Collaborating with artist-architect Chen Chi-Kwan, Pei designed the Luce Memorial Chapel in line with the Tang dynasty–modeled architecture of Tunghai University’s Taichung City campus. The architects initially conceived of a chapel wrought from wood, but ultimately adopted reinforced concrete to account for Taiwan’s humid climate, as well its typhoon- and earthquake-prone nature.

The chapel’s hexagonal floor plan accommodates a 500-seat nave, a chancel, and robing rooms that lie beneath its rib-reinforced, sloping, brick-and-glass walls, which become thinner as they crescendo to the cross at the building’s summit. Structural connections and beams conjoin the walls, which appear to stand independently. Named after a 19th-century missionary, the chapel and its elaborate formwork—forged by local artisans—serve as a central landmark and place of worship for students and teachers.



