“Saarinen was an architect of the geometric sublime. His MIT composition of straight lines and arcs has the simple yet awesome clarity of Euclid’s great proof constructions. Fifty years after the construction of Kresge and the chapel, architects still make pilgrimages with their sketchbooks and cameras, and try to figure out how this master of mid-century modernism did so much with seemingly so little. ... [Saarinen was a] virtuoso of sunlight on surface; the interior of the chapel creates absolute magic from the soft glimmer of subtly shaded brick, and the interplay of glitter and gloom.” – William J. Mitchell, Professor of Architecture and Media Arts & Sciences

It would be difficult to find a more perfect marriage between organ and building than the Chapel at MIT.

Eero Saarinen (1910-1961) was an architect of great versatility, designing such diverse works as the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, the Berkshire Music Shed at Tanglewood, the TWA terminal at JFK Airport, and the “tulip” chairs popularized by their use in “Star Trek.” For MIT Saarinen designed Kresge Auditorium, the Chapel, and the Kresge Oval, as well as the landscaping surrounding all three.

Though today few dispute the architectural mastery of Saarinen’s chapel, the opinion was not so unanimous in the 1950s. An alumnus of the Class of 1928 complained to James Killian, President of MIT, that Kresge and the Chapel were “so far from the classic architecture of the original buildings as to be approaching the bizarre.” Killian replied, “There are, of course, deep differences in architectural philosophy today, and one can find little agreement as to what is appropriate and beautiful ... It is our general attitude that ... MIT should be forward-looking in its architecture as well as in its research and education ...”

Saarinen himself expressed his thoughts in the June, 1955, issue of Technology Review. The Chapel’s windowless, cylindrical design “implied the self-contained, inward-feeling environment” that he felt was desirable for a house of worship. A moat (filled with water except in wintertime) encircles the Chapel, giving an uncanny sense of tranquility that makes the bustle of campus and city seem a world away.

In the absence of windows, sunlight enters the Chapel in two ways. From a circular skylight above the white, marble altar, light glistens down the hanging metal sculpture by Harry Bertoia (1915-1978). And from slits in the arches of the outside wall, light bounces off the water in the moat and shines into the Chapel, reflecting on the undulating brick of the interior, making even the hard brick seem almost fluid.

This brick pattern, as well as the marble floor and the lack of carpets or cushions, are responsible for the glorious acoustics that the Chapel enjoys.

Text & photos by Leonardo Ciampa (2009)