Luce Memorial Chapel-Taichung

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The Luce Memorial Chapel in Tunghai University, Taichung has a unique shape that has made it the icon of Taichung City. It is the central landmark of Tunghai University, completed in 1962 in honor of Rev. Henry Luce. Now it is one of Taichung City's most popular tourist attractions.

The Luce Memorial Chapel was built in 1962 at Tunghai University (THU), in honor of Rev.

Henry W. Luce. Tunghai University was founded with the ideals of Christianity and holistic education. Not long after the university's founding in 1955, the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia decided that because the university was so far away from central Taichung Dadu Mountain, they needed a church to make it more convenient for students and faculty to worship. The chapel does not belong to a particular denomination but is considered a protestant church.

The Chapel is dedicated to Reverend Henry W. Luce, who was a Presbyterian missionary in China from roughly 1897-1935, and father of Henry Luce, an American magazine magnate who founded Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated. Mr. Luce was born in China while is father was a missionary, and later moved to the United States as a young boy. He played a role in creating a good public image of Chiang Kai-shek and Song Mei-ling helping mold American foreign policy toward Taiwan. He helped to sponsor the chapel's construction in honor of his father. The chapel is built on a hexagonal base and has a unique curved reinforced concrete roof, known as a conid structure, and is 19.2 meters tall. The building is also said to be influenced by the Yale University Art Gallery. Originally the building was planned to be made from wood but concrete was later chosen as more durable for Taiwan's environment. The architects were I.M. Pei and Chi-kuan Chen. I.M. Pei designed the glass pyramid at the Louvre in Paris.