The Luce Memorial Chapel is a Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 chapel

Chapel

A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...

 on the campus of Tunghai University

Tunghai University

Tunghai University was founded by Methodist missionaries in 1955 as a comprehensive university. It is a top-ranked private school and a leading institution in Taiwan. Moreover, Tunghai University was founded as the first private university making it the second oldest university in Taiwan, which...

, Taichung

Taichung

-Demographics:Taichung’s population was an estimated 1,040,725 in August 2006. There are slightly more females in the city than males.24.32% of residents are children, while 16.63% are young people, 52.68% are middle-age, and 6.73% are elderly....

, Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

. It was designed by the architect and artist Chen Chi-Kwan in collaboration with the firm of noted architect I. M. Pei

I. M. Pei

Ieoh Ming Pei , commonly known as I. M. Pei, is a Chinese American architect, often called a master of modern architecture. Born in Canton, China and raised in Hong Kong and Shanghai, Pei drew inspiration at an early age from the gardens at Suzhou...

, and named in honor of the Rev. Henry W. Luce

Henry W. Luce

Henry Winters Luce was an American missionary and educator in China. He was the father of the publisher Henry R. Luce.Henry W. Luce graduated from Yale University in 1892...

, an American missionary in China in the late 19th century and father of publisher Henry Luce

Henry Luce

Henry Robinson Luce was an influential American publisher. He launched and closely supervised a stable of magazines that transformed journalism and the reading habits of upscale Americans...

.

The project was originally planned in April 1954 but put on hold until July 1960. Construction took place from September 1962 until November 1963. Construction costs were USD $125,000.

The chapel occupies a 12,000 square metre site on campus and is set on an irregular hexagonal base, providing 477 m² of gross floor area, including a 245 m² nave (500 seats), 81 m² chancel, and 44 m² robing rooms. The church itself is a curved, tent-like structure rising as a hyperbolic paraboloid to 19.2 m high and establishing a central focal landmark on the campus.

The chapel was executed in reinforced concrete with its form providing earthquake stability. Construction involved elaborate formwork by local craftsmen. Ribs reinforce the curved surfaces and thicken as they descend, preventing buckling while expressing structural forces. The exterior is covered by glazed diamond-shaped tiles, and on the interior, thicker diamond-shaped concrete coffers at the bottom gradually diminish in size as they near the top since stresses are concentrated near the ground.