This is a machine-generated transcript. Text is unformatted and may contain errors.

When I described the design for the new facade of the Christian Science Church on MacDougal Street right around the corner from my house in Washington Square when it was published a number of months ago I expressed my pleasure at the imaginative way in which architect Christina was going to solve the problem of rehabilitating a dingy nondescript loft building in which the church had been located for quite a number of years now the job is finished and it is that the light inside as well as out architect Christian has closed the entire facade in a striking yet simple contemporary treatment using rough common bricks typical of the old houses in the neighborhood this solid front is punctured Moreover by only three shop a defined glass openings embellished by skillful coddling the central one including the entrance door extends up to a height of several stories revealing some of the lighting within while the two lower one storey openings on each side of it up with a display is for the displays that had formerly occupied the dingy storefronts of the old building octet Kristina's renovation the but Google Street Church is as successful inside as out the spacious auditorium is basically plain and unadorned but its entire ceiling is miraculously enlivened by a massive downward projecting rectangular prisms of various sizes and light containing the lighting and ventilating flues so ingeniously arranged as to create a rich glistening effect the best contemporary equivalent I have ever seen of the ornate hanging chandeliers of olden times what is particularly satisfactory to me as a neighbor however is that this facade treatment proves my original contention that the Landmarks Commission would carry out its purpose to encourage the replacement of inappropriate buildings in historic districts with new or renovated ones that relate well in scale and spirit to the character of the neighborhood. In Brooklyn Heights as I told you some time ago the commission's approved design for the Jehovah's Witnesses new headquarters is a fine example of a thoroughly contemporary design carefully scaled to fit well within the domestic atmosphere of the area the same now holds true with the Christian Science Church on MacDougal Street now that is finished I find that the architect was not making any mistake as I feared he would in carrying the facade all the way up its original height because the bright lights below fading into darkness above provide an interesting sense of both mystery and elation especially at night in a block filled with colorful shops in fact it creates a welcome bit of repose without breaking up the route the rhythm of the street this little church around the corner from me truly carries out the intent of the landmarks law in this far as this applies to designated historic district actually since this designation is not yet been officially made in going to village the architects of the of the church did not have to refer their plans to the commission but had they done so I am sure that as in the case of the Jehovah's Witnesses headquarters in Brooklyn Heights they would have received the commission's enthusiastic approval this is Robert C. where I'm a critic in architecture and planning to station W R N Y C.