Downtown Presbyterian Church of Nashville

Upon entering the sanctuary of the Downtown Presbyterian Church in Nashville, I was flooded by the sensation of a large open space.  The sanctuary was not actually that large, but trompe l'oeil paintings of an Egyptian hypostyle hall and paintings of clouds through a gated ceiling gave the room a feeling of depth.  There was also a lack of large ceiling decorations and other fussy decorations that I believe contributed to this feeling; the majority of the artwork was part of the walls and ceiling itself.  The general consensus amongst our group members was that the space did feel much larger than it actually was, as all the architecture tried to transport us to some grand Egyptian temple much more spacious than our actual surroundings.  Our guide at the church explained that the doorways, in ancient Egyptian fashion, we made “big” for “big gods” to get through—a distinctive feature which contributed to the openness of the space.  All of these architectural decisions gave the place a holy feel.  The architects of the church did a fine job of making an interesting building, but they also were successful in creating a space that naturally evokes inspiring spiritual qualities.

Red, teal, and tan, the traditional colors used most in ancient Egypt, color the walls of the church in vibrant hues.  The space was marked by a consistent rhythm of geometric forms; columns lined the walls, and much of the artwork included triangular patterns, a popular trait of ancient Egyptian art.   The repetition of forms and symmetrical layout of the sanctuary seemed to direct the viewer’s focus to the triangular organ above the pulpit, and down toward the pulpit itself:  obviously the main focus when the place is used for worship.  The stained glass windows were elements contradictory the Egypt theme; stained glass was a material not used for windows at the time.  But windows are necessary, and these managed to scatter low light across the brightly colored and intricately designed Egyptian imagery that filled the church, as wells as depict scenes that reference Egypt and the Nile and incorporate the popular ancient Egyptian colors.  The building itself was also not of the same stone the Egyptians would have used; the church even included wooden elements, a material foreign to ancient Egyptian architectural structures.  Instead, this building was built to last with modern materials, yet embellished with artistic elements of the past.  The site of the building is significant, as it is not in Egypt but downtown Nashville, surrounded by buildings of various architectural styles, many Western and modern.  The face of the church is not so distinctly Egyptian as its internal space, but the fact that it is so unusual and seems out of context of the rest of the city draws attention to just how magnificent it is architecturally and causes its viewers to consider why the architects chose to construct and decorate it the way they did.  Stylistically, the building was influenced by the “Egyptomania” craze in art, but it is also significant because both the church and the temples whose style it references function as places of worship and are designed with sacredness in mind.  Ultimately, the building is beautiful; being within it is a divine experience, and the awe-inspiring form of the place manages to contribute to its function.