Chile
Temple Web site launched
|
HAIFA,
Israel, 12 February 2004 (BWNS) --
The Baha'i International Community launched a
Web site presenting the design of the Baha'i
House of Worship to be constructed in Chile. The
site is located at http://temple.cl.bahai.org.
The
site, in both Spanish and English, features an
animated tour, a slide show and
"fly-through" of the Temple,
accompanied by text.
Canadian
architecture firm Hariri Pontarini Architects
received approval by the Universal House of
Justice to develop its competition-winning
scheme for the Temple in the environs of Chile's
principal city, Santiago. |
The night view of a model of the new Baha'i
House of Worship to be built in Chile.
|
It is the
final continental Baha'i Temple, taking its place among
seven existing temples in Australia, Germany, Panama,
Uganda, the United States, Western Samoa, and, most
recently, India.
The
starting point for the design was to create what
architect Siamak Hariri calls "a glowing temple of
light, inviting to people of all faiths."
According
to Mr. Hariri, "Light, the connecting force of the
universe, shapes all aspects of the design. By day,
light draws you into the building, and concentrates at
the oculus. Light creates an interior experience of
ever-changing texture and unpredictable iridescence as
it is filtered through the inner tracery of wood.
"The
stone shell glows with a dreamlike serenity at night.
Golden light spills out between the leaves, and the
inner form of the building is revealed."
The
two-stage international call for design submissions
attracted 185 entries from over 80 countries around the
world. The Hariri Pontarini scheme was selected from a
shortlist of four designs by architecture teams from
Australia, Great Britain, the United States, and Canada.
The brief
called for a nine-sided domed structure with nine
entrances to symbolically welcome people from all
directions of the earth for prayer and meditation.
The winning
design is a glowing temple of nine gracefully torqued
translucent alabaster "leaves" that floats
over a large reflecting lily pool and nine prayer
gardens.
The
translucent leaves of stone form the Temple's outer
shell, with a delicate wood tracery as an inner layer.
Space for
communal and private meditation and prayer is provided
by two distinct spaces: the area under the dome seating
600 people, and nine intimate, light-filled alcoves
nestled between the wings beneath a mezzanine that rings
the Temple perimeter.
Although
visually light, the building is structurally strong to
respond to its location in a seismic zone. The structure
is designed to accommodate ground movement and flex
under lateral loads, with each wing composed like a leaf
whose primary steel stem and secondary veins support the
two layers. Three supporting bands tie the leaves into
one integral whole.
For more on
the Chile Temple see here.
