STATION 2: CHAPEL

The atmospheric influences on this station were selected to apply separately to the interior and exterior. Interior atmospheric influences were chosen for their aesthetic relationship to constellations and the night sky. Boullée's drawing and Corbusier's church in Firminy both use light to simulate the pointillist nature of constellations. The exterior is designed to create the mnemonic impressions of a rustic church or chapel. The decision was made early in the design process that the chapel should have a relationship to a hill or elevated landscape, either on top or on the brow. The hill and the "mountaintop" specifically have a strong relationship with biblical illusions to the Promised Land. Moses could see the Promised Land from the mountain, but could not enter it. This sentiment was echoed in the final speech of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The second station in the monument’s series is a chapel which sits on the brow of a mild hill. The path which winds its way up the hill in a series of switchbacks is cast white concrete. It winds and meanders similarly to the winging interior corridors of the Plantation portion of the monument. The main Chapel building has two portions. The upper portion establishes a value upon light and aperture as a reflection of the night sky and the lower portion offers functional support, including space where services may be conducted. The lower portion is accessible through a corridor cut into its stone plinth. The upper portion, visible at a distance, acts as the building envelope and protects the interior from the elements. The enclosure is composed of a glass box with copper cladding on a steel frame with both structurally independent of each other. The copper cladding takes the form of strips, similar to the wood cladding of old churches and meetinghouses. Gaps between the ends of the strips create apertures which allow light to shine into the space below. This cupola-like element is rotated fifteen degrees counterclockwise from the lower portion, aligning with North. The lower level is nested into the side of the hill and covered in travertine tiles.

In this design, the gabled roof makes its second appearance, but this time it is not an institution of oppression. It is an imposed institution, but it has grown beyond its imposition to become the binding of a new community. The transformation and adaptation of the icon reflects this. It is not a deconstruction, as the plantation house station. Instead, the Chapel station is a modification which celebrates and emphasizes the institute’s iconic house form. The roof of the chapel supports the copper gable on the plinth, oriented at an angle towards cardinal north. The apertures in the copper siding of the large cupola are analogous to the constellations by which the Underground Railroad found guidance.

The design and shape of the building and site call back to the previous station in the series, the Plantation. The concepts and teachings of Christianity were introduced to the slaves by their owners, and the shape of the institution reflects the shape of the institution of oppression, but this is not an inherently oppressive space. The organization of African churches in the south facilitated the Underground Railroad and aided escaping slaves. Ironically, the institutions created by slave owners facilitated the demolition of their economic system. Many churches and Quaker meetinghouses became safehouses for the Underground Railroad.