Nan: When I think of Buildings and Architecture in Los Angeles I often think of this place….
Here.
And here.
One look at them and you think “Oh that’s L.A.”
But if a building captures your attention does it make it a landmark?
What does it take to take an ordinary building and turn it into a building that makes an
impact in the community that it stands in?
We’ll find out on this episode of Blueprint.
I’m Nan Zapanta.
As an industrial designer, I spent years admiring the great designs of products, vehicles, and
architectures from all over the world.
But I found Architecture to be the most captivating.
I love learning about each building, discovering the characteristics that make it unique and
understanding the purpose behind its design.
Most of all I love hearing about the stories behind each structure and seeing God’s plan
in putting it all together.
Join us as we discover the Blueprint of the buildings and structures
inside the Iglesia Ni Cristo.
Aaron: I guess a building becomes a landmark when its got the aesthetics and the beauty
to it and there’s passion put into it.
Juliette: Its history and what it means to the community and the people that live around
the area.
I think that’s what makes a building a landmark for sure.
Roff: I think what makes a building a landmark isn’t really like sort of the design or
the architecture but the events that surround it.
Nan: That feeling of recognition, identifiability, and even pride sums up the way that I feel
when I see houses of worship of the Iglesia Ni Cristo or Church of Christ, like this one
in Los Angeles, California.
I mean look at the color, the steeples, and even the placement of the seal.
You automatically see that it’s a house of worship or a building of the Iglesia Ni Cristo.
While the L.A. house of worship was built from the ground up, many of the buildings
of the Church Of Christ outside of the Philippines are renovations.
To find out what it takes to renovate a building versus building from the ground up, I traveled
to Fuscoe Engineering in Los Angeles California.
Their office works with renovations and ground up projects for residential, retail, and commercial buildings.
Alright, so we’re here at Fuscoe Engineering.
We’re about to meet RJ Castro and some of his colleagues.
They’re going to tell us a little bit more about renovations and ground up builds and
just give us more insight in the industry.
So let’s go check it out and go meet him and some of his colleagues
Nan: Hey!
Jason: Hey, glad you could make it.
Nan: Thank you so much for having us.
We’re really excited to be meeting you and the rest of your colleagues.
Jason: Alright, yeah let’s do this.
Nan: Cool thank you.
Can you explain to us what the difference is between a ground-up build and a renovation?
Jason: So basically a renovation, I’ll start with that, is fixing something that has an
existing, either structure or a, you know, side plan already.
Nan: This is exactly what happened to this former Lutheran building in Regina Saskatchewan
when it was transformed into a Church Of Christ worship building.
Andrew Willrodt is a Principal Senior Project Manager.
His projects have been primarily focused in the urban sectors of the greater Los Angeles area.
He gave us a break down of what type of work goes on even before a renovation begins.
Nan: You know if they’re looking at a building and they’re trying to determine whether
or not it’s even worth it to renovate, like what are some of those factors?
Andrew: Good question.
Regardless of the ambitions of the specific renovation and its architectural programming
and features within that renovated space just to reoccupy or to occupy it and pursue building
code reviews with the different agencies.
Assessing whether you can really retrofit that in an economic way and bring it up to code.
Nan: So if we apply this to the buildings of the Church Of Christ, before this can become
this, Or this into this, The following questions need to be answered.
Is it Structurally sound?
Do we need to bring it up to code?
Is it ready to be occupied?
Is it the right size for the congregation?
And unlike a ground-up build like this one in Los Angeles, the renovation team may still
find things that may change the original plans.
Andrew: And so that’s an added element to an infill redevelopment project that doesn’t
really exist to that rigor on a ground-up project.
Nan: This is the challenge Raymond Frank, architect of the Church Of Christ renovation
team, outside of the Philippines, takes on whenever a new house of worship is purchased
like this one, in Bakersfield California.
A city that’s about 100 miles north of Los Angeles.
Raymond: The exterior of the building is a little bit different.
It doesn’t really look like a chapel.
Nan: The design for the house of worship originally came from the Engineering Department in the
Philippines.
But because of the unusual layout of the building as well as city requirements, modifications
on the design were made by the renovation team in the U.S.
Raymond: Renovations are always difficult because we have so many different types that
we are given we have to have all the things that we need for our worship and when we enter
the main sanctuary we focus on making it beautiful.
Having the focal point of the tribuna and the choir loft.
We want to make sure that we also give an opportunity for quietness so we make sure
that the building and the main sanctuary is very quiet.
You know when you have an existing building you know we have to kind of take all those
things and try to make it fit into our program so that you know from church to a chapel to
chapel we can always have that same experience of having a beautiful and a solemn worship
service to God.
Nan: The building on Mt. Vernon Avenue looked more like a house than a Church building;
and so to help transform it into a worship building, most specifically an Iglesia Ni Cristo
House of Worship, a Steeple was added in the front along with the Seal.
Paint and moldings on the exterior of the building also added to the transformation.
And finally, a fence was added around the perimeter which has clearly set it apart from
the surrounding community and allowed for the maintenance of security and orderliness
within the property.
Raymond: We were able to make it one of our Iglesia chapels.
Nan: So we’re inside the chapel here in Bakersfield, California.
Let’s go check it out.
Come on in with me.
Nan: So as you can see, the inside of the chapel is very bright, very nice and beautiful.
If you look up, you see how intricate the design work is, the molding itself, very intricate
but then when you look down here, the pews are very minimal.
There are multiple molding designs for the Church Of Christ houses of worship.
Once selected the design is slightly modified to fit the building.
So as we make our way up here, we’re going to come up here to the pulpit.
While the moldings and pews were made in the U.S, the chairs in the pulpit were handmade
and shipped from the Philippines.
So you can see all the design work here.
Very very intricate, very beautiful, all done by hand.
It compliments not only the intricacy of the ceiling but also the pews as well.
Ramel: It’s very beautiful.
It’s hard to describe it, but when you’re here, you could see it.
Nan: Bought and purchased on August 31, 2010, the INC (Iglesia Ni Cristo) Members from Bakersfield
eagerly watched the transformation of the house of worship.
Trystan: The construction now, it’s really mind-blowing because from the blueprints you
could just see what’s going to be renovated, what’s going to be constructed, their eyes
light up and the way they react is, the first thing they do is “Woaah” or you know because
there’s new things coming up, there’s new things that they’re putting in.
Nan: Bakersfield may not be the most iconic of California's cities.
Nestled at the bottom of the state’s Central Valley and known mainly for oil and agriculture.
It's quiet, conservative and even unassuming.
But it’s here where a new building of the Church Of Christ is set to make an impact.
To stand out in the community and give people a place they can find comfort.
A landmark for those seeking God’s words.
Katheryne: I was a part of Bakersfield when they were hopping from school to school, to
hotel to hotel.
It makes me happy.
Even though I’m not part of this local anymore, it makes me really happy to see that we have
a place of our own, to worship in.
Chloe: We’ll all the more invite guests to let them know that this house of worship
isn’t ordinary.
It really touches the heart once you go inside.
Don: A landmark is a place, a building, or edifice of importance within a community.
Having a house of worship here in Bakersfield strengthens the brethren because this is where
we gather to worship, but it also introduces our faith to the citizens of Bakersfield.
Nan: The house of worship was dedicated to God in a worship service led by the Executive Minister
of the Church Of Christ, Brother Eduardo V. Manalo.
Joey: Being born and raised in Bakersfield, having the house of worship dedicated feels
like I’m coming home.
You know it feels like now I have a place where I can come and God’s waiting for me.
I don’t have to go anywhere else, I’m right here at home!
Nan: it’s been another great trip here in Bakersfield California.
Thanks for joining us here on this episode of Blueprint wherein the end, everything is
part of God’s plan.
On the next Blueprint, we head back out to Lubbock, Texas and learn how the INC (Iglesia
Ni Cristo) is impacting a community by bringing life to this building.