Benton Chapel at Vanderbilt University - Mid-Century Architecture

Benton Chapel was built in 1959 as the main chapel for Vanderbilt University in Nashville. The university's Divinity School wanted “a lofty chapel in contemporary style.”

They hired the local architectural firm of Brush, Hutchison & Gwinn to design and construct the chapel, as well as other new buildings for the Divinity and Law Schools. 

Albert Hutchison (1909-1986) was a graduate of Vanderbilt and had been a member of the faculty of the Vanderbilt School of Engineering for several years before serving in WWII. He joined the architectural engineering firm (which later became known as Hutchison & Associates) in 1950. He died at the age of 75 and donated his body to the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

Robert Harmon (1915-1999) of Emil Frei, Inc., in St Louis, and a pioneer of the modern stained-glass movement, designed the stained-glass windows: over three hundred small windows and the tall “Word of God” window above the entry doors.

The pulpit is adorned with carved and gilded symbols of the four evangelists. 

Sculptures of biblical figures Dismas and Lazarus were added to the chapel’s foyer in 1964 in honor of Edwin Mims, Chair of the English Department for thirty years. The sculptor, Thomas Puryear Mims (1906-1975), was the son of Edwin Mims. He taught art at Vanderbilt and was appointed Sculptor in Residence in 1958. He also created many public sculptures around Nashville.

A quintessential Mid-Century terrazzo staircase leads to the chapel’s balcony.

Many ironwork grills, incorporating Christian iconography, decorate the exterior of the chapel.

Although it incorporates Christian decorations and iconography, the chapel is nondenominational and is used by many religious traditions. Harvie Branscomb, Vanderbilt’s Chancellor at the time the chapel was established, believed “that preaching in a nondenominational context would really bring quality thought to religious issues and engage the Vanderbilt community in discussion of these important matters.” Harvie Branscomb died at the age of 103 in 1998. His, and his wife's, ashes are inurned in the side wall of the chapel to the left of the pulpit.

So often, in the U.S., churches and synagogues are locked up outside of religious services' hours. This chapel is one of the pleasant exceptions. Benton Chapel remains unlocked for visitors.