ORAL ROBERTS UNIVERSITY Tulsa OKLAHOMA

When God tells you what to do, you do it. In 2344 BC, He told Noah to build an ark, and Noah did so to his precise specifications. In 1477, He told Torquemada to cleanse the world of non-Christians, and the dedicated friar went about his task with zeal. And in 1963, as if Chartres, Hagia Sophia, the Vatican, and Salt Lake City weren’t enough, God told televangelist Oral Roberts to “Build Me a University. Build it on My Authority, and on the Holy Spirit.” So build it Roberts did.

As evidence of God’s immaculate good taste, he apparently instructed Roberts to build it in the latest architectural style, befitting the budding space age. Futurist architect Frank Wallace heard the calling and designed a sprawling campus for 5,000 students that could double as an astronaut training center. At the heart of it all is a 200-foot tall prayer tower inspired by Seattle’s Space Needle, tweaked to resemble a cross with a stylized crown of thorns. Upon the tower’s completion, Roberts was so giddy he declared a three day celebration of prayer and fasting.