A to Z Blogging Challenge - C

 

A to Z April (2022) Blogging Challenge

 

Hello, dear readers!

I'd like to thank you all in advance for stopping by, and I hope that at least a few on my list of remarkable buildings pique your interest as they did mine.

 "Design is not a coincidence or a formula; it is a result of human reflection and vision in response to a specific challenge." — Unknown

C

Chapel of the Holy Cross

 

Commissioned by Marguerite Brunswig Staude, sculptor, architect, and rancher, the Chapel of the Holy Cross design was inspired by a visit to the Empire State Building, where Ms. Staude was certain she saw the distinct shape of a cross in the center of the tower. Having studied alongside Lloyd Wright (son of Frank Lloyd Wright), it wasn't long before all she needed was a location to build and present her vision.

However, finding a location was easier said than done when an archbishop in Los Angeles (where Ms. Staude's parents lived) didn't see her futuristic church, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, as a "good fit."

In all, it was twenty years before she'd see her dream come true.

At one point, Nuns had donated land overlooking the Danube River in Hungary as a site for the church. But plans were scrapped when WWII broke out. So Ms. Staude returned to her US homeland, where she and her husband bought a ranch in the Verde Valley region of Arizona. Surveying the area from the air, she chose a spot on a 1000-foot high bluff, jutting from Sedona's mystical red rock highlands, to build her church. At a time when the local telephone directory listed only 155 names, it came as no surprise that the US Forest Service owned the land. Undeterred, Ms. Stuade presented her plans to Barry Goldwater (Arizona Senator at the time), who granted a special-use permit approval in 1954.

Construction began almost immediately, taking only eighteen months to complete. As if in keeping with the numinous atmosphere, more than 25 tons of red-orange sandstone were moved without the use of dynamite. The Stained glass wall behind the 90-foot cross transforms the small Chapel into a kaleidoscope of color at sunset.

The Chapel of the Holy Cross became a National Landmark in 2012 and is one of the seven man-made wonders of Arizona.

So, what do you think? Have you been? Would you visit?