Riverside Church

Riverside Church is a interdenominational church on the border of the Morningside Heights and Harlem neighborhoods on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, famous not only for its elaborate, gothic style architecture, but also as a center for causes of social justice.

Architecture

The Church was designed by the firm of Allen, Pelton and Collens. Harry C. Pelton and Charles Collens were commissioned by Rockefeller to travel across Spain and France to find inspiration for their project. They took for their model of the nave the 13th Century Gothic Cathedral of Chartres, France, and for the massive single belltower that dwarfs the rest of the church, one of the towers at Laon, but here with a base 100 feet square, and built on a steel frame the equivalent of a 22-storey building (392 feet) http://www.nyc-architecture.com/HAR/HAR009.htm. Inlaid on the floor is a labyrinth similar to those at Chartres and elsewhere. The church was begun in 1926 and, with delays caused by a spectacular fire in the wooden scaffolding, finished— with its first service at the main altar— October 5, 1930.

Related Topics:
Church - Allen, Pelton and Collens - Spain - France - 13th Century Gothic - Cathedral of Chartres - Laon - Labyrinth - October 5 - 1930

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The exterior buttressing is purely decorative, for the structure is supported on its steel frame, and their weight would not be sufficient to coiunter the weight of the vault. The writers of the WPA Guide to New York City (1939) noted "Their smallness has the effect of making the building itself seem smaller than it is, so that its scale is scarcely impressive, even when seen at close range."

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The south-facing main entrance, in the base of the tower, is based on the Porte Royale of Chartres, with the seated figure of Christ in the tympanum, flanked by the symbols of the Evangelists. The figures sculpted in the concentric arches of the doorway represent leading personalities of religion and philosophy, joined by great scientists.

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The tower houses a carillon that John D. Rockefeller Jr. donated in memory of his mother, which was installed from 1925 with additional bells later. Its final complement of 74 bronze bells (the largest carillon of bells in the world) include the 20-ton bourdon, the largest cast and tuned bell in existence.

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The church was conceived as a complex social services center from the outset, with meeting rooms and classrooms, a daycare center, a kindergarten, library, auditorium and gym.

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