architecture
the most dramatic chapel on earth
if god was real and happened to be a sci-fi fan i reckon the cadet chapel at the air force academy in colorado would be his chapel of choice. it looks like no place of worship you’ve ever seen and from the outside resembles a row of 17 angular spacecraft sitting on their back-ends, ready to shoot off at any minute. the chapel and its surrounding complex was designed by walter netsch of architectural firm skidmore, owings & merrill and construction was completed in 1963. no sooner had the 150ft high spire-fest been announced than the public outcry began: as the chapel was a government-funded religious building, members of congress were opposed to the fact that more than $3m was to be spent on a chapel with so many spires when, ’surely’, only 1 was needed. they ultimately lost the battle but succeeded in cutting the amount of spires from the originally planned 19 to the still extravagant 17 you see today.
all things considered, this chapel is nuts, brilliant and ridiculously dramatic. the fact that it also sits amongst jets, helicopters and soldiers on a daily basis makes it all the more likeable and surreal. if you don’t feel the drama yet, watch the clip below: the soundtrack is an inspired choice that, at one point near the start, caused me to believe the building was about to launch. it also shows off the interior which wouldn’t look out of place on the starship enterprise.
incredible.
all photos from the united states air force academy’s official site.
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It’s dramatic alright… dramatically out-of-place. It looks like a giant electric clippers head dropped into an otherwise beautiful landscape– some behemoth’s litterings.
this would be perfect for a scene in battlestar galactica. if i was a cylon, i would want to be talking to my god in this church.
I have been there and it does not seem to contrast with the surroundings as much as it may appear in the pictures. The inside is beautiful in person, but I don’t recall the dramatic video music
Oh, and it’s an F-15 Eagle, unlike what the video states.
yep-fascist architecture for a fascist institution - the AFA has been mired for a decade or more in scandals whereby it has been promoting an evangelical creed which contravenes the separation of church & stae that the US Constitution requires
For any Battlestar Gallactica fans out there, how much does this chapel remind you of the Cylon’s Resurrection ship from season3. It’s uncanny.
It seems the chappel in Battlestar Galactica!!
http://www.juzamdjinn.blogspot.com
I agree with some of the above comments, I think this chapel looks out of place. It looks like it should be in a sci-fi movie.
Regards.
Not sure about the link with Battlestar Gallactica, but just to clarify a comment. There is no “separation of church and state” in the Constitution of the United States.
The exact phrase doesn’t appear, Frank– but it would be rather ridiculous to say that the idea does not appear in the first amendment.
I never liked this building. It is a great design for the academy, but it clashes with the beautiful environment around it.
it is so wonderful that tax money goes to this - i mean great building and all, but not for a church that tax money was spent on.
It’s the Temple of Nod!! Bow to Kane!!
For all you wackjobs out there, all US Air Force bases are required to have religious services available. So they had to build a chapel, why not build a cool looking one? And its not just a Christian church, there is a Jewish temple inside as well as a place for Muslim services. We have to be PC now don’t we.