Carr Memorial Chapel
- Architect
- Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
- City
- Chicago, IL
- Collection
- mies in chicago
Known on campus as the "God Box," the Robert F. Carr Memorial Chapel of St. Savior is a one-story brick building near Michigan Avenue and 32nd Street on the Illinois Institute of Technology campus — the only religious building Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ever designed. Mies was director of IIT's School of Architecture at the time, and the chapel grew out of a proposal by Bishop Wallace Conkling for what he called "a great educational project of the atomic age."
the building
A rare small commission. Small, freestanding, and built of brick, the chapel is a rare chance to see Mies van der Rohe's structural design approach worked out at the scale of a single room rather than a skyscraper or campus tower.
the style
As Mies's only religious commission, the chapel carries his structural design approach into a devotional setting rather than reaching for traditional church imagery.
the architect
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a historically pivotal modernist architect, and at the time he designed this chapel he was director of IIT's School of Architecture. The Carr Memorial Chapel is the only religious structure he ever designed.
More on Ludwig Mies van der Rohesignificance
IIT's religious and spiritual organizations still use the "God Box" as a center of campus spiritual life, hosting meditation, weekly services, and meetings.
more by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
nearby
- McCormick Tribune Campus Center
- Pilgrim Baptist Church
- Crown Hall
- Sydney A. Kent House
- Robert W. Roloson Houses
- Wood-Maxey-Boyd House