Arrupe Hall
Saint Joseph’s University, found in 1851 in the Society Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia, shifted locations over the next several decades until moving to its current home along City Line Avenue, on the western edge of Philadelphia in 1922.
While the design draws on the massing, materials, and scale of the surrounding buildings, it introduces a compelling architectural vocabulary that reflects Jesuit ideals and the university’s “whole person” education model. Forming a cohesive whole are individual elements including shared community spaces, private living quarters, and a chapel.
“We think of the chapel design as being about the swirling movement of time and the altar communicating the firmness of eternity. So the divine existing in time and in eternity, experienced in both.”
– Father Robert M. Hussey
Inspired by the Gregorian Calendar, the chapel form takes on a curvilinear form, based on geometric studies. The brick pattern further explores the initial geometries of form, then morphing to create a veil, filtering light and views.
