Christian Science Center

The Christian Science Center is located just a short distance from the Prudential center in Boston. The area being examined in this analysis lies between the main entrance to the church and the facade of the apartment and condo building across the street. Other buildings around the area serve to further enclose this space, and an allay of trees on either side of symphony road helps to create a semi-transparent transition zone between the residential/commercial and religious sides of symphony road.

The first thing one notices when observing this particular space is the vast classical influence used in the architecture. The doric, Ionic and Corinthian orders are all employed within the area. Some facades also use the giant order - particularly the facade of the library. Strong horizontal and vertical axes are easily identifiable in all of the science center's buildings - even the structures with more of a modern touch. ALL buildings surrounding this area exhibit a strong and steady vertical rhythm in the their facades, whether it is through the use of classical columns, concrete supports or vertical mullions. The spacing between vertical elements around the area is quite even throughout, creating a steady and incremental rhythm of vertical axes. The trees in and around the area also help to relate the vertical scale of the surrounding buildings back to human scale. Horizontal rhythm is also noticeable, but is more subtle than that of the vertical elements.

The materiality of the buildings around the area is also quite heavy. Many of the buildings are constructed from granite and marble as well as limestone, while the rest of the buildings surrounding the space of analysis are constructed from concrete. The weight of each of these materials makes their respective buildings seem heavy and daunting. However, the stone dome on the top of the Church conveys a feeling of lightness, or even weightlessness, which also helps to portray the area as being in the presence of a higher power.