Archives Road Trip: Indiana
A small town in Indiana was twice founded with utopian intentions: first as a Lutheran separatist colony called Harmonie (1814–1825); and then as a non-secular social experiment called New Harmony (1825–1827). In 1960 architect Philip Johnson (1906–2005) accepted an unconventional commission—to create a non-denominational site of reflection. The Roofless Church, shown here in an architectural rendering, featured a serene courtyard and small chapel. Celebrating the town’s humanist legacy, the church welcomes all visitors to worship under the sky.
This photograph by Louis Checkman of the architectural model for the Roofless Church is on view in our exhibition Off the Beaten Track: A Road Trip through the Archives of American Art on view through June 3 in our Lawrence A. Fleischman Gallery in Washington, D.C.