Editing Unity Temple (section)

===== Layout =====
[[File:Unity Temple - Oak Park IL 14 (3224136697).jpg|alt=Detail of one of the piers, with a ceiling skylight visible at left|thumb|Detail of one of the piers, with wooden strips that meet at right angles]]

Wright wrote that he had "let the room inside be the architecture outside" by designing the rest of the temple around the auditorium.<ref name="Wright p. 154" /><ref>{{harvnb|McCarter et al|1997|ps=|page=11}}; {{harvnb|Sokol|2008|ps=.|page=58 }}</ref> The auditorium at the north end of the temple has either 380<ref name="Oak Leaves 1975e">{{cite web |date=February 26, 1975 |title=Concerts to aid restoration |url=https://riverforest.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?i=f&d=01011975-12311976&e=unity%20temple&m=between&ord=e1&fn=forest_leaves_usa_illinois_oak_park_19750226_english_39&df=1&dt=10 |access-date=February 6, 2025 |work=Oak Leaves |page=39 |via=River Forest Public Library }}</ref> or 400 seats.<ref name="Oak Leaves 1969c" /><ref name="News Journal 1974">{{Cite news |date=October 6, 1974 |title=Unity concert series mingles the arts |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-journal-unity-concert-series-mingle/164850202/ |access-date=February 6, 2025 |work=News Journal |pages=3 }}</ref><ref name="Zoroya 1998">{{cite news |last=Zoroya |first=Gregg |date=November 6, 1998 |title=Traveling to all the Wright places |work=USA Today |page=10D |id={{ProQuest|408753108}} }}</ref> It is shaped like a [[Greek cross]],<ref name="Kamin 2025" /><ref name="Levine p. 45">{{harvnb|Levine|1996|ps=.|page=45 }}</ref> with a freestanding pier at each corner.<ref name="Levine p. 41" /><ref name="McCarter2 p. 19" /><ref name="Wright p. 155">{{harvnb|Wright|2005|ps=.|page=155 }}</ref> This contrasted with other churches in Oak Park, which had [[nave]]s that were significantly longer than their width.<ref name="Siry pp. 96–97" /> Wright wanted congregants to circulate around the auditorium's perimeter, rather than entering it from a central [[aisle]],<ref>{{harvnb|Siry|1996|ps=.|page=104 }}</ref> and he wanted the piers to draw visitors' attention inward.<ref name="Wright p. 155" /> The piers are connected by "cloisters", hallways {{Convert|4|ft}} beneath the auditorium's main floor.<ref name="Oak Leaves p. 102" /><ref name="Levine p. 43">{{harvnb|Levine|1996|ps=.|page=43 }}</ref><ref name="McCarter2 p. 17" /> According to Wright, this preserved the auditorium's "quiet and dignity" by allowing people to circulate around the room unnoticed.<ref name="McCarter2 pp. 17–18">{{harvnb|McCarter et al|1997|ps=.|pages=17–18 }}</ref> The bases of the piers contain small anterooms,<ref name="Levine p. 43" /> and staircases ascend to the main floor and balcony level.<ref name="Oak Leaves p. 102" /><ref name="McCarter2 pp. 17–18" /> The piers also include pipes and ducts for heating and ventilation.<ref name="Oak Leaves p. 102" /><ref name="McCarter2 p. 19" /> The piers are decorated with wooden strips that meet at right angles.<ref>{{harvnb|Siry|1996|ps=.|page=180 }}</ref>

At the center of the cross is a square measuring {{convert|33|ft}} on each side,<ref name="Siry p. 160">{{harvnb|Siry|1996|ps=.|page=160 }}</ref> with a [[pulpit]] at the center.<ref name="Levine p. 44" /> The pulpit is arranged so it is no farther than {{Convert|45|ft}}<ref name="Kamin x694" /><ref name="Zoroya 1998" /> or {{Convert|75|ft}} from any seat.<ref name="Oak Leaves 1969d" /> In front of the pulpit is a railing with wooden boards across its surface and a wooden coping at its top. The center of the railing, in front of the pulpit's [[lectern]], is slightly raised. There is a bench behind the railing, as well as lamps to either side.<ref>{{harvnb|Siry|1996|ps=.|page=186 }}</ref> The southern wall contains a [[choir loft]] directly above the auditorium's entrance, which extends to the balcony level.<ref name="Oak Leaves p. 102" /> The [[choir screen]] consists of a series of vertical slits and interlocking [[Plane (geometry)|geometric planes]].<ref name="Levine p. 44" /><ref name="Siry pp. 182–183">{{harvnb|Siry|1996|ps=.|pages=182–183 }}</ref> The screen protrudes from the south wall, providing space for the organ pipes behind them.<ref name="Siry pp. 182–183" /> There is a door to the pastor's study behind the choir screen.<ref name="McCarter2 p. 22" />[[Image:Unity Temple, 875 Lake Street, Oak Park, Cook County, IL 061740pv.jpg|thumb|right|[[Historic American Buildings Survey]] photograph of the pulpit]]The pews in the auditorium are variants of a mass-produced model of pews manufactured by the [[American Seating Company]].<ref name="Sokol pp. 119–120" /> On three sides of the main floor are raised pews, which seat 54 people each;<ref name="Levine p. 44">{{harvnb|Levine|1996|ps=.|page=44 }}</ref> they are [[Rake (theatre)|raked]], sloping down toward the pulpit.<ref name="Siry p. 177">{{harvnb|Siry|1996|ps=.|page=177 }}</ref> The layout also allows audience members to face each other.<ref name="Siry p. 189" /><ref name="Reid 2014" /><ref name="McCarter2 p. 21">{{harvnb|McCarter et al|1997|ps=.|page=21 }}</ref> Exits from either side of the pulpit lead directly to the entrance pavilion.<ref name="Levine p. 44" /><ref name="McCarter2 pp. 21–22" /><ref name="Biemiller 1996">{{Cite magazine |last=Biemiller |first=Lawrence |date=February 23, 1996 |title=Lessons in wood and stone |magazine=The Chronicle of Higher Education |page=C5 |volume=42 |issue=24 |id={{ProQuest|214726508}} }}</ref> This eliminated the need for congregants to turn away from the pulpit to leave, as was customary in older churches,<ref name="Oak Leaves 1969c" /><ref name="Levine p. 44" /><ref name="McCarter2 pp. 21–22">{{harvnb|McCarter et al|1997|ps=.|pages=21–22 }}</ref> and it allowed congregants to mingle with the pastor or other speakers at the pulpit.<ref name="Biemiller 1996" /> According to architectural critic [[Blair Kamin]], the layout makes it so that "one enters as an individual and leaves as a member of a community".<ref name="Kamin x694" /> The exit doors are normally closed during services.<ref name="Oak Leaves 1957c" /> Since 2017, there has been a video screen behind the pulpit.<ref name="Hindery h568" />

The balcony is about {{convert|13.5|ft}} or two units above the ground<ref name="Siry p. 124" /> and also surrounds the auditorium on three sides.<ref name="Oak Leaves p. 102" /><ref name="Levine p. 43" /> The balcony has 153 seats in total,<ref name="Oak Leaves p. 102" /> which are more steeply raked than those on the main level.<ref name="Siry p. 177" /> The balcony is illuminated by spherical lamps, and there are wooden bands on the balcony's railings and on the [[soffit]] along the balcony's underside.<ref name="Siry p. 177" /> The architectural historian Robert Twombly wrote that the balconies gave the auditorium an intimate feel while allowing visitors to feel like they were part of a larger "majestic whole".<ref name="nyt-1984-09-02" />