Baha'i news: Excavation work commences for Chile's "temple of light"

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Excavation work commences for Chile's "temple of light"


SANTIAGO, Chile, 28 November (BWNS) – Excavation work is under way 
for the new Baha'i House of Worship for the South American continent, 
in the Chilean capital of Santiago. 

The ground work comes after a prolonged search for a site and 
unprecedented technical challenges, which included the invention of 
an entirely new material for the building's exterior. The site has 
now been set at a location in the hills of Peñalolen, a suburb to the 
east of the city, at the foot of the Andes.

"We are pleased to inform you that excavation work has now commenced 
in Chile on the land where the last continental House of Worship is 
to stand," the Universal House of Justice wrote on 26 November, 
expressing its hope that the Baha'is throughout the world would "be 
heartened to learn of the milestone now reached..."
  
"Many obstacles have been overcome to reach this point," the House of 
Justice noted. 

Siamak Hariri – of the Canadian architecture firm Hariri-Pontarini 
Architects, which has designed the House of Worship – is delighted. 
"It's really a very rewarding moment," he says. "We've found an 
extraordinary site, visible from all over Santiago. Even if you come 
into the airport from other places in the world, you'll see it in the 
distance."

The House of Worship, with its surrounding water gardens of plant 
species native to the region, will cover some 10 acres of a 50 acre 
site. Excavation is now being carried out to prepare for the 
building's foundations – 60 meters in diameter – and for the 
provision of underground utilities. 


Baha'i Houses of Worship

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.

When completed, the edifice in Santiago will be the eighth in a 
series of Baha'i Houses of Worship, and the final one to be erected 
to serve an entire continent. The seven others are in Australia, 
Germany, India, Panama, Uganda, the United States and Western Samoa. 


"Striking and original"

The project to construct a Baha'i House of Worship in Chile was 
announced in 2001. A call for submission of designs was made the 
following year by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of 
Chile, eliciting 185 entries from more than 80 countries. 

The design brief called for a domed structure with nine entrances 
which, symbolically, would welcome people from all directions of the 
earth for the praise and glorification of God.

From a shortlist of four entries, Hariri-Pontarini Architects was 
given the go-ahead to develop its scheme, described by the Universal 
House of Justice in its recent message as a "striking and original 
design."

The building consists of an arrangement of nine translucent "wings," 
rising directly from the ground, and giving the impression of 
floating over a large reflecting lily pool. The wings will allow 
sunlight to filter through during the day, while at night the House 
of Worship will emit a warm glow from its interior lighting. 

The innovative design required that an entirely new form of cast 
glass be invented for the building's exterior. "That was an 
exploratory journey that took some 18 months," says Mr. Hariri, whose 
team needed to develop technologies that would ensure the building's 
survival in the environmental conditions of the location, a highly 
active seismic zone.

"We've done the testing. It has been marked out, vetted and 
peer-reviewed," says the architect. "All the permits are signed. So 
now is the perfect time for the construction process to commence."


Award-winning design

Since it was first unveiled, the design for the House of Worship has 
been praised in more than 40 international journals, and received 
numerous accolades. Canadian Architect featured the building as one 
of its 2004 Awards of Excellence. A judge described it as 
representing "a rare convergence of forces that seem destined to 
produce a monument so unique as to become a global landmark..."

Most recently, in August, a global panel of almost 100 judges named 
the House of Worship joint winner in the World Architecture News 
"Civic Building – Unbuilt" award category. 

"It was a nice coincidence to win this award at this particular time, 
just as the excavation work was about to begin" says Mr. Hariri.


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http://news.bahai.org/story/800