The United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel, completed in 1962, is the distinguishing feature of the Cadet Area at the United States Air Force Academy north of Colorado Springs. It was designed by Walter Netsch of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill of Chicago. Construction was accomplished by Robert E. McKee, Inc., of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Originally controversial in its design, the Cadet Chapel has become a classic and highly regarded example of modernist architecture. The Cadet Chapel was awarded the American Institute of Architects' National Twenty-five Year Award in 1996 and, as part of the Cadet Area, was named a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 2004.
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00:00The United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel, completed in 1962, is the distinguishing
00:14feature of the cadet area at the United States Air Force Academy north of Colorado Springs.
00:19It was designed by Walter Netsch of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill of Chicago.
00:24Construction was accomplished by Robert E. McKee, Inc., of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
00:30Originally controversial in its design, the Cadet Chapel has become a classic and highly
00:34regarded example of modernist architecture.
00:37The Cadet Chapel was awarded the American Institute of Architects' National 25-Year
00:42Award in 1996 and, as part of the cadet area, was named a U.S. National Historic Landmark
00:47in 2004.
00:49The most striking aspect of the chapel is its row of 17 spires.
00:53The original design called for 21 spires, but this number was reduced due to budget
00:58issues.
00:59The structure is a tubular steel frame of 100 identical tetrahedrons, each 75 feet,
01:0423 meters, long, weighing 5 tons, and enclosed with aluminum panels.
01:10The panels were fabricated in Missouri and shipped by rail to the site.
01:14The tetrahedrons are spaced a foot apart, creating gaps in the framework that are filled
01:18with 1-inch-thick, 25-mm-colored glass.
01:22The tetrahedrons comprising the spires are filled by triangular aluminum panels, while
01:26the tetrahedrons between the spires are filled with a mosaic of colored glass and an aluminum
01:31frame.
01:32The Cadet Chapel itself is 150 feet, 46 meters, high, 280 feet long, and 84 feet wide.
01:40The front façade, on the south, has a wide granite stairway with steel railings capped
01:44by aluminum handrails leading up one story to a landing.
01:48At the landing is a band of gold-anodized aluminum doors, flanked by gold-anodized aluminum
01:52panels, designed in detail to match the doors.
01:55The shell of the chapel and surrounding grounds cost $3.5 million to build.
02:01Various furnishings, pipe organs, liturgical fittings, and adornments of the chapel were
02:05presented as gifts from various individuals and organizations.
02:09In 1959, a designated Easter offering was also taken at Air Force bases around the world
02:15to help complete the interior.
02:18The original plans included a series of rain gutters underneath the aluminum exterior of
02:35the chapel's spires, but these were not built due to budget constraints.
02:39The seams between the panels were caulked instead.
02:42Though the seams were repeatedly re-caulked over the years, decades of leaks left extensive
02:46water damage to the main floor and its fixtures.
02:50During the renovation, an enormous temporary, hangar, or as cadets call it, the box, was
02:55built over the existing structure to allow workers to remove the aluminum panels and
02:59stained glass blocks and install the originally designed rain gutters.
03:03The chapel's furniture and pipe organs are also being cleaned and repaired as well.
03:08The project was originally scheduled to be completed by November 2022.
03:12In November 2021, the Academy's campus architect, Duane Boyle, said that the project would miss
03:18its original completion date after construction crews discovered more asbestos inside the
03:23chapel's structure than expected, requiring additional time for remediation.
03:28The renovations are presently scheduled to be completed in 2027.
03:32The Cadet Chapel was designed specifically to house three distinct worship areas under
03:36a single roof.
03:38Inspired by chapels at Sainte-Chapelle in France and the Basilica of San Francesco de
03:42Sici in Italy, architect Walter Netsch stacked the spaces on two main levels.
03:48The Protestant nave is located on the upper level, while the Catholic and Jewish chapels
03:52and a Buddhist room are located beneath it.
03:55Beneath this level is a larger room used for Islamic services and two meeting rooms.
03:59Each chapel has its own entrance.
04:02That is all.
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