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Stained Glass Panels at the U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel

 

The “Fish Church” that I profiled last week reminded me of another iconic house of worship from around the same era, with some similar qualities (including modern stained glass panels, though used much more sparingly): the United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel, a designated U.S. National Historical Landmark just outside of Colorado Springs.

Designed in 1954 by Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (one of the largest and most influential architecture, interior design, engineering, and urban planning firms in the world), the chapel was conceived to be a single structure accommodating the individuality of three major faith traditions by way of three distinct chapels: a Jewish Chapel, a Catholic Chapel, and a Protestant Chapel. In 2007, a small Buddhist Chapel was added; and in 2011, an outdoor space known as Falcon Circle was created for followers of “Earth-Centered Spirituality.” The building also has several “all-faiths” rooms and meeting rooms. They all come together in what is truly an epic monument – seventeen rows of enormous spires come to seventeen points, shooting up to the sky, with a tubular steel frame made up of 100 tetrahedrons. Between the tetrahedrons are colorful stained glass panels, which attract and reflect both exterior and interior light.

Interestingly, the three main chapels have different relationships to the glass. In the Jewish Chapel’s synagogue (which is designed to be a circle within a square), wooden panels and translucent glass cover most of the building’s architectural features; but in the foyer, some beautiful purple stained glass panels with green and blue accent windows can be found.

 

 

In the Catholic Chapel, the glass operates a little more like traditional stained glass windows, running vertically along the side walls of the space. A glass mosaic mural, designed by Lumen Martin Winter to be an abstract portrayal of the firmament, is featured prominently as the altarpiece.

 

 

The Protestant Chapel is the largest chapel, and here the stained glass panels form dazzling ribbons of color, following the lines of the architectural tetrahedrons. The colors are dark and rich in the back of the space, becoming lighter as they move toward the altar.

 

 

So far, I’ve never had the pleasure of visiting the United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel in person – but it’s definitely on my art glass bucket list.