The Art Chapel

Isometric architectural diagram showing component breakdown with a red-outlined central structure.
  • White building with a wooden doorway, ramp, and a person walking inside; brick structure in the background.
    The Art Chapel
  • Modern room with wooden floors, exposed beams, minimalist furniture, and large glass doors opening.
    The Art Chapel
  • Axonometric architectural drawing of a house with highlighted sections.
    The Art Chapel
  • Bright workshop with wooden tables, shelving, and colorful accents on a polished wood floor.
    The Art Chapel
  • White house under construction with removed facade, ladders, and exposed framework. Brick building adjacent.
    The Art Chapel
  • People assembling a wooden frame in a workshop with tools on the walls.
    The Art Chapel
  • Isometric architectural diagram showing component breakdown with a red-outlined central structure.
    The Art Chapel
  • Wooden L-shaped object with a caster wheel, electrical cord, and hand holding it.
    The Art Chapel
  • Woodworker measuring materials; adjacent studio space with table, stool, and art supplies.
    The Art Chapel
  • Worker in a lab on the left; beige siding and window reflecting interior on the right.
    The Art Chapel
  • White house with glowing windows, red brick building in background, greenery in the foreground.
    The Art Chapel

Team

Team:

Students: Plain D*B and FACT studios

Faculty: Jeffrey L. Day FAIA and Jason Griffiths

 

ARCH 511 / Spring 2025

Designed and built as a collaboration between the PLAIN D*B and FACT design-build studios, the Art Chapel is a studio cultivating adults’ creativity through art and craft instruction, supporting public events in a community with few cultural outlets. The 1873 building, Lincoln, Nebraska’s first church, has been transformed from a neglected space into an asset for a struggling neighborhood. Adopting a “making nothing” strategy, the project explores architecture’s ability to disarm through apparent simplicity and directness. The primary design acts are subtractive - removing material and abstracting the building to highlight simple beauty. A large rolling wall replicates the original façade and opens the Art Chapel to the community both literally and figuratively.