Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago -- Architecture -- The Architect

Rockefeller Memorial Chapel

The Architect of the Chapel, Bertram Goodhue

Bertram Goodhue was commissioned in 1918 to design and oversee construction of University Chapel. Goodhue began his career at the age of 15 with the firm Renwick, Aspinwall, and Russell. In 1898, he began his own firm, Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson, which was primarily dedicated to church architecture. Goodhue's early work is known for its high Gothic style though he is also famous for the simple, classical lines he adopted late in his career. In addition to being one of the foremost architects in neo-Gothic design, Goodhue was an expert in Spanish Colonial Architecture and is credited for much of its revival in California, as can be seen in his campus plan for Caltech.

Rockefeller Chapel was built in Byzantine/Romanesque style combined with a Gothic style typical of Goodhue's work of the time; this sets it apart from the English Gothic style of much of the rest of campus while complementing the campus planner's, Henry Ives Cobb, intention for a Gothic campus ‹"to remove the mind of the student from the busy mercantile conditions of Chicago and surround him with an air of quiet dignity which is so noticeable in old university buildings." Fewer sculptures and architectural adornments were used in the chapel so as to emphasize the chapel as both a Christian and non-religious place of meeting. Rockefeller Chapel is said to be on of Goodhue's most important designs in his later, less Gothic approach to ecclesiastical designs. He, unfortunately, died in 1924 and was never able to see the Chapel in its completion.

For more information, contact:

Lorraine Brochu
Assistant to the Dean for External Affairs
Rockefeller Memorial Chapel
5850 South Woodlawn Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60637
(773) 702-7059
lcbrochu@uchicago.edu