Community Christian Church, Kansas City

This Frank Lloyd Wright building sits across from the Country Club Plaza's main shopping district, located on Main at East 46th Street. In April 1940, Community Christian Church came to Wright and asked him to design a new building for them after a fire had destroyed their last church. Wright based his design on a parallelogram including some features previously conceived for his last building for Johnson Wax Company, along with one additional unique feature: a spire of light. Due to high building costs, the scale of the church was reduced during construction. The auditorium was cut back from a planned 1,200 seats to 900 seats, many details were eliminated, and the building was sheathed in gunite, a form of lightweight concrete, over Wright's objections. The spire of light also could not be built and illuminated due to technical limitations of the times. However, the church was dedicated on January 4, 1942 and has served the congregation well.