Harvest / Evangelical Formosan Church of San Diego

onion
Intervening along the pastoral landscape of the San Dieguito River Valley, two rectangular stucco boxes were fused together into the letter "L" (and we know what that stands for), then laid out on a gigantic bed of fresh blacktop and concrete. With complete disregard for place and context–both native and vernacular, this house of worship lacks any reference to the symbolic qualities that would identify it as such. It's proximity to the street is a visual obstruction to the traffic that regularly backs up on the other side of the building (not to say the beautiful topography of it's backdrop); hence, it is a safety concern at the speeds traveled along El Camino Real. No PV's on the southerly angled roof, the use of non-native vegetation, and I'll stop now because the list goes on...I'm sure the low angle sun gives those air conditioners a good workout while it's burning a hole through the westerly glazing. A true eyesore and blight on the landscape. Could they have rubbed this onion in our eyes to make us cry any more than this?
Project Information
Project Address: 
13885 El Camino Real San Diego, CA 92130
Project Owner/ Developer: 
Harvest Evangelical Church of San Diego
Owner Contact Name/ Email: 
Senior Pastor Kuo Liang Lin / pastorlin@harvestsd.com
Project Architect/ Designer: 
AVRP Studios
Image
Formosan Church.png
Tags:

Comments:

I don't live in the

Submitted by Darren on Sat, 09/03/2011 - 08:53.
I don't live in the neighborhood and am unaware of the impact it may have had on the surrounding environment, but I saw a lot of design cues that were reminiscent of Spanish ranchos and early Californian architecture, and also green design.

Agreed

Submitted by Architecture Newbie on Sat, 09/10/2011 - 02:41.
Agreed

I work at this facility and,

Submitted by Nick Hsieh on Wed, 08/31/2011 - 23:52.
I work at this facility and, like my colleague, was rather surprised to discover that it was nominated for an Onion. The property is quite nice really, and many who visit say so without prompting. It has a lot of glass to let in natural light, most windows are openable and so we get a natural breeze and seldom use the air conditioners, and the indoor lights are mostly CFL and timed or motion controlled. The simple beauty of this facility was one of the things that struck me when I was interviewing here last year. It's elegant without being ostentatious, which actually seems rather in keeping with the general tenor of the neighborhood. It's certainly no aesthetic blight.

I was very surprised that

Submitted by Kuo Liang Lin on Wed, 08/31/2011 - 22:15.
I was very surprised that our church was nominated for the Onion Award. I started serving as the senior pastor at Harvest/EFC San Diego only after the church moved to this new facility in April 2010. Our church members feel that the building blends really well with the natural and beautiful surroundings. Visitors and new comers seem to share that opinion, as we frequently get unsolicited compliments. In addition, we have found the whole facility to be very user-friendly. Just to respond to the concern of air-conditioning cost, the building is effectively cooled by large, openable windows and so we rarely make use of our air conditioners. We do look forward to the completion of our second phase building of the main sanctuary. By that time, the concern of the architecture's lack of symbolic qualities will certainly diminish. The trees will be fully grown and the landscaping will blend in even more with the natural surroundings. But above all, we are committed to making our ministry a blessing to our neighboring communities. Rev. Kuo Liang Lin, Ph.D. Senior Pastor Harvest/Evangelical Formosan Church of San Diego

Are there more pictures?

Submitted by Curious on Wed, 08/31/2011 - 19:03.
Are there more pictures? What does the interior look like?

http://www.orchidsandonions.o

Submitted by leslee on Wed, 08/31/2011 - 23:25.
http://www.orchidsandonions.org/2011/08/30/harvestevangelical-formosan-c...

Looks nice, modern, the

Submitted by Curious on Fri, 09/02/2011 - 13:26.
Looks nice, modern, the color seems to blend in.

It's kind of pretty at

Submitted by Unregistered on Wed, 08/31/2011 - 04:53.
It's kind of pretty at night, with the lights on.

User of the facility

Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 08/20/2011 - 22:21.
Having been at the facility multiple times, I actually think the building is kind of nice. During the approval process, I believe the architect had to incorporate conditions from the Joint River Park Authority and the various planning commissions. Also, the main sanctuary has not been built. To evaluate this structure before it is complete doesn't seem to make sense.

Phase Two of Ugly?

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 08/26/2011 - 03:59.
If there will be more of this mess to come, I weep for the future of this once pristine location. Phase two of ugly just has no appeal at all. Please be courteous and show respect for your neighbors! This building is a complete disregard for the poetry of form and place making. Blaming an agency for the hideous result is a great way of hiding the pure lack of creativity permeating this design process-another shamefully wasted opportunity!

Ugghhh....

Submitted by Archiphile on Fri, 08/19/2011 - 19:21.
Really? Is that the best design they could come up with? Beyond mediocre, just poor design that completely misses the mark and with no consideration for the surrounding area. No wonder all of the neighbors were up in arms trying to stop this project from being built; it's terrible.