The Class of 1959 Chapel
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The Class of 1959 Chapel is a non-denominational chapel located on the campus of Harvard Business School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was designed by Moshe Safdie in 1992, as part of a master plan to complement the existing 1927 campus architecture by McKim, Mead and White that would allow for Business School expansion along the Charles River.[1] It was funded by a gift from alumni from the class of 1959. It was engineered by Weidlinger Associates and built by Richard White Sons, Inc. for a cost of approximately 2.5 million dollars. [2]
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[edit] Structure
The chapel consists of a twenty-seven foot high concrete cylinder surfaced with a layer of patinaed bronze.
On one side of the cylinder is a pyramidal glass greenhouse that houses a below-ground koi pond decorated with live green plants, a small waterfall, and concrete blocks that serve as stepping stones.
Outside the chapel is a rectangular marble tower containing a two-story steel pole and a large bronze ball. The tower is a functioning clock; as the ball moves up and down the pole, lines on the tower indicate the time of day.
[edit] Interior
The chapel itself occupies nearly all of the ground floor of the building and is accessed through a tall metal door from the greenhouse. The interior is a two-story stone cylinder with several semi-circular concrete constructions scalloping the walls. At the top of the cylinder are thin windows with several long prisms that spray light and occasionally rainbows across the austere concrete interior.
[edit] Usage
The furnishings are simple and consist primarily of rows of wooden chairs, a spare concrete altar, a piano and a harpsichord. The acoustics of the chapel are very crisp for a room made almost entirely of concrete. The chapel is used by the Harvard Business School community for non-denominational services, private celebrations and regular concerts. [3]
