Pilgrimage Chapel

"It was built from trees - yet not cut down, still growing in their place. They were planted in rows and grew to enormous height and strength. Their trunks served as columns, while the branches formed walls. As the trees grew, they intricately intertwined and supported each other with their branches. The highest branches in the crowns connected and created a roof. Sunbeams filtered through the gaps between the branches, filling the interior... Such is the architecture from which the most splendid temples on earth arise."

Architect Lloyd Wright was unaware of this vision and became acquainted with it only after the chapel's completion, thanks to a member of the Swedenborgian church, which is referred to here as the Church of the New Jerusalem or the New Church. Its founder - Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) - became famous as the author of theological writings, in which he connected religious and mystical experience with reason and rationality. The church that formed based on his teachings also spread to the USA. In 1926, Reverend Frank Sewall's family moved from Washington, D.C. to Palos Verdes, California. His daughter Elizabeth played a significant role in realizing the chapel, which was meant to celebrate God and recall the spiritual essence of Emanuel Swedenborg's teachings through its architecture.
Elizabeth Sewall Schellenberg's vision began to materialize in 1928 when the church received a gift of 3.5 acres of land from Narcissa Cox Vanderlip. The subsequent fundraising for the sanctuary was marked by the economic crisis and World War II. The chapel's cornerstone was laid on July 16, 1949. Originally, the design of the chapel was to be done by builder Ralph Jester in the style of Spanish colonial architecture. However, he recommended architect Lloyd Wright, who in addition to the chapel (1951) also realized a bell tower (1954), a colonnade with a visitor center (1958), and all the landscaping on the property. The formation of the complex continues to this day and is overseen by Wright's son Eric.
Lloyd Wright was the first of the children of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. He shortened his name Frank Lloyd Wright Jr. for professional reasons. He studied at the agricultural faculty in his home state of Wisconsin and worked as a landscape architect. He initially collaborated with his father, also practiced with architects in Boston and New York. He settled in California after 1919 when he helped his father design the garden for Hollyhock House. He was sought after for his talent in connecting architecture with nature and is still cited as an important figure in American organic architecture.
Wright used the motif of the equilateral triangle in the chapel's design and other elements of the complex as a reference to religious tradition. The modular grid is reflected in all parts of the complex, except for the circular window at the end of the chapel, which symbolizes the closure-completeness-wholeness of life. The design of the baptismal font deviates from the geometric order, consisting of rough-hewn stone, into which a spring flows as a sign of natural essence.
Due to the massive use of glass, the chapel is often referred to as the Glass Chapel. The glass cracked in the early years of the chapel's operation and was replaced with plexiglass. However, this did not allow for proper cleaning, and it was later replaced with special glass that better withstands the whims of nature. The chapel is open to its surroundings thanks to generous glazing, and the services have an unconventional character.
The chapel forms one edge of a triangle, at the opposite vertex of which Wright designed a pool with a fountain. An imaginary axis runs through the chapel leading from the Pacific Ocean through the colonnade with the bell tower to the building housing the clergy's facilities. At the opposite vertex of this long axis is the visitor center.
As is customary in California, the complex includes a large parking lot. Due to its unique location and the quality of the garden and architecture, the chapel is often sought after by wedding parties. I will not mention the fee for renting the chapel for the wedding ceremony. You wouldn't believe it.