Architects and Church

Always looking for an inspiration, the American Institute of Architects has turned to Dr. Robert H. Schuller, senior pastor of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove to deliver the keynote address at its national convention in May in St. Louis.

The indication is that the speech will dwell on secular concerns of the profession, in particular the impact of architecture on users and society.

Schuller has been a client of eminent architects Richard Neutra, who designed Schuller’s “walk-in/drive-in” church, and Philip Johnson, who, in association with John Burgee, designed his all-glass cathedral.

Also, in anticipation of the convention, the AIA announced that Richard Chylinski of the Architecture Department at Cal Poly Pomona, and David Neuman, who has orchestrated much of the redesign of UC Irvine, are slated to be among the 44 architects nationally to be elevated to the institute’s College of Fellows.