Creating the Multifaith Chapel, 1938–1955: Architecture and the Changing Understanding of “Religion”
Interfaith or multifaith chapels are so ubiquitous now in the United States—present in colleges and universities, hospitals, shopping malls, and airports—that their development as a distinct architectural form is often taken for granted. Yet that development in the mid-twentieth century was complex...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Religions |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/3/275 |
| _version_ | 1827305203646332928 |
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| author | Jeanne Halgren Kilde |
| author_facet | Jeanne Halgren Kilde |
| author_sort | Jeanne Halgren Kilde |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Interfaith or multifaith chapels are so ubiquitous now in the United States—present in colleges and universities, hospitals, shopping malls, and airports—that their development as a distinct architectural form is often taken for granted. Yet that development in the mid-twentieth century was complex and even fraught. Taking a religious studies approach, this article examines the development of three early examples—the Chapel of the Four Chaplains, the Brandeis University chapels, and the MIT Chapel—to reveal the gradual movement, conceptual and architectural, toward a viable space serving many religions. While the former two examples proved unsuccessful in their goal of establishing a shared interfaith space due to their reliance on an understanding of religion as discrete traditions that resulted in exclusivist incompatibilities, the latter example moved beyond the emphasis on traditions to advance an unconventional, phenomenological understanding of religion as individual experience and spiritual life, and by doing so successfully achieved the goal of creating a space amenable to practitioners of many traditions, or none. Further, this article demonstrates how architecture functioned as a constitutive component in the developmental and popularization of this fresh understanding of religion and religious experience. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T17:53:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c60252f3235541fdb706fe12e700e20b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T17:53:11Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-c60252f3235541fdb706fe12e700e20b2024-03-27T14:02:07ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442024-02-0115327510.3390/rel15030275Creating the Multifaith Chapel, 1938–1955: Architecture and the Changing Understanding of “Religion”Jeanne Halgren Kilde0Program in Religious Studies, College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USAInterfaith or multifaith chapels are so ubiquitous now in the United States—present in colleges and universities, hospitals, shopping malls, and airports—that their development as a distinct architectural form is often taken for granted. Yet that development in the mid-twentieth century was complex and even fraught. Taking a religious studies approach, this article examines the development of three early examples—the Chapel of the Four Chaplains, the Brandeis University chapels, and the MIT Chapel—to reveal the gradual movement, conceptual and architectural, toward a viable space serving many religions. While the former two examples proved unsuccessful in their goal of establishing a shared interfaith space due to their reliance on an understanding of religion as discrete traditions that resulted in exclusivist incompatibilities, the latter example moved beyond the emphasis on traditions to advance an unconventional, phenomenological understanding of religion as individual experience and spiritual life, and by doing so successfully achieved the goal of creating a space amenable to practitioners of many traditions, or none. Further, this article demonstrates how architecture functioned as a constitutive component in the developmental and popularization of this fresh understanding of religion and religious experience.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/3/275MIT chapelChapel of the Four ChaplainsBrandeis UniversityEero Saarinenphenomenologyspirituality |
| spellingShingle | Jeanne Halgren Kilde Creating the Multifaith Chapel, 1938–1955: Architecture and the Changing Understanding of “Religion” Religions MIT chapel Chapel of the Four Chaplains Brandeis University Eero Saarinen phenomenology spirituality |
| title | Creating the Multifaith Chapel, 1938–1955: Architecture and the Changing Understanding of “Religion” |
| title_full | Creating the Multifaith Chapel, 1938–1955: Architecture and the Changing Understanding of “Religion” |
| title_fullStr | Creating the Multifaith Chapel, 1938–1955: Architecture and the Changing Understanding of “Religion” |
| title_full_unstemmed | Creating the Multifaith Chapel, 1938–1955: Architecture and the Changing Understanding of “Religion” |
| title_short | Creating the Multifaith Chapel, 1938–1955: Architecture and the Changing Understanding of “Religion” |
| title_sort | creating the multifaith chapel 1938 1955 architecture and the changing understanding of religion |
| topic | MIT chapel Chapel of the Four Chaplains Brandeis University Eero Saarinen phenomenology spirituality |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/3/275 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jeannehalgrenkilde creatingthemultifaithchapel19381955architectureandthechangingunderstandingofreligion |