Masonry Magazine February 1972 Page. 6
Masonry City
U.S.A.
AMERICA DISCOVERING
QUALITY ARCHITECTURE
IN COLUMBUS, INDIANA
Pick one of the top ten U.S. architects and chances are he's left his mark on Columbus, Indiana. How did it happen in a community with less than 30,000 population?
Well, Columbus discovered quality architecture in 1942. Since then, the nation's most prestigious designers have created more than 30 buildings to make the little city a national architectural showplace, according to the International Masonry Institute. The latest "architectural gem" is the Cleo Rogers Memorial Library designed by I. M. Pei & Partners. The $21½ million sculptural brick pavilion, with brick plaza and terrace, is described by Mayor Eret Kline as "an expression of the desire for wisdom and learning."
The building that started Columbus on its way to good design is the First Christian Church which was dedicated in 1942. It was the last building designed by Eliel Saarinen before his death. He said, "I want to solve this design so that as an architect when I face Saint Peter, I am able to say that out of the buildings I did during my lifetime, one of the best was this little church...that speaks forth to all Christians as a witness to their faith."
The brick building was the first contemporary building constructed in Columbus and one of the first contemporary churches in the U.S. It was a lone witness to contemporary style until Saarinen's son, Eero, designed