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Luce Memorial Chapel
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Grand Louvre, Gateway Towers, Bank of China Tower, IBM Corporate Office Building, John F. Kennedy Library, Dallas City Hall, National Airlines Terminal of JFK International Airport—in Europe, Asia, and the U.S., I. M. Pei, attributed by a diversity of extraordinary architectural works, exhibited himself as the most outstanding architect of the time. However, though his works has spread as widely as almost around the world today, it was almost 40 years ago that we had already possessed a masterpiece of his here in Taiwan. Completed in 1963, Luce Memorial Chapel has been the precious for all Taichung citizens, not only for its unique beauty but also for its delicacy of structure.
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With an upward surge culminating in a steel cross against the sky, the 500-seat Luce Memorial Chapel forms a distinguished landmark on the Tunghai University campus. Set on an irregular hexagonal base, the curved planes of the tent-like structure flow inward as they rise, employing complex technology and advanced engineering as a means of aesthetic expression.
For durability in Taiwan's humid and typhoon-tendency climate, the chapel was executed in reinforced concrete; its pyramidal massing provided additional earthquake stability. The structure consists of four twisted leaves cantilevered up from the ground, the two back leaves slightly overlapping the lower front pair. Seemingly independent, the leaves are actually connected by glazed slots and by small structural bow ties cast into the high ridge beams at top.
The construction involved elaborate formwork by local craftsmen. Ribs reinforce the curved surfaces and thicken as they descend, preventing bending while expressing structural forces. The interstitial
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lozenge-shaped voids also shrink, since stresses are concentrated near the ground, each row being different. In a pure approach to the creation of form in space the design adheres closely to the structural system and material, following through with rigorous logic and discipline.
Concerning the design of the chapel, I. M. Pei explained that, since it was a religious construction, his main idea is to have a place for people to pray and worship. Affected by the Gothic churches, Pei adapted the Gothic ideas of ascending toward God—which is, the sky—and mixed them with modern styles and local materials. Today, Luce Memorial Chapel has become the glorious trademark of Tunghai University.
From 1963 to this day, the beauty of the chapel has remained unchanged—so has its charming delicate structure. The only construction designed by I. M. Pei in Taiwan, Luce Memorial Chapel manifests itself significant not only as the outstanding symbolic spot in Taichung but also as the pride of the whole island.
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02/19/05 - vtc128 taiwan
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