Nicole Vlado

ANALYSIS OF DAYLIGHT IN THE MIT CHAPEL, CAMBRIDGENon-Denominational Space of Worship

Kresge Oval, MIT Campus, Cambridge MAArchitect: Eero Saarinen | Built: 1955

As proposed in the architect’s plans for the chapel, the building consists of a rectangular plan for offices, an entrance corridor and the main worship space: a tall brick cylinder surrounded by a pool of water. The exterior landscaping includes a circular arrangement of trees surrounding the worship

space.

The intention of the building is to create a spiritual experience that removes the visitor from the urban surrounds of the university campus as well as the business and noise

of Massachusetts Avenue.

The building has no traditional windows or openings. The unique quality of the interior of the wor-ship space is achieved through the control of the use of natural light, as well as the predominance of the darkness achieved in the space. Light from the exterior is filtered through the space through the design of three elements:

a large circular skylight designed with a filtering device to create diffuse lighting over the altar space

a metallic sculpture placed below the skylight to create scat-tering and reflection of the light entering from above the altar

lighting along the walls of the worship space reflecting inwards from the surrounding moat

The relationship between light and dark is provided through the cho-reographic design of movement into the worship space from a space of lightness into a space of darkness. The entrance foyer is constructed of panes of cast glass of varying size, color, and transparency.

The irregularities of the cast glass facade, provides and irregular light-ing pattern within this space. It also restricts the visibility of the exterior space, transitioning the experience of the visitor away from the exterior towards the highly interior space of worship.

Artificial lighting in the worship space acts to complement the effects of day-lighting. While the alter space is gener-ally naturally lit during daytime hours, other spaces in the chapel require ad-ditional lighting for the performance of tasks such as reading.

The artificial lights are designed to mimic the effect of use of natural light. Spotlights are recessed into the ceil-ing, randomly placed. The ceiling is painted black to further enhance the height of the space. Additionally, the darkness of the ceiling serves to pro-vide high contrast between the interior space and the diffuse light entering it. This allows light which itself is not very bright to have a powerful presence. Considering the tall ceiling height of the worship space, these lights provide a similar gentle and irregular lighting condition as that provided by the spotlight and reflections from the pool.

The lighting in the worship space is intended for the illumination of the surfaces, namely the chamfered brick walls of the worship space. The texture of the surface of the walls, combined with the movement of the natural light throughout the day provides for a dy-namic experience of movement within the space.

The walls are most successfully lit using natural light from the exte-rior through the design of the detail between the moat and the building facade. In this detail, the water in the moat replaces mirrors found in ad-vanced lighting systems, such as light shelves, allowing daylight to bounce into the interior from below. The effect is mysterious -- a shimmer of diffuse light moving along a textured surface. This detail is designed such that this effect can be viewed at eye-level of a seated visitor.

Unfortunately, this lighting system is very difficult to maintain. Often the moat is emptied of the water needed to provide reflections into the worship space. This is often the case in the winter (which is a large portion of the year in this climate).

The daylighting provided by the skylight is more consistent, as the skylight provides a large opening along a flat surface. Some lighting is achieved during overcast conditions. The chapel is kept dim during the day, thus, the skylight combined with the reflective sculpture provide adequate light for visitors to use the space for worship.

The skylight over the altar space composes approximately 1/10th of the surface of the roof/floor plan of the worship space. Light is filtered through a honeycomb screen before entering the space, thus reducing the amount of daylight entering the space. While the amount of light entering the space is not a large amount, in contrast to the dark color of the materials within the interior, the apparent light produces enough contrast to provide visibility.

It is clear from the effects produced by the space, and the writings about the MIT Chapel, that Saarinen used daylighting to produce particular qualities within the worship space. In this example, daylighting is used to provide an ambience rather than produce a natural lighting solution. The position of the skylight is intended to create a dramatic effect at the altar, while additionally providing ample light for reading, as well as adequate contrast for viewing someone at the alter with greater acuity than persons located away from the dominant light source. Elements such as the metal-lic sculpture and the reflections from the moat provide additional effects that are primarily aesthetic in their design. The texture of the bricks, and the undulation of the walls in plan, not only enhance the lighting within the space, but they were intended by the architect to produce special acoustic effects as well.