The Luce Chapel (Taichung)

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  lee_chihweilee_chihwei

  The Luce Memorial Chapel is a Christian chapel on the campus of Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan. It was designed by the firm of noted architect I. M. Pei, and named in honor of Rev. Henry Luce, an American missionary in China in the late 19th century and father of publisher Henry Luce. The project was originally planned in April 1954 but put on hold until July 1960. Construction took place from September 1962 until November 1963. Construction costs were USD $125,000. The chapel occupies a 12,000 square metre site on campus and is set on an irregular hexagonal base, providing 477 m² of gross floor area, including a 245 m² nave (500 seats), 81 m² chancel, and 44 m² robing rooms. The church itself is a curved, tent-like structure rising as a hyperbolic paraboloid to 19.2 m high and establishing a central focal landmark on the campus. The chapel was executed in reinforced concrete with its form providing earthquake stability. Construction involved elaborate formwork by local craftsmen. Ribs reinforce the curved surfaces and thicken as they descend, preventing buckling while expressing structural forces. The exterior is covered by glazed diamond-shaped tiles, and on the interior, thicker diamond-shaped concrete coffers at the bottom gradually diminish in size as they near the top since stresses are concentrated near the ground.

  18 years ago | reply | hide comment
• 
  lee_chihweilee_chihwei

  I. M. Pei declares that the chapel is his work. However, the actual designer is Chen, Chi-Kwan who was working for I. M. Pei that time. Chen created this amazing master work and planed the Tunghai University campus. Chen is not so well-known as I. M. Pei, but a successful architect who performs chinese philosophy in modern architectural form and also an important artist presenting modern space and traditional spirits in his chinese brush paintings.

  18 years ago | reply | hide comment