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Spectacular site for Baha'i Temple in Chile

Baha'i World News Service
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Spectacular site for Baha'i Temple in Chile
SANTIAGO, Chile, 26 April 2005 (BWNS) -- The first Baha'i House of
Worship in South America will be built in the Andean foothills with a
panoramic view of the mountains in three directions.

The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Chile has taken
possession of a 110-hectare site in a rural region of the Chacabuco
Province some 35 minutes by car north of the center of Santiago.

The House of Worship will be on the top of a hill in a seven-hectare
section of the site that will constitute the immediate grounds and
gardens of the Temple.

The Temple, designed by Canadian architect Siamak Hariri, will be clad
in forged glass and Spanish alabaster. The translucent stone will allow
sunlight to filter through during the day and the Temple to emit a warm
glow from the interior lighting at night.

The nine "wings" that form the exterior will torque upwards, overlapping
at the apex to create a dome.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the US$27 million Temple will be held in
October 2005, and the building should be completed within three years,
said a spokesman for the Baha'i International Community, Douglas Moore.

The municipal authorities have given pre-project approval and an
environmental impact study is now under way, Mr. Moore said.

"The site is arid and semi-desert in character and is untouched,
unspoiled land with its original vegetation," he said.

"An access road has just been completed, and other preliminary work is
to begin with some landscaping and tree planting," he said.

"The Bicentennial Commission of the Chilean government has designated
the Baha'i House of Worship as one of a limited number of official
projects in the private sector to commemorate Chile's 200 years of
independent nationhood," Mr. Moore said.

"We are glad to see the civil authorities' recognition of the
significance of this edifice and their confidence in the benefit the
undertaking will bring to Santiago and to Chile as whole."

Mr. Moore said the project would be financed entirely by voluntary
contributions from Baha'is around the world.

Representatives from all national Baha'i communities of the Western
Hemisphere will be invited to attend the groundbreaking ceremony, with a
special emphasis on the countries and indigenous peoples of South
America.

Chile had been mentioned as the site for the first Baha'i Temple of
South America in a message to the South American Baha'i convention in
1953 by the then head of the Faith, Shoghi Effendi.

There has been widespread media attention to the Temple project since
the announcement on 12 June 2003 by the Universal House of Justice that
it had chosen a design by Mr. Hariri of the Toronto firm of Hariri
Pontarini Architects.

The design has won accolades from writers in more than 40 international
architectural and design journals published in a range of countries
including, for example, Australia, Canada, Italy, Germany, Russia, and
the United States.

The "Canadian Architect" journal featured the design on its December
2004 cover as one of its 2004 Awards of Excellence.

A judge for the awards was quoted in this journal as saying, "this
project represents a rare convergence of forces that seem destined to
produce a monument so unique as to become a global landmark."

"One can only marvel at the architect's commitment to originate this
form, the energy with which it has been developed, and the power of
religious belief in motivating artistic achievement."

Another journal "The Architectural Review" said in its April 2004 issue
that the Temple "should become a gentle and welcoming beacon to the
whole of South America."

For more information on the Baha'i House of Worship for South America,
see
http://news.bahai.org/story.cfm?storyid=223
http://news.bahai.org/story.cfm?storyid=229
http://news.bahai.org/story.cfm?storyid=279