Anne Pfeiffer Chapel
1938
The Anne Pfeiffer Chapel was the first Wright building designed and built for the college. There was a desperate need for a chapel, as services were currently being held in a minimal outdoor chapel with folding chairs, or in the gymnasium during inclement weather.The new chapel was intended to be the architectural highlight of the campus.
The plan of the new chapel was an elongated hexagon, with arms extending from the elongated side. Wright rotatedthe hexagon so that the main axis went from one corner of the hex to its opposite. He also put the stage, pulpit, and choir loft at the "top" (east) side of the hexagon.
Wright placed entries and stairways in the chapel's four corners, where the hex met the rectangular arms. The main entries were behind and to the sides of the pulpit, similar to the entrances at Unity Temple. Seating on the main floor and balconies would be intimate, with none of the nearly 1,000 seats more than 50 feet from the speaker. The interior mezzanine extended outside at the lateral wings to become exterior balconies, with trellises overhead — emphasizing the continuity of inside and outside spaces. The choir loft was at the mezzanine level over the stage, shielded by a ninety-foot concrete block screen perforated with hexagons that suggest the chapel's plan.
Wright wanted to direct attention to two places: the pulpit and the overhead skylights. The massive pulpit emphasized the importance of the sermon in the Methodist service, while the skylights illuminated the interior, made the building's fascinating tower structure visible, and directed eyes skyward.
Above the auditorium, glass skylights gave the audience a prospect of the fantastic carillon tower while bathing the interior in natural light. There were five skylights in total — two smaller ones over both the choir loft and west balcony, and the central light well. There were no traditional windows, and no place within the seating area from which the ground outside was visible. The tower's design is an engineering triumph. The superstructure is cantilevered over the auditorium so that no supports would block the audiences sight lines. The tower's weight was carried by four piers, six feet wide, standing at the hexagon's corners near the entries, leaving the interior free and open.
The steel and concrete tower would become the most identifiable object on campus. Originally Wright intended the tower to be 85 feet tall, with chimes or bells inside. Its two parallel walls would meet each other at only five points. These pyramidal bow-tie forms would allow the forces of the tower walls to counteract each other and thereby achieve balance. But during the design process Wright reduced the tower's height to 65 feet, and removed two of the bow ties. The open space between the tower walls provided a resonating space for chimes.
The exterior of the chapel at ground level was constructed of concrete blocks. Most of the blocks containedcolored glass — more than 50,000 cubes of colored glass inserted by hand into the freshly molded blocks. These colored jewels were intended to sparkle in the light and add to the church's ethereal quality. Approximately 6,000 blocks in 46 different designs were used in the chapel, including perforated blocks with colored glass inserts, unperforated blocks, and blocks that were plastered over to obtain a smooth, even surface.
In October, 1944, a hurricane toppled the chapel's towers. One hundred mile an hour winds swept through Lakeland, pushing down the tower's walls and cracking the skylights. Wright responded by blaming the construction superintendentfor not following his instructions properly, and, amazingly, by pleading ignorance of Florida's weather. "We will rebuild it now to stand anything Florida has ever had", Wright wrote.
Over the years there have been some changes made to the chapel. The bell tower was such an effective resonant space that local citizens demanded, and got, removal of the carillon. The stage containing the pulpit has been enlarged and, with new seats, the seating capacity reduced, and the building has been retrofitted for air conditioning. Recently, the school received money from the Save America's Treasures program to restore the chapel.
Images:
