Riggio-Lynch Interfaith Chapel, 2004
Haley Farm, Clinton, Tennessee

Sponsor: Children’s Defense Fund
Designer: Maya Lin Studio with Bialosky + Partners Architects
Associate Architect: Martella Associates
Photography: Timothy Hursley

The concept for the design of the chapel comes from the Children’s Defense Fund’s motto: “Dear Lord be good to me / The Sea is so wide / and my boat is so small.” The main body of the chapel is the abstracted image of a boat or ark constructed of wood. It is a quiet reminder of that motto, but also gives an architectural and spiritual center to Haley Farm, a property that once belonged to the Pulitzer Prize–winning writer Alex Haley.

Contextually all buildings at Alex Haley’s former estate were vernacular one-story log cabins. My goal was to create something modern that would work within this context. By borrowing from boat imagery I am not inventing a totally new shape, but relying on a visual familiarity we all have with boatbuilding forms. The chapel’s slightly curved shape is set against the orthogonal and gridded covered terrace and administration building, incorporating my interest in the juxtaposition of the gestural and the linear.

I wanted to keep the design intimate yet allow for, at certain times of the year, the capacity to seat more than double the usual number of people. I remembered that to accommodate larger gatherings, oftentimes a tent would be set up, so the idea of creating an indoor/outdoor seating area stemmed from the use of a tent. The program’s need for flexible seating led to the choice to center the chapel around a large outdoor courtyard. The courtyard connects the chapel to the administrative wing, which houses offices, service facilities, and additional meeting spaces in a design that is highly adaptable to suit multiple requirements.

Related Press:

• Louie, Elaine. From Maya Lin, a Design That Connotes a Safe Harbor. The New York Times (July 22, 2004)