveled to Seattle with his family in 1922 where he received his degree in architecture at the University of Washington in 1939. When he began his own practice in 1939, his scope of work was primarily residential. Kirk’s earliest designs employed the use of historicist forms and detailing. In the coming years Paul H. Kirk began to move away from historical references in his work. This new attitude towards design can be seen in the Columbia Ridge development in 1942. His shift towards more modern designs can be explained by his admitted respect and admiration for Pietro BelluschiPietro Belluschi
Pietro Belluschi was an American architect, a leader of the Modern Movement in architecture, and was responsible for the design of over one thousand buildings....
. It is also evident that many of Paul H. Kirk’s designs draw upon the teachings of Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a German architect. He is commonly referred to and addressed as Mies, his surname....
. Although Paul H. Kirk was a follower of Mies’s motto, “God is in the details”, he made it clear that he was not a supporter of the international style. Kirk believed the international style is “an architecture which has been imposed on the land by man.” Where he differentiated himself from international style architects, was through the belief that architecture should respect and respond to its environment. This mentality shows through his work in the use of materials that are reflective of the northwest. Wood, rough-cut stone, and glass are seen throughout his projects. He also often incorporated large ceiling to floor windows in his residential designs because, with the Northwest’s small diurnal temperature fluctuations, it could afford the heat loss in exchange for the feeling of openness. Aside from the modern style, Japanese architecture also had a powerful influence on him. This can be seen through the use of shoji
Shoji
In traditional Japanese architecture, a shōji is a door, window or room divider consisting of translucent paper over a frame of wood which holds together a lattice of wood or bamboo...
screens for interior partitions, large simple openings, p. 9and his treatment of roof conditions. The combination of modernism, regional materials, and Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
influences were all integral in assisting Kirk in beginning to define the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
regional style.
Location
The district of Wedgwood, Seattle located approximately two miles Northeast of I-5 and 6 miles Northeast of Seattle’s Downtown, is a middle classMiddle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
residential Seattle neighborhood. Its name originates from Wedgwood, an English bone china-maker. In respect to the built environment, developments in the neighborhood “were tremendously enhanced by the saving of some of the existing trees.” Other typical architectural features in the neighborhood are brick veneer, hip roof
Hip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
s, asphalt shingle
Asphalt shingle
An asphalt shingle is a type of roof shingle. They are one of the most widely used roofing covers because they are relatively inexpensive and fairly simple to install.-Types:...
s, planter boxes, small porches, stock wrought-iron railings, and one story houses. When masonry
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
is employed, it is typically solely decorative.
Architecture
The design goal of the University Unitarian Church was to “be a place where people may gather for worship, where children may be taught to work and pray, and where the community is enriched by its presence.” The building is recessed away from 35th NE due to the high usage of the street. A small courtyardCourtyard
A court or courtyard is an enclosed area, often a space enclosed by a building that is open to the sky. These areas in inns and public buildings were often the primary meeting places for some purposes, leading to the other meanings of court....
is placed at the base of the western wall to further serve as a buffer to the street, which is highly used by the community. The building embraces this courtyard, indicative of Kirk’s desire for site integration. The west façade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
of the University Unitarian Church exposes its structure and adheres to straight lines, typical of Kirk’s work. The large structural vertical elements support detailed glass and screens. The detailed woodwork of the screens is another typical characteristic of Kirk’s designs.
Clerestory
Clerestory
Clerestory is an architectural term that historically denoted an upper level of a Roman basilica or of the nave of a Romanesque or Gothic church, the walls of which rise above the rooflines of the lower aisles and are pierced with windows. In modern usage, clerestory refers to any high windows...
windows are hung by large bolted beams on the upper portion of the East Facade, allowing for natural light to enter the space. The roof beams in the sanctuary transfer weight from the western walls to the shorter vertical supports of the eastern wall, resulting in a traditional church construction of evenly spaced bays, but an atypical sloped ceiling plane. Kirk uses change in ceiling height to bring attention to the sequential experience when walking through his building.
Preservation
The University Unitarian Church, given both its age and architectural significance, may now be considered for historic preservationHistoric preservation
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...
. The church, having been built in 1959, is now eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in respect to the ‘fifty-year rule.’ This rule is a commonly accepted principle that for a building to be listed on the National Register for Historic Places, it must be at least fifty years old, that is, unless they are of ‘significant importance.’ Aside from its age, there must be a case made for the building's historical significance and/or aesthetic significance to be considered for acceptance. In the case of the University Unitarian Church, it has clear architectural significance, with its ties to the roots of Northwest regionalism. The justification for acceptance of buildings on the National Register based on aesthetics came around the late 1880s, with the desire to preserve colonial revival style buildings. The National Register’s currant stance on determining significance of a property is association with events, activities, lives, or developments that were important in the past, have significant architectural history, landscape history, or engineering achievements, or if it has the potential to yield information through archeological investigation. The University Unitarian Church has the potential to argue for significance based on its connection to Paul Hayden Kirk as well as its connection to the origins to Pacific Northwest Regionalism, allowing it to be deemed significant in terms of architectural history.
The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards' for the treatment of historic properties address four treatments of properties; preservation
Historic preservation
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...
, rehabilitation, restoration, and reconstruction
Reconstruction (architecture)
Reconstruction is a term in architectural conservation whose precise meaning varies, depending on the context in which they are used.More broadly, such as under the Burra Charter of Australia, "reconstruction" means returning a damaged building to a known earlier state by the introduction of new...
. Since the building is still in use today by the UUC congregation and is still in great physical condition, the most logical of treatments for the University Unitarian Church is preservation, defined by James Marston Fitch
James Marston Fitch
James Marston Fitch was an architect and a Preservationist, one of the founders of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University in 1964. He was a member of the faculty there from 1954 to 1977, and received an honorary Litt.D. in 1980...
as, “the maintenance in the same physical condition as when it was received by the curatorial agency. Nothing is added or subtracted from the aesthetic corpus of the artifact. Any interventions necessary to preserve its physical integrity are to be cosmetically unobtrusive.”
Style
The Pacific Northwest style has its earliest connections to the indigenous wooden houses along the northwest coast and Puget Sound. These indigenousIndigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
houses utilized the cedar, which was easy to split to form boards. In addition to this, climate, terrain, history and social attitudes from British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
to Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
all contribute to define the Pacific Northwest style.
Cost
The University Unitarian Church cost the congregation $250,000. Using the westegg.com inflationInflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
calculator, that sum is equivalent to approximately $1,819,517.95 in 2009.