Landslide Acceleration: The ground beneath the chapel has started moving at an unprecedented rate of over 2 feet per month, leading to significant structural damage.
Dismantling for Preservation: Due to the rapid deterioration, crews are disassembling the chapel to preserve original materials for potential rebuilding. The location, if stabilized, might host the chapel again; otherwise, a new nearby location will be considered.
Historical Significance: Opened in 1951, the chapel is a celebrated example of “organic architecture” and was declared a National Historic Landmark in December 2023. It’s also a popular site for movies and weddings.
Reconstruction Challenges: The estimated reconstruction time is four years with a cost of at least $20 million, excluding the price of new land in an expensive area.
Community Impact: The chapel is a significant cultural and spiritual site, hosting services for followers of the Swedenborgian denomination and welcoming visitors of all faiths for spiritual experiences with nature.
The Associated Press has the story:
Landslide forces closure of iconic S. California chapel designed by Frank Lloyd Wright’s son
The earth beneath the chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes is moving an unprecedented 2 feet (61 centimeters) or more each month. Intended to celebrate the natural world, the chapel is instead being destroyed by it.
Urban forestry workers remove branches from a redwood tree as they prepare to cut it down next to Wayfarers Chapel, a sanctuary by architect Lloyd Wright, also known as “The Glass Church,” in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Wednesday, May 15, 2024. The modernist chapel features organic architecture with glass walls in a redwood grove overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Part of the Swedenborgian denomination, the church’s followers share in 18th-century Swedish scientist and theologian Emanuel Swedenborg’s “quest for a religion that interconnects all of life, and for a system that allows reasoned questioning of life’s deepest religious issues,” the chapel’s website says. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
“It’s actually dangerous to even walk on the grounds now because everything is breaking,” the Rev. Dan Burchett, the chapel’s executive director, told The Associated Press on Thursday. “Nature, in one sense, is showing her power.”
Signs warn motorists of an extreme road dip cause from landslides on Pacific Palisades Road in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Wednesday, May 15, 2024. The famed cliffside location on the Palos Verdes Peninsula is also responsible for the downfall of the Wayfarers Chapel. While the Portuguese Bend landslide began in 1956, it’s recently worsened, and chapel officials say the earth underneath “The Glass Church” and its surrounding area is now moving an unprecedented 2 feet (0.61 meters) or more each month. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
The emptied interior of Wayfarers Chapel, also known as “The Glass Church,” is seen through the closed front glass doors in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Wednesday, May 15, 2024. The modernist chapel, which is presently closed due to the accelerated land movements, features organic architecture with glass walls in a redwood grove overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The Wayfarers Chapel glass structure, triangular designs, and a transparent glass roof that bathes the interior in natural light was designed by architect Lloyd Wright, son of Frank Lloyd Wright, and completed in 1951. Wayfarers Chapel management announced plans to disassemble the iconic structure to save it from landslide destruction. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
“The transparency of the glass would usher you into a place of nature that the structure would disappear in,” said Burchett, who has also been a chapel officiant since 2000.
An attractive location for movies and weddings, the cliffside spot on the Palos Verdes Peninsula has also contributed to its downfall. The chapel was designated as a National Historic Landmark in December 2023 but closed just two months later, according to the chapel’s website, from the worsening effects of the 1956 Portuguese Bend landslide, part of a larger ancient landslide complex in the area.
Urban forestry workers remove branches from a redwood tree as they prepare to cut it down next to Wayfarers Chapel, a sanctuary by architect Lloyd Wright, also known as “The Glass Church,” in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Wednesday, May 15, 2024. The modernist chapel features organic architecture with glass walls in a redwood grove overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Part of the Swedenborgian denomination, the church’s followers share in 18th-century Swedish scientist and theologian Emanuel Swedenborg’s “quest for a religion that interconnects all of life, and for a system that allows reasoned questioning of life’s deepest religious issues,” the chapel’s website says. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
The damage includes a long crack in the 1949 cornerstone, a buckling asphalt parking lot and fractured 15-foot- (4.6-meter-) tall glass panels, as well as torqued metal framing in the chapel’s ceiling and walls.
Workers remove bricks stamped with past members’ names from a garden path at Wayfarers Chapel, known as “The Glass Church,” in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Wednesday, May 15, 2024. The modernist chapel features organic architecture with glass walls in a redwood grove overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The Wayfarers Chapel was designed by architect Lloyd Wright, son of Frank Lloyd Wright, and completed in 1951. Wayfarers Chapel management announced plans to disassemble the iconic structure to save it from landslide destruction. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Crews raced to disassemble the chapel this week so the original materials — many of which cannot be replicated — can be preserved and used to rebuild, either at the current site if it can be stabilized or somewhere else nearby.
Urban forestry workers remove a redwood tree next to the Wayfarers Chapel, also known as “The Glass Church,” in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Wednesday, May 15, 2024. The modernist chapel epitomizes “organic architecture” that seeks to put its glass frame among redwood trees in a redwood grove overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The famed cliffside location on the Palos Verdes Peninsula is also responsible for its downfall. While the Portuguese Bend landslide began in 1956, it’s recently worsened, and chapel officials say the earth underneath “The Glass Church” and its surrounding area is now moving an unprecedented 2 feet (0.61 meters) or more each month. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
“These are hard days; these are days to grieve, no doubt,” Burchett said. “But we will celebrate again, we are sure of that.”
The back entrance to Wayfarers Chapel, also known as “The Glass Church,” is seen in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Wednesday, May 15, 2024. The modernist chapel features organic architecture with a triangular design and transparent glass roof walls in a redwood grove overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The Wayfarers Chapel was designed by architect Lloyd Wright, the son of Frank Lloyd Wright, and completed in 1951. Wayfarers Chapel management announced plans to disassemble the iconic structure to save it from landslide destruction. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Part of the Swedenborgian denomination, the church’s followers share in 18th century Swedish scientist and theologian Emanuel Swedenborg’s “quest for a religion that interconnects all of life, and for a system that allows reasoned questioning of life’s deepest religious issues,” the chapel’s website says.
Wood beams support tilted hall walls next to the Wayfarers Chapel, known as “The Glass Church,” in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Wednesday, May 15, 2024. The modernist chapel features organic architecture with glass walls nested in a redwood grove overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The famed cliffside location on the Palos Verdes Peninsula is also responsible for its downfall. While the Portuguese Bend landslide began in 1956, it’s recently worsened, and chapel officials say the earth underneath “The Glass Church” and its surrounding area is now moving an unprecedented 2 feet (0.61 meters) or more each month. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
The chapel also served as a national monument to Swedenborg, and hosted regular worship services for wayfarers — “all who come, no matter their faith or status” — until the landslide forced them to relocate to a nearby Episcopal church earlier this year.
The Hallelujah Tower, left. to the Wayfarers Chapel, also known as “The Glass Church,” are seen in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Wednesday, May 15, 2024. The famed cliffside location on the Palos Verdes Peninsula is also responsible for its downfall. While the Portuguese Bend landslide began in 1956, it’s recently worsened, and chapel officials say the earth underneath “The Glass Church” and its surrounding area is now moving an unprecedented 2 feet (0.61 meters) or more each month. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
“We don’t exclude anyone, even if the person says they’re an atheist and they don’t believe in God but they want to join with nature and have some spiritual experience, they are welcome to do that with the chapel,” Burchett said.
A wood base supports the tilting walls of a hall leading to Wayfarers Chapel, also known as “The Glass Church,” in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Wednesday, May 15, 2024. The famed cliffside location on the Palos Verdes Peninsula is also responsible for its downfall. While the Portuguese Bend landslide began in 1956, it’s recently worsened, and chapel officials say the earth underneath “The Glass Church” and its surrounding area is now moving an unprecedented 2 feet (0.61 meters) or more each month. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
A reporter walks upstairs next to a broken sidewalk at the entrance to Wayfarers Chapel, also known as “The Glass Church,” in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Wednesday, May 15, 2024. The modernist chapel features organic architecture with glass walls in a redwood grove overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The Wayfarers Chapel was designed by architect Lloyd Wright, son of Frank Lloyd Wright, and completed in 1951. Wayfarers Chapel management announced plans to disassemble the iconic structure to save it from landslide destruction. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
It’s also hosted many real-life celebrity weddings. Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys founder who composed hit song “Good Vibrations,” married his wife, Melinda, there in 1995.
“The vibrations in that chapel were so wonderful,” Wilson reportedly said.
The pavement surface of the parking lot of Wayfarers Chapel shows multiple repairs due to damage from landslides in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Wednesday, May 15, 2024. The modernist chapel features organic architecture with glass walls nestled in a redwood grove overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The Wayfarers Chapel was designed by architect Lloyd Wright, son of Frank Lloyd Wright, and completed in 1951. Wayfarers Chapel management announced plans to move forward with the disassembly of the iconic structure to save it from landslide destruction. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
