Monday 23 February 2015

Interesting Facts About Bahai Temple of South America

The Baha'i House of Worship in Chile was announced in 2001 and the winning design by Siamak Hariri – of the Canadian architecture firm Hariri Pontarini Architects, was chosen from 185 design entries.  The design requirement was that it be a domed structure with nine entrances that would welcome people from all directions to the praise of God.The building is made up of nine translucent "wings," that appear as floating over a large reflecting lily pool. During the day the sunlight will filter through the wings, and at night will emit a warm glow from the interior lighting.                        

The Bahá’i Temple of South America, situated in a seismic zone on the outskirts of Santiago, Chile, uses light for its spiritual and design inspiration. Its billowing, structurally robust form won a two phase international competition requesting a nine sided, domed structure with nine entries requirement for the design of Bahá’i Temples.Baha'i Houses of Worship are distinctive buildings, open to everyone, where visitors can simply pray and meditate in a serene atmosphere, or at certain times listen to the holy scriptures of the world's religions being recited and sung. An integral concept of each House of Worship is that they will,in due course, provide a spiritual center around which agencies and institutions of social, humanitarian, and educational service will be established for the surrounding population.            
     
Designer's statement Light is the fundamental connecting force of the universe. The Bahá'í Temple of South American tour, designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects, employs both translucent stone and the newest glass technology as the means of generating and manifesting both the physiological and spiritual delights of natural light embodied in architecture.Set against the stirring background of the Andean mountain range, the new Bahá'í Temple is to be a crystallizing of light-as-expression, an evanescent structure of white alabaster and glass: a place of pure luminescence. During the day, it is the soft undulating alabaster and glass skin of the Bahá'í Temple which forms its outer expression.

The Bahá'í temple will be open to all without charge, and the services will include readings from the sacred temple of all the world's religions. At a time when many recent headline news stories, particularly from the Middle East, show the tremendous damage that occurs from acts of religious fanaticism and intolerance, it is also important, for the future of an increasingly globalizing world, to consider news stories that highlight the beneficial effects of religion at its best, inspiring people to nobler acts of service and inclusivity.

The Bahá’í temple Born out of an international competition with over 180 entries from 80 countries, the Bahá’í temple of South America tour is a nine sided structure with nine entrances that symbolically welcome all people from all directions of the earth to join in prayer and meditation. Its form and materiality break new ground, drawing on the power of light as inspiration. Nine gracefully torqued wings of cast glass and translucent stone billow like sails, projecting a sublime, ethereal luminescence. Visually light, the building is structurally strong.

The Baha’i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois is one of only seven Baha’i temples in the world. Each temple has their own distinctive design but they all have an area of gardens which surrounds a nine-sided structure covered by a single, majestic dome. The Baha’i Faith is an independent world religion that supports unity of all people and religions. This photograph shows the unique characteristics of this dome accompanied with a beautiful garden.

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