Cadet Chapel

From USAFA Folklore

The Cadet Chapel is the architectural symbol of the Academy. It consists of seventeen sections of interlocking tetrahedrons and reaches over 200 feet above Terrazzo level. Inside are sections for Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish worship, as well as an all-faiths room, a chorale practice room, and some extra rooms.

[edit] Architecture

(adapted from USAFA's National Historic Landmark application)

The Chapel, completed in 1963, is the focal point of the Cadet Area with its triangular row of seventeen spires dramatically set against the backdrop of the peaks of the Rampart Range. Certainly the most visible Academy landmark from I-25 and the most photographed building on the campus, its spectacular architecture has made it an icon representing the entire Academy. The chapel is located in a north-south orientation on the southeast corner of the level of the Honor Court. However, when one is near the building, it can be seen that the building is visually separated from the remainder of the Honor Court by different surface treatments, a wide ramp, and dissimilar landscaping to the west.

The structure is a tubular steel frame of 100 identical tetrahedrons, each 75 feet long, weighing five tons, and enclosed with clear aluminum panels. The primary members are six-inch tubes with four-inch secondary cross-braces. Fabricated in Missouri, they were shipped by rail to the site. The tetrahedrons are spaced a foot apart, creating gaps in the framework that are filled with one-inch thick colored glass. Although the tetrahedrons are generally filled by triangular clear aluminum panels, the tetrahedrons between the spires at the chapel level are filled with a mosaic of colored glass in aluminum frame. It rises 150 feet from hinge to pinnacle, has an overall length of 280 feet and width of eighty-four feet from hinge to hinge. The front façade, on the south, has wide granite stairway with steel railings capped by aluminum handrails leading up one story to a landing. At the landing is a band of gold anodized aluminum doors, and gold anodized aluminum sheets apparently covering original windows. Above the doors is a glass wall. The triangular north façade consists of a glass curtain wall in aluminum frame.

Its plan responded to a design directive to create three distinct worship areas under a single roof. Inspired by chapels at Saint-Chapelle in France and the Church of St. Francis of Assisi in Italy, Skidmore Owings and Merrill architect Walter A. Netsch Jr. stacked the spaces on two levels.

The Protestant Chapel, designed to seat 900 cadets, is located on the main floor, reached by ascending exterior stairs. Entering through central doors on the south elevation, the visitor passes through a woodpaneled narthex into the nave, measuring 64 by 168 feet, reaching up ninety-four feet to the highest peak. The center aisle terminates at the altar. The diffused light of the space creates the dominant impression, alternating between the soft sheen of aluminum and the color of the stained glass windows. The colored glass strips are composed of twenty-four hues and range in general tonality from violet at the narthex through red and blue to gold at the altar. The gable ends are glazed with amber glass. Above the narthex, in the rear, is a choir balcony and organ, built by M. P. Moller Company of Hagerstown, Maryland. Harold E. Wagoner designed the liturgical furnishings for the Protestant and Catholic chapels.

Below the Protestant Chapel, the Catholic Chapel, with a nave fifty-six feet wide, 113 feet long and nineteen feet high, is essentially horizontal in character, seating 500. Its prestressed concrete ceiling is coffered in a diamond pattern to recall the tetrahedron shape. Looking through the tinted glass side walls, one sees the concrete abutments rising from sloping walls of triangular-patterned concrete inset with sandblasted granite. Historically, cobble filled the triangular area now covered by granite. Luman Martin Winter designed the nickel silver crucifix and reredos of Venetian glass mosaic.

Also on the lower level, the Jewish Chapel, seating 100, is circular in shape, with a diameter of forty-two feet and a height of nineteen feet. It is enclosed by a vertical grill with inserts of clear glass opening to the foyer. The circular form and transparent walls were used to suggest a tent-like structure. The floor is paved with Jerusalem brownstone, donated by Israeli Defense Forces.

[edit] Rumors

It is not clear why there are 17 spires on the chapel. A few of the most popular rumors are:

• There were originally going to be 21 (or 23, or more), but they ran out of money.
• The spires represent the 12 apostles (or the 12 tribes of Israel) and the 5 Chiefs of Staff
• The 10 Commandments and the 7 Sacraments (usually the explanation given by chaplains)

More likely:

• With 17 spires, it took exactly 100 identical tetrahedrons to construct it. Every additional spire would require 6 more tetrahedrons.