Saturday, August 15, 2009

Asbury First United Methodist Church, Rochester

Asbury First United Methodist Church, Rochester

The Asbury First United Methodist Church in East Avenue, Rochester in upstate New York is quite a late building to be described as Art Deco. According to this case study on the InSpired Associates website,

The church was constructed with an Indiana limestone façade according to plans developed by the Reverend Dr. Weldon Crossland and the architectural firm of Wenner and Fink, Methodist Church Architects, located in Philadelphia.

Asbury First United Methodist Church, Rochester

I like the stepped style of the body of the church, mirrored in the buttresses of the spire.

Asbury First United Methodist Church, Rochester

And this spectacular art deco style 'hand of God' plaque on the face of the spire directly above the main entrance.

5 comments:

  1. Are there many steepled churches in Art Deco style? Obviously a lot of the towers of non church Art Deco buildings took inspiration from Gothic architecture (thinking of examples like Manchester Unity), but I don't think I have ever seen an actual Art Deco church steeple.

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  2. The besy two I have seen are the Boston Avenue United Methodist Church in Tulsa http://www.bostonavenue.org/ from 1929 which is fantastic and the Hallgrímskirkja (Hallgrim's Church) in Reykjavik http://www.sacred-destinations.com/iceland/reykjavik-hallgrimskirkja which was constructed from 1945-86.

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  3. They are both great but that one in Reykjavik is absolutely stunning. Thanks for those links.

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  4. Hello,

    Please where can the InSpired Associates website, and the case study you mention, be found? I've had no luck on google. By the way, Asbury First was planned in the late 1930, but not built until 1953, and at a much reduced size and program.

    Thanks, Jeff Freeland

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    1. Thanks for your comment Jeff. Unfortunately the link doesn't seem to be live anymore. In fact the URL www.inspiredassociates.com no longer works.

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