(history continued)
Kiley's landscape brilliantly filters and controls views of the building, shaping the experience of approaching and using it. The site is conceived as an enclosure, with areas of significantly different character defined by the plantings and the spaces between them. The building is integrated into the fabric of the site instead of being an object surrounded by plantings.
The entry sequence consists of a long curvilinear drive that runs through open woods of old native hardwoods, to a series of parking lots formed into courtyards by high hedges and perimeter trees. A shaded path leads from the parking areas along the main axis of the church. The path emerges into the sunlight, leading to broad steps up a low earthen berm from which the church swells. A low-pitched slate roof hovers over the berm and the surrounding magnolia grove, then suddenly soars skyward into a 192-foot high steeple.
Maple allees define much of the perimeter of the property. A small meadow
bounded by woods, allees, magnolia grove, and hedges affords the single
unobstructed view of the building.
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