To achieve this aspiration, the team was inspired by experiential phenomena: the magic of dappled sunshine beneath a canopy of trees the swirling skirt of a Sufi dancer and the abstract, yet powerfully structured paintings of Mark Tobey. A new expression of worship looking for a new expression in form. Absent of clergy, pulpits, and iconography, the space would invite worship without intermediaries or idols. The Temple needed to express the fundamental Bahá’í concept of the oneness of spiritual truth, the oneness of religion, and the oneness of humanity. The architectural challenge was considerably more complex: to create a sacred structure for prayer, designed to serve the needs of humanity, bringing together science and religion, worship and service, and antiquity and timelessness with modernity. The design brief was deceptively simple: a nine-sided, one-room structure welcoming people from all sides. In 2003 the Bahá’í international community embarked on a journey to realize the eighth and final continental Temple in Santiago, Chile. At night, the materials allow for an inversion of light, whereby the Temple, lit from within, casts a soft glow against the Andean mountains. Between dawn and dusk the Temple becomes infused with the wide range of seasonal colours that dance across Santiago’s sky. The super structure is comprised of hundreds of individually engineered steel members and nodal connections. A remarkable 1129 unique pieces of both flat and curved cast-glass pieces were developed, produced and assembled to create each of the nine identical, gracefully torqued wings. An investigation into material qualities that embody light resulted in the development of two cladding materials: translucent marble from the Portuguese Estremoz quarries for the interior layer, and cast-glass panels for the exterior. The aim was to achieve an interplay of contradictions: stillness and movement, simplicity and complexity, intimacy and monumentality a solid structure capable of dissolving in light. The design was developed through hand sketches, physical models and digital technology. Inspiration was drawn from a myriad of sources the magic of dappled sunshine beneath a canopy of trees, the interwoven strands of Japanese bamboo baskets, and the fragmentation of shattered glass. The architectural challenge was to create a design that would be welcoming to people of all faiths and cultures. Set within the foothills of the Andes bordering the metropolis of Santiago, Chile, it represents the last of eight continental temples commissioned by the Bahá’í Community. The Bahá’í Temple of South America uses light for its spiritual and design inspiration.
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