MIT Chapel
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The MIT Chapel (dedicated 1955) is a non-denominational chapel designed by noted architect Eero Saarinen. It is located on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, next to Kresge Auditorium which Saarinen also designed, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Though a small building, it ranks as one of the great examples of mid-Century modern architecture in the US.
From the outside the chapel is a simple, windowless brick cylinder set inside a very shallow concrete moat. It is 50 feet in diameter and 30 feet high, and topped by an aluminum spire. It is set in a grove of birch trees, with a long low wall to the east protecting the site from the noise and bustle of adjacent buildings.
Within is a remarkably intimate space, stunning in its immediate visual impact. Windowless interior walls are undulating brick. Like a cascade of light, a full-height metal sculpture by Harry Bertoia glitters from the circular skylight down to a small, unadorned marble altar. Natural light filters upward from shallow slits in the walls catching reflected light from the moat; this dim ambient light is complemented by artificial lighting.
