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Irving Gill: Progress & Poetry in Architecture—A Success!
October 2016
By A. Hayes
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The long-anticipated opening event for SOHO's six-month program called Irving Gill: Progress and Poetry in Architecture brought a sold-out crowd to the First Church of Christ, Scientist on September 23. Beginning with a reception and tours of the 1910 church designed by Gill, guests were able to mingle and marvel as the sun set over this architectural gem on Bankers Hill.
The lecture portion of the evening began with Clifford McMillan, the church historian who oversaw the 1980s-90s restoration, which took eight years. McMillan spoke about the church's revitalization, and what the restoration team learned or uncovered about the building and Gill along the way. He expressed their great respect for one of the founders of Modernism in America.
SOHO board member Milford Wayne Donaldson, FAIA, gave the keynote speech called Irving Gill: Architect, Poet, and Humanist. Donaldson—a preservation architect by trade and a long-time Gill enthusiast—offered an in-depth interpretation of Gill, going beyond his stripped-down Modernist architecture to include the poetic and humanist aspects of his personality as well. Layered with Gill's interest in early 20th-century Progressive social reform, Donaldson took the audience visually through Gill's career and explained the multiple dimensions of this brilliant man.
Donaldson is the Obama Administration-appointed Chairman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and was previously the California State Historic Preservation Officer.
As the evening drew to a close and guests began to leave, the moonlight took its turn highlighting the church architecture, and the marvel began all over again.
Don't miss the new exhibition and architecural tours of Irving Gill: Progress and Poetry in Architecture, now at the Marston House Museum & Gardens through March 26, 2017.
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