Revitalizing Rudolph Schindler's Architectural Gem | SoCal Connected | KCET

For many decades, Bethlehem Baptist Church in South L.A. has been plagued with endless electrical problems, leaky roofs, and graffiti.
To save the abandoned building, Pastor Melvin Ashley and his church, Faith Build International, decided to step in. The goal was to revitalize and bring back to life what was once architect Rudolph Schindler's only ecclesiastical structure designed in the early 1940s.
Schindler spent much of his career designing single family houses and apartment buildings in Los Angeles. He was big on making the most of small spaces and providing as much indoor lighting as possible to create the illusion of a larger space.
Reporter Jennifer Sabih interviews Pastor Melvin Ashley for more on the congregation as well as the efforts of community members, church-goers, and volunteers to rebuild what was once lost in South L.A.
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[@aarfeld]

Mr. Schindler did not work with Mr. Wright in the '30s and '40s, he worked for Mr. Wright in the early '20s, when Wright was in California designing his houses of that period that were influenced by Aztec and Mayan designs. Schindler then went off on his own, and one of his first California houses was the revolutionary Lovell Beach House in Newport Beach, completed in 1926.

[@fosbury68]

It's a minor miracle that this humble structure survived all of the challenges to its existence over the decades. Heartwarming.

[@FrankLloydDobler]

Is it still used as a church? I notice that this video is from 9 years ago. I looked up address on google maps, and building is now a funeral home.

[@greatmustis]

yeeeah...

[@austinrees]

This is how architecture should be. Not for the elites but for the common people.