The modernist architecture of the Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel

The United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel, completed in 1962, is a standout feature of the Cadet Area at the United States Air Force Academy north of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Designed by Walter Netsch of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill of Chicago, it was constructed by Robert E. McKee, Inc, of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The chapel, originally controversial in its design, has become a recognized classic and highly regarded example of modernist architecture.

It was awarded the American Institute of Architects’ National Twenty-five Year Award in 1996, and, as part of the Cadet Area, it was named a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 2004. The most striking aspect of the chapel is its row of seventeen spires. The original design called for twenty-one spires, but this number was reduced due to budget issues. The structure is a tubular steel frame of 100 identical tetrahedrons, each 75 feet (23 m) long, weighing five tons, and enclosed with aluminum panels.

The panels were fabricated in Missouri and shipped by rail to the site. The tetrahedrons are spaced a foot apart, creating gaps in the framework that are filled with 1-inch-thick (25 mm) colored glass. The tetrahedrons comprising the spires are filled by triangular aluminum panels, while the tetrahedrons between the spires are filled with a mosaic of colored glass in aluminum frame. The Cadet Chapel itself is 150 feet (46 m) high, 280 feet (85 m) long, and 84 feet (26 m) wide.

The front façade, on the south, has a 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, flanked by gold anodized aluminum panels, designed and detailed to match the doors. The shell of the chapel and surrounding grounds cost $3.5 million to build. Various furnishings, pipe organs, liturgical fittings and adornments of the chapel were presented as gifts from various individuals and organizations.

In 1959, a designated Easter offering was also taken at Air Force bases around the world to help complete the interior. The Cadet Chapel was designed specifically to house three distinct worship areas under a single roof. Inspired by chapels at Sainte-Chapelle in France and the Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi in Italy, Netsch stacked the spaces on two main levels. The Protestant nave is located on the upper level, while the Catholic and Jewish chapels and a Buddhist room are located beneath it. Beneath this level is a larger room used for Islamic services and two meeting rooms. Each chapel has its own entrance, so services may be held simultaneously without interfering with one another.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons