Carr Memorial Chapel
Built 1952
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Carr Memorial Chapel was designed by Mies van der Rohe on Illinois Institute of Technology’s campus. Fondly referred to as the “God Box”, it is Mies’ only ecclesiastical work.
Being one story and thirty-seven by sixty feet, the non-sectarian chapel is modest in planning and scale. The end elevations are identical, although the glass on the east entry side is clear while that on the west is sandblasted opaque. The steel frame roof and brick bearing walls are fully visible from within.
The plan is that of a basilica, with two-sided aisles and a center aisle leading to the sanctuary. Mies’ refined materials employed with utmost simplicity is evident. The altar is a solid block of Roman travertine resting upon a platform of the same substance. The curtain behind the altar is made of natural shantung silk. Slender pieces of highly polished stainless steel form the cross and altar rail. At the rear of the chapel, accessible through doorways lined with white oak, are the sacristy, choir, and restrooms.
