I.M. Pei Luce Chapel – God is in the detail.

Ieo Ming Pei was a brilliant architect with a career that lasted over 70 years. He was born in Canton, China and eventually relocated to Shanghai before moving to the United States to study architecture. Leila had the chance to see her first I.M. Pei masterpiece in Taichung, Taiwan. Luce Chapel is a spiritual space on the campus Tunghai University. It was designed as a collaboration between Pei and Chen Chi-kwan in 1954. The project was delayed and eventually completed for a total cost of $125,000 in 1963. The original specified material was wood but they reconsidered given the humid conditions of Taiwan. They also adapted the design to adhere to typhoons and earthquakes inherent to the region. And some 60 years later, and after Pei is no longer with us, Leila and I witnessed several students celebrating graduations in a space designed by him. It seems as if we cannot escape this particular ritual. This is usually a quiet space, but we happened to arrive at one of the busiest times of the year. The campus has not built densely around the chapel, but continued to give it the breathing space it deserves. We pray quite a bit at the various temples that we have visited, and Leila often prays for our family and our country. I whispered to Leila, “Look, he designed the building to model praying hands. Do you see it?”  I told her she should say a prayer when we entered the building. It is brilliant. It is abstracted and figurative but not too literal. The way the light penetrates the building is awe inspiring. This was 20 years before the Louvre was completed but just as striking. Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe often said that “God is in the detail”.  Perhaps he was correct.  

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