Luce Chapel was Pei’s first independent commission, begun while still employed by Zeckendorf, for the United Board for Christian Higher Education in China (overseers of the middle school Pei attended in Shanghai). Comprised of four warped concrete shells, it is a tour de force expression of pure structure. The chapel, designed by 39-year-old Pei, presents the essence of his mature architecture: merging East and West cultural traditions, advancing technology in the service of art, the powerful manipulation of light, and the distillation of great complexity into simple sculptural form.

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