Little Chapel Magic - Calder Loth Presents Palladio

There are places that delight every time, on the first visit or the 100th. When we get a chance to attend a great event in a great space, out of our way.

The invitation read:

"Please join the ICAA the morning of the Shutze Awards Celebration for a lecture with Calder Loth: Palladio and the American Architectural Image.

"The Little Chapel at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church"

Rodney Cook, Calder Loth, and Carl Gable found a comfortable place to chat before the lecture.

Words fail, the Little Chapel is so elaborate, so over the top, so unexpected, so retro, it just doesn't seem very democratic. Isn't it intimidating; isn't it too high highfalutin? Thomas Jefferson didn't think so. He thought such places elevate the human spirit.

I'm with Tom all the way on this. I found the room full of smiles.


There is a tiny Narthex with a checkerboard floor.


It's an easy place to chat; it's cozy. Marble, wood, plaster, and brass seem just right.


From the narthex oval windows frame the chapel.


Here is some of the over-the-topness I was talking about.


Huh?


But folks feel comfortable inside.


The high-backed pews makes us feel comfortable enough to be chatty. But Palladio looks a bit impatient.


The space gathered us into cozy groups after the lecture.


I wasn't the only one who left happy.


The Rachel Willet English memorial window.