FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
Asheville, North Carolina
A landmark in Ellington's bold and imaginative style, this was his first design in Asheville. In this extraordinary church Ellington displayed his innovative combination of concepts, including his resilient Beaux Arts classical massing, the stark forms of early Christian church architecture, and vividly new Art Deco details. The severe brick walls and pillars rise to a large dome, which is covered with tile and rises to a tall Art Deco lantern. Ellington explained that his subtly unifying color program begins with the green of the weathered copper lantern - akin to the green mountainsides in the background - then moves downward through the domed roof tiles that begin with a similar green, then graduate to warm red akin to the orange bricks, terra-cotta, and pink marble of the walls.
The sanctuary, a great auditorium in the round, is sheltered by the capacious dome. Curved rows of seating on the slanted floor and in the full balcony focus on the pulpit. Behind the pulpit is enframed the raised baptismal pool. The strong detailing throughout continues the Art Deco esthetic. As Ellington observed, the sanctuary was built as part of a unified complex designed to meet the social, educational, and administrative needs of a large, modern congregation; brick support buildings extend beyond the main building.
From: "A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Western North Carolina"; Catherine W. Bishar, Michal T. Southern, & Jennifer F. Martin, 1999, The University of North Carolina Press, pp 269.