United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel — church building
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United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel

  • 1 min read
  • 39.008° N 104.890° W

Interesting facts

  • Each of the 100 steel tetrahedrons in the frame weighs about five tons, and the aluminium panels were made in Missouri and shipped by rail.
  • Netsch borrowed the idea of stacking separate chapels on two levels from the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris and the Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi.
  • The pew ends in the Protestant chapel are sculpted to look like the propellers of First World War aircraft.
  • A 46-foot aluminium cross hangs above the Protestant chancel, in front of a reredos set with semi-precious Colorado stones and Italian marble.
  • The stained glass between the tetrahedrons shifts from darker tones at the entrance to lighter ones near the altar.
  • In 1959 a special Easter collection was taken at Air Force bases around the world to help pay for the chapel's interior.
  • The Stations of the Cross in the Catholic chapel are carved in Carrara marble, from the quarries Michelangelo used.
  • Cardinal Francis Spellman gave the Catholic altar and dedicated that chapel on 22 September 1963.
  • The floor of the Jewish chapel is paved with Jerusalem stone donated by the Israel Defense Forces.
  • The Jewish chapel displays a Torah scroll rescued from the Nazis, found in 1989 in an abandoned warehouse in Poland.

Why it is worth it

Seventeen aluminium-clad spires rising in a single sharp row make the Cadet Chapel at the United States Air Force Academy one of the boldest religious buildings of American modernism. Designed by Walter Netsch of the Chicago firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill and built in 1959-1962, it stands about 150 feet high and 280 feet long - a folded, sharp-edged silhouette in glass and metal against the Colorado foothills.

The structure is a frame of 100 identical steel tetrahedrons, each about 75 feet long, covered in aluminium panels. The narrow gaps between them are filled with strips of coloured glass about an inch thick, so that inside, bands of colour run up the walls and across the ceiling as the light changes. Netsch originally planned 21 spires; the number was reduced to 17 to save money. The shell and grounds cost about 3.5 million dollars.

The chapel was designed to serve several faiths under one roof. The upper level holds the Protestant chapel, seating about 1,200, while the lower level contains a Catholic chapel for about 500 and a circular Jewish chapel, and later additions include Muslim and Buddhist worship spaces and an outdoor circle for earth-centred spirituality. Each main chapel has its own large Möller pipe organ; the Protestant instrument has more than 4,300 pipes. Even the pews carry a strip of aluminium along their backs shaped like the trailing edge of a fighter aircraft wing. The building received the American Institute of Architects' Twenty-five Year Award in 1996 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2004.

Getting there

The chapel is on the grounds of the Air Force Academy, north of Colorado Springs, about 20 km from the city centre. The nearest airport is Colorado Springs Airport (COS), about 28 km away.

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Nearby places

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From the encyclopaedia

The United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel, completed in 1962, is the distinguishing feature of the Cadet Area at the United States Air Force Academy north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States. It was designed by Walter Netsch of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill of Chicago. Construction was accomplished by Robert E. McKee, Inc., of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Originally controversial in its design, the Cadet Chapel has become a classic and highly regarded example of modernist architecture. The Cadet Chapel was awarded the American Institute of Architects' National Twenty-five Year Award in 1996 and, as part of the Cadet Area, was named a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 2004.

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