THE MASHRIQU’L-ADHKÁR
Visible Embodiment of the Universality of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.
FOREWORD
MANY discerning minds have testified to the profoundly significant change which has taken place during recent years in the character of popular religious thinking. Religion has developed an entirely new emphasis, more especially for the layman, quite independent of the older sectarian divisions.
Instead of considering that religion is a matter of turning toward an abstract creed, the average religionist today is concerned with the practical applications of religion to the problems of human life. Religion, in brief, after having apparently lost its influence in terms of theology, has been restored more powerfully than ever as a spirit of brotherhood, an impulse toward unity, and an ideal making for a more enlightened civilization throughout the world.
Against this background, the institution of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár stands revealed as the supreme expression of all those modern religious tendencies animated by social ideals which do not repudiate the reality of spiritual experience but seek to transform it into a dynamic striving for unity. The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, when clearly understood, gives the world its most potent agency for applying mystical vision or idealistic aspiration to the service of humanity. It makes visible and concrete those deeper meanings and wider possibilities of religion which could not be realized until the dawn of this universal age.
The term "Mashriqu’l-Adhkár” means literally, “Dawning-place of the praise of God.”
To appreciate the significance of this Bahá’í institution, we must lay aside all customary ideas of the churches and cathedrals of the past. The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár fulfills the original intention of religion in each dispensation, before that intention had become altered and veiled by human invention and belief.
The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár is a channel releasing spiritual powers for social regeneration because it fills a different function than that assumed by the sectarian church. Its essential purpose is to provide a community meeting-place for all who are seeking to worship God, and achieves this purpose by interposing no man-made veils between the worshiper and the Supreme. Thus, the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár is freely open to people of all Faiths on equal terms, expressing in this the universality of Bahá’u’lláh who affirmed the oneness of all the Prophets. Moreover, since the Bahá’í Faith has no professional clergy, the worshiper entering the Temple hears no sermon and takes part in no ritual the emotional effect of which is to establish a separate group consciousness. Not even music—only the reading of the text of the Holy Books—will condition the experience of free worship and meditation in this edifice dedicated to the unity of mankind.
Integral with the Temple are its accessory buildings, without which the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár would not be a complete social institution. These buildings are to be devoted to such activities as a school for science, a hospice, a hospital, an asylum for orphans. Here the circle of spiritual experience at last joins, as prayer and worship are allied directly to creative service, eliminating the static subjective elements from religion and laying a foundation for a new and higher type of human association. HORACE HOLLEY.
The first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of the West, now being built at Wilmette, near Chicago, Illinois.
THE BAHA'I HOUSE OF WORSHIP
AN INSTITUTION OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ’U’LLÁH
BY GENEVIEVE L. COY
AT WILMETTE, Illinois, on the shore of Lake Michigan, the superstructure of the Bahá’í House of Worship has recently been completed. At the present time the ornamental surface decoration of perforated artificial stone is being applied to the exterior of the building.
This Bahá’í Temple has aroused the enthusiastic interest of architects because of the new principles of design and decoration which Mr. Louis Bourgeois incorporated in his unique model of the completed structure. It has drawn the attention of engineers because of the unusual problems of construction which had to be solved in order to bring the architect’s plans into actual existence. But the problems presented and solved in the Bahá’í House of Worship and the accessory institutions which will later be added include those of an even more fundamental significance than the ones presented to the architect and engineer.
Humanity today is entering into the dawn of a new age. Customs and institutions of an outworn civilization are disintegrating. When the world has been cleared of their debris, the foundation of a new world order will rise, and on it the new civilization of universal brotherhood and peace will be established. “This is a new cycle of human power. . . . It is the hour of the unity of the sons of men and of the drawing together of all races and classes. . . . War will cease between nations, and by the will of God the Most Great Peace shall come; the world will be seen as a new world, and all men will live as brothers.” (‘Abdu’l-Bahá.) The Bahá’í Temple is the expression in material form of the spiritual power which will establish the age of peace and co-operation throughout the world. It is a symbol of the Divine Will which in this new day will weld all mankind into a great spiritual brotherhood, in which differences of race, nationality, class and creed will cease to separate men into suspicious, warring groups.
The Bahá’í House of Worship on Lake Michigan is only the first of many such edifices which will later be built in America. But because it is the initial structure of this type on this continent it has a special importance at this time. It is also of particular interest because of the beauty and uniqueness of its architecture.
The late Louis Bourgeois, architect of the Temple, wrote the following concerning his work on the designs, plans and model. “The history of this Temple, as step by step it unfolds, is so unique that already the story will fill a book. Its inception was not from man for, as musicians, artists, poets receive their inspiration from another realm, feel themselves to be a receiver by whose means a heavenly melody, a new idea, is given to the world, so the Temple’s architect through all his years of labor was ever conscious that Bahá’u’lláh was the creator of this building to be erected to His glory. . . . When the man-made creeds are stripped away from all the religions we find nothing left but harmony. Today, however, religion is so entangled in the superstitions and hypotheses of men that it must needs be stated in a new form to be once again pure and undefiled. Likewise in architecture those fundamental structural lines which originated in the faith of all religions are the same, but so covered over are they with the decorations picturing creed upon creed and superstition upon superstition that we must needs lay them aside and create a new form of ornamentation. Into this new design, then, of the Temple is woven, in symbolic form, the great Bahá’í teaching of unity—the unity of all religions and of all mankind. There are combinations of mathematical lines, symbolizing those of the universe, and in their intricate merging of circle into circle, of circle within circle, we visualize the merging of all the religions into one.”
A brief description of the plan and
dimensions of the Temple are quoted
from an[Page 268]
article in
TECHNOLOGY REVIEW, written by
Allan McDaniel, director of The Research
Service, Inc., engineers who supervised the
construction of the Bahá’í House of Worship.
“Structurally, the Temple is remarkable in that it will comprise a steel, reinforced concrete and glass framework, on which will be placed the highly ornamental surface material. It is a nonagon, or nine—sided structure; each side having the form of a circular arc, with a large doorway in the center; and the whole edifice giving the appearance of extending welcoming arms to the people approaching from every direction. Pylons forty-five feet in height stand like sentinels at the corners of the first story. Above the gallery, the clerestory and the dome are also nine-sided but with the ribs rising from midway of the first story sides.
“To get a mental picture of the Temple, imagine a lofty cylindrical room topped with a hemispherical dome of 75 feet interior diameter and extending to a height of 135 feet in the center, formed of glass supported in a metal framework. The glass roof and sides protect the interior of the building from the weather. When completed, the glass will be concealed within the exterior and interior surface ornamental material, which will act as perforated screens through which the light will pass.
"The weight of the structure and the dome is carried principally at nine points equally distant from the center, and the superstructure is supported on a circular platform or foundation, 202 feet in diameter at the ground surface, and rising by 18 concentric steps to the main floor of the Temple, which is 153 feet in diameter.
“Entering any one of the nine doors, one will pass through a hallway into the central circular room or auditorium. Out of this main hall open radially (and separated by the hallways) nine smaller rooms, comparable to chapels in a cathedral. Looking upward toward the dome, will be seen a gallery 36 feet above the main floor, and above this a second (or singers’) gallery 61 feet above the floor level. Above the second gallery is a 19 foot clerestory from which springs the dome. The galleries project 10 feet into the central hall, giving the latter a clear interior diameter of 75 feet. The dome will be in three parts; the outer dome of perforated concrete or metal, the concealed wire glass weather—proof dome, and the inner dome of perforated material, decorative in character. The central domed hall will have an area of about 4,000 square feet and seat about 700 people. The nine small rooms opening out of the main hall are about 20 feet wide, 24 feet deep and with ceilings 33 feet high. These auxiliary rooms will seat about 100 persons each.
"The construction of the ornamental surface structure involves new materials and a new technique of construction. The completed external ornamentation of the dome unit, carried out by the John J. Earley Studios, reveals an entirely new quality of textural surface, made possible by the plastic medium employed. Hand-carved models were made of all the different sections, and from the resulting molds each completed section has been individually cast and then gone over by expert craftsmen. The material selected was quartz, with a medium of white cement. The result is a surface harder and more enduring than rock, and at the same time carrying an intricate design as delicate as lace. The color scheme shades from pure white on the dome to light buff at the base. An unusual plan of illumination will later be installed.
“The architect, Louis Bourgeois, ‘has conceived a Temple of Light in which structure, as usually understood, is to be concealed, visible support eliminated as far as possible, and the whole fabric to take on the airy substance of a dream; it is a lacy envelope enshrining an idea, the idea of Light, a shelter of cobweb interposed between earth and sky, struck through and through with light—light which shall partly consume the forms and make of it a thing of faery.’“ —(Statement of Mr. H. Van Buren Magonigle, architect.)
The building of this structure has been
financed by the Bahá’ís of the United States
and Canada, assisted by contributions from
those in all parts of the world. Regarding
these latter gifts ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. said, “These
contributions are most important.
Notwithstanding the miserable condition of
Persia, money has poured in and is still
coming[Page 269]
for this purpose;
although many families are extremely poor,
so they have scarcely
enough to keep themselves, nevertheless, they
give towards it. For many years the West
has contributed to the East, and now through
the mercies and bounties of God a miracle
has been performed and, for the first time in
the history of the world, the East is
contributing to the West.”
Some concrete facts concerning the cost of the Temple, erected through the self-sacrifice of Eastern and Western Bahá’ís, will now be presented.
The land on which the House of Worship stands was acquired at intervals from 1909 to 1914, at a total cost of about $125,000. The structure rests upon nine caissons of steel and concrete, which are sunk 120 feet in the ground, in order to reach bedrock. These caissons and the foundation structure cost some $200,000.
The superstructure was built by the Fuller Construction Company at a cost of $400,000. It was completed and dedicated on May 1, 1931, nineteen years to a day from the date on which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá consecrated the Temple site. The external decoration of the dome unit was completed March 1, 1934, at a cost of approximately $170,000. In March, 1934, a contract was made with John J. Earley for the external decoration of the clerestory section, for $35,000.
"Of the total amount of $895,000 thus far expended, the sum of $570,000 was paid out for materials and labor during a period of unemployment unparalleled in our history. Hundreds of hours of work were thus provided for workmen, many of whom might otherwise have been idle. Of the attitude of the men who worked for the twenty-four sub—contractors who built the superstructure, the following has been written: “It is gratifying to note that in all the various operations where men of different trades and training must of necessity work together and at times get in each other’s way, there was the utmost harmony with no visible labor disputes or strikes. In fact, a spirit of devotion to the work and enthusiasm in its outcome was shown throughout the entire operations. There were no delays due to misunderstanding, but each and every man connected with the work seemed to regard it as an opportunity to take part in a worthwhile undertaking.” (From an article by Frederick H. Newell, in THE BAHÁ’Í WORLD, Vol. IV, p. 199.)
Comments in newspapers and magazines on the unique beauty of this House of Worship have been many. We have space to quote only two of these. Sherwin Cody, in the Magazine section of the NEW YORK TIMES, wrote of the model of the Temple when it was on view in the Kevorkian Gallery in New York City, “Americans will have to pause long enough to find that an artist has wrought into this building the conception of a Religious League of Nations.” A writer in the CHRISTIAN REGISTER said, “Wonderful as the architectural design of the Temple is, those most concerned in its erection see in the universal service it will render to mankind its supreme importance.”
Let us now turn from the description of the physical structure and building of the Bahá’í House of Worship to a more detailed consideration of its social and spiritual significance.
The thinking man who is concerned with the problems of modern society—the direction in which the social order should move, the means by which this progress may be hastened—will find in the purposes of the Bahá’í Temple and its accessories concrete and definite solutions to many of his questions. The Bahá’í Faith presents a comprehensive plan for a new world order, and the basic principles of this plan are exemplified in the institution of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár —that is, in the House of Worship and its related buildings. Since the Bahá’í answer to the question of what constitutes an ideal social order is accepted by many thousands of people in the five continents of the world, the intelligent modern man will do well to inform himself of the details of a faith and a practice which are motivating the lives of Bahá’ís throughout the world.
What constitutes the “Good Society,” and
how may the peoples of the world move to
attain the goals of that society? These
questions are answered by Bahá’u’lláh, the
founder of the Bahá’í Faith, and His
solutions have been interpreted and amplified
by His son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and by
Shoghi[Page 270]
Effendi,
the present Guardian of the Faith.
The following discussion contains a brief
summary of their most important teachings,
and a statement of the way in which these
principles are incorporated in the institution
of the Bahá’í House of Worship.
As a basic element of faith, the Bahá’í accepts the statement of Bahá’u’lláh, “The root of all knowledge is the knowledge of God, and this knowledge is impossible save through His Manifestation,” that is, save through the Prophet, the Divine Educator. That this does not imply an other—worldly, impractical mysticism will be evident as this discussion continues. It does clearly make the life of man dependent upon a divine plan and a divine Teacher. The Bahá’í Faith is therefore based firmly on the unswerving conviction that a purely materialistic concept of society is untenable. The first duty of man and of society is to try to understand the goals of the divine plan, as spoken and written by the great religious Prophets—Zoroaster, Buddha, Moses, Christ, Muḥammad and, in this age, by Bahá’u’lláh. Prayer is also an important means of coming into contact with the divine purposes.
For these reasons, prayer, meditation and the reading and study of the words of the Divine Educators are the necessary means with which the Bahá’í prepares himself to evolve spiritually and to take part in the life of society. The Bahá’í Temple is the place in which men and women will meet each morning for worship, before undertaking the practice of life in a society which they are striving to mold nearer to the divine plan. In this house of worship there will be no sermons; the reading or chanting of prayers and meditational writings of the Prophets, and a reverent silence are the best preparation for a day of active service—that service itself being accounted another form of worship.
The question may be asked, "Why need there be a group worship; why should not each individual pray and meditate alone in his own home?” The answer is contained in another of the basic Bahá’í principles-the oneness of mankind. Shoghi Effendi has described this principle as “the pivot around which all the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh revolve.” To the Bahá’í the oneness of mankind is “no mere outburst of ignorant emotionalism or an expression of vague and pious hope.” It necessitates so close a sense of unity with all men that prejudices of class, race, nationality and creed must be absolutely destroyed. The more intimately man understands and serves all people the nearer he comes to the knowledge of God. The Bahá’í seeks to attain “transparent fellowship” with every human being he meets, in order that a truly divine unity may be spread through the world.
Worship in the Bahá’í Temple is a privilege freely offered to all men and women who, forsaking the limitations of prejudices and creeds, seek to enter into a true spiritual communion with God, and into a loving unity with their fellows. From such group prayer and meditation man may receive an inspiration, a strengthening of his own aspirations by those of his neighbors, which cannot come from solitary worship, however sincere it may be.
In Chicago, in 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. said, “The purpose of places of worship and edifices for adoration is simply that of unity, in order that various nations, divergent races, varying souls may gather there, and among them amity, love and accord may be realized. The original purpose is this. That is why Bahá’u’lláh has commanded that a place be built for all the religionists of the world; that all religions and races and sects may gather together; that the Oneness of the human world may be proclaimed; that all the human race is the servant of God, and that all are submerged in the Ocean of God’s Mercy.”
This, then, is the purpose of worship in the Bahá’í Temple—that man may grow into a fuller sense of unity with the divine purposes, and into a closer fellowship with other men of all classes, races, creeds and nations.
The accessory institutions of the
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár indicate
some of the ways in
which the Bahá’í turns into channels of
practical service the inspiration he has
obtained through worship. Prayer and
meditation are only one part of man's
responsibility to God. The principle of
the importance of activity lies at the
very heart of the Bahá’í teachings.
“The principle of faith[Page 271]
is
to lessen words and to increase deeds. He
whose words exceed his acts, know verily
that his non-being is better than his being
and death better than life. . . . Deeds
reveal the station of the man. . . . The effect
of deeds is in truth more powerful than
that of words.” (From Words of Wisdom,
Bahá’u’lláh.) “All effort and exertion put
forth by man from the fulness of his heart
is worship, if it is prompted by the highest
motives and the will to do service to humanity.
This is worship to serve mankind
and to minister to the needs of people. A
physician ministering to the sick, gently,
tenderly, free from prejudice and believing
in the solidarity of the human race, he is
giving praise.” (Wisdom of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
p. 165.)
When the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár at Wilmette is completed it will include a hospital and dispensary, a school for orphan children, a hospice, and a college for higher scientific education. In these institutions the principle of the oneness of mankind will be put into concrete practice. Their services will be dispensed irrespective of color, race or nationality.
The inclusion of a college for scientific education in this group of institutions draws attention to another basic Bahá’í principle, that religion must be in accord with science and reason. “Religion and science are the two wings upon which man’s intelligence can soar into the heights, with which the human soul can progress. It is not possible to fly with one wing alone! Should a man try to fly with the wing of religion alone he would quickly fall into the quagmire of superstition, whilst, on the other hand, with the wing of science alone he would also make no progress, but fall into the despairing slough of materialism. . . . The religion which does not walk hand in hand with science is itself in the darkness of superstition and ignorance. . . . When religion, shorn of its superstitions, traditions, and unintelligent dogmas, shows its conformity with science, then will there be a great unifying, cleansing force in the world, which will sweep before it all wars, disagreements, discords and struggles—and then will mankind be united in the power of the love of God.” (Wisdom of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, pp. 132-135.)
Other fundamental principles which are exemplified in the founding of a college on the Temple grounds are (1) the independent investigation of truth—“no man should follow blindly his ancestors and forefathers. Each must see with his own eyes, hear with his own ears, and investigate truth.” (2) Universal education,—"All mankind should partake of both knowledge and education. . . . The education of each child is obligatory.” “To acquire knowledge is incumbent upon all, but of those sciences which may profit the people of the earth, and not such sciences as begin in mere words, and end in mere words.” (Bahá’u’lláh, Tajallíyát.)
Bahá’u’lláh recognized man’s need for beauty in his surroundings, and the buildings on the Temple grounds will be encircled by gardens and trees. On May 1, 1912, at the dedication of the land on which the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette is built, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke of the first Bahá’í Temple in the world, built in ‘Ishqábád, Russia. He said, "Just imagine an edifice of that beauty in the center, very lofty, surrounded centrally by gardens, variegated flowers, with nine avenues interlacing nine gardens, nine pools and nine fountains, and see how delightful it will be! That is the way it should be! It is matchless, most beautiful! Such is the design. . . . There will be no greater geometry than this, and I hope that in Chicago (Wilmette) it will be like this.”
The fundamental principle of the oneness of mankind, fostered by worship in the Bahá’í Temple, must, of course, express itself through many channels other than the institutions of service on the adjacent grounds. Bahá’ís carry their ideal of unity into all the activities of daily living, whether they function as worker, as citizen, or as creative artist.
The aims of a Bahá’í as a world citizen may best be stated in the words of Shoghi Effendi. “Some form of a world SuperState must needs be evolved, in whose favor all the nations of the world will have willingly ceded every claim to make war, certain rights to impose taxation and all rights to maintain armaments, except for purposes of maintaining internal order within their respective dominions. Such a state will have
Aerial view of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in Wilmette, Illinois, U. S. A.
[Page 273]
to include within its orbit
an International Executive adequate to
enforce supreme and
unchallengeable authority on every
recalcitrant member of the commonwealth; a
World Parliament whose members shall be
elected by the people in their respective
countries and whose election shall be confirmed
by their respective governments; and a
Supreme Tribunal whose judgment will have
a binding effect even in such cases where
the parties concerned did not voluntarily
agree to submit their case to its consideration.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá after breaking the ground for the cornerstone of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in Wilmette, Illinois, U. S. A.
A world community in which all
economic barriers will have been permanently
demolished and the interdependence
of Capital and Labor definitely recognized;
in which the clamor of religious fanaticism
and strife will have been forever stilled; in
which the flame of racial animosity will have
been finally extinguished; in which a single
code of international law—the product of
the considered judgment of the world's
federated representatives—shall have as its
sanction the instant and coercive intervention
of the combined forces of the federated
units; and finally a world community in
which the fury of a capricious and militant
nationalism will have been transmuted into
an abiding consciousness of world citizenship—such,
indeed, appears, in its
broadest[Page 274]
outline, the
Order anticipated by Bahá’u’lláh.”
(The Goal of a New World Order, pp. 20-21.)
It is evident that the followers of the Bahá’í Faith must find in their worship an inspiration which will give them power to work at a stupendous task. But they find no cause for discouragement, for they are convinced of the truth of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s statement, “Thanks to the unfailing grace of God . . . nothing whatever can be regarded as unattainable. . . Endeavor, ceaseless endeavor is required.” Meditation and prayer in the Bahá’í Temple is one of the means through which Bahá’ís acquire the strength to persevere in this "ceaseless endeavor.”
The significance to the social order of the Bahá’í ideal which is taking concrete form in the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette can best be summarized in the words of Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith. "Nothing short of direct and constant interaction between the spiritual forces emanating from this House of Worship centering in the heart of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, and the energies consciously displayed by those who administer its affairs in their service to humanity can possibly provide the necessary agency capable of removing the evils that have so long and so grievously afflicted humanity. For it is assuredly upon the consciousness of the efficacy of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, reinforced on the one hand by spiritual communion with His Spirit, and on the other by the intelligent application and the faithful execution of the principles and laws He revealed, that the salvation of a world in travail must ultimately depend. And of all the institutions that stand associated with His Holy Name, surely none save the institution of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár can most adequately provide the essentials of Bahá’í worship and service, both so vital to the regeneration of the world.”
————————
THE SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MASHRIQU’L-ADHKÁR
A LETTER FROM SHOGHI EFFENDI
The Beloved of the Lord and the Handmaids of the Merciful throughout the United States and Canada.
MY well-beloved friends:
Ever since that remarkable manifestation of Bahá’í solidarity and self-sacrifice which has signalized the proceedings of last year’s memorable Convention, I have been expectantly awaiting the news of a steady and continuous support of the Plan which can alone ensure, ere the present year draws to its close, the resumption of building operations on our beloved Temple.
Moved by an impulse that I could not resist, I have felt impelled to forego what may be regarded as the most valuable and sacred possession in the Holy Land for the furthering of that noble enterprise which you have set your hearts to achieve. With the hearty concurrence of our dear Bahá’í brother, Ziaoulláh Asgarzadeh, who years ago donated it to the Most Holy Shrine, this precious ornament of the Tomb of Bahá’u’lláh has been already shipped to your shores, with our fondest hope that the proceeds from its sale may at once ennoble and reinforce the unnumbered offerings of the American believers already accumulated on the altar of Bahá’í sacrifice. I have longed ever since to witness such evidences of spontaneous and generous response on your part as would tend to fortify within me a confidence that has never wavered in the inexhaustible vitality of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in that land.
I need not stress at this moment the high
hopes which so startling a display of
unsparing devotion to our sacred Temple has
already aroused in the breasts of the
multitude of our brethren throughout the East.
Nor is it I feel necessary to impress upon
those who are primarily concerned with its
erection the gradual change of outlook which
the early prospect of the construction of the
far-famed Mashriqu’l-Adhkár
in America has unmistakably occasioned in
high places among the hitherto sceptical and
indifferent[Page 275]
towards the merits
and the practicability of
the Faith proclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh. Neither
do I need to expatiate upon the hopes and
fears of the Greatest Holy Leaf, now in the
evening of her life, with deepening shadows
caused by failing eye-sight and declining
strength swiftly gathering about her,
yearning to hear as the one remaining solace in
her swiftly ebbing life the news of the
resumption of work on an Edifice, the glories
of which she has, from the lips of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
Himself, learned to admire. I cannot
surely overrate at the present juncture in the
progress of our task the challenging character
of these remaining months of the year
as a swiftly passing opportunity which it is
in our power to seize and utilize, ere it is
too late, for the edification of our expectant
brethren throughout the East, for the vindication
in the eyes of the world at large of the
realities of our Faith, and last but not least
for the realization of what is the Greatest
Holy Leaf’s fondest desire.
As I have already intimated in the course
of my conversations with visiting pilgrims,
so vast and significant an enterprise as the
construction of the first
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár
of the West should be supported, not by the
munificence of a few but by the joint
contributions of the entire mass of the
convinced followers of the Faith. It cannot
be denied that the emanations of spiritual
power and inspiration destined to radiate from
the central Edifice of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár
will to a very large extent depend upon the
range and variety of the contributing believers,
as well as upon the nature and
degree of self-abnegation which their
unsolicited offerings will entail. Moreover, we
should, I feel, regard it as an axiom and
guiding principle of Bahá’í administration
that in the conduct of every specific Bahá’í
activity, as different from undertakings of
a humanitarian, philanthropic, or charitable
character, which may in future be conducted
under Bahá’í auspices, only those who have
already identified themselves with the Faith
and are regarded as its avowed and unreserved
supporters should be invited to join
and collaborate. For apart from the
consideration of embarrassing complications
which the association of non-believers
in the financing of institutions of
a strictly Bahá’í character may conceivably
engender in the administration of the
Bahá’í community of the future, it
should be remembered that
these specific Bahá’í institutions, which
should be viewed in the light of Bahá’u’lláh’s
gifts bestowed upon the world, can best
function and most powerfully exert their
influence in the world only if reared and
maintained solely by the support of those
who are fully conscious of, and are
unreservedly submissive to, the claims inherent
in the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh. In cases,
however, when a friend or sympathizer of
the Faith eagerly insists on a monetary
contribution for the promotion of the Faith,
such gifts should be accepted and duly
acknowledged by the elected representatives
of the believers with the express understanding
that they would be utilized by them only
to reinforce that section of the Bahá’í Fund
exclusively devoted to philanthropic or
charitable purposes. For, as the Faith of
Bahá’u’lláh extends in scope and and in influence,
and the resources of Bahá’í communities
correspondingly multiply, it will become
increasingly desirable to differentiate between
such departments of the Bahá’í treasury as
minister to the needs of the world at large,
and those that are specifically designed to
promote the direct interests of the Faith
itself. From this apparent divorce between
Bahá’í and humanitarian activities it must
not, however, be inferred that the animating
purpose of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh stands
at variance with the aims and objects of
the humanitarian and philanthropic
institutions of the day. Nay, it should
be realized by every judicious promoter
of the Faith that at such an early stage
in the evolution
and crystallization of the Cause such
discriminating and precautionary measures are
inevitable and even necessary if the nascent
institutions of the Faith are to emerge
triumphant and unimpaired from the present
welter of confused and often conflicting
interests with which they are surrounded.
This note of warning may not be thought
inappropriate at a time when, inflamed by a
consuming passion to witness the early
completion of the
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, we may
not only be apt to acquiesce in the desire of
those who, as yet uninitiated into the Cause,
are willing to lend financial assistance to
its[Page 276]
institutions, but may
even feel inclined to
solicit from them such aid as it is in their
power to render. Ours surely is the paramount
duty so to acquit ourselves in the
discharge of our most sacred task that in
the days to come neither the tongue of the
slanderer nor the pen of the malevolent may
dare to insinuate that so beauteous, so
significant an Edifice has been reared by
anything short of the unanimous, the exclusive,
and the self-sacrificing strivings of the small
yet determined body of the convinced supporters
of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. How
delicate our task, how pressing the
responsibility that weighs upon us, who are called
upon on one hand to preserve inviolate the
integrity and the identity of the regenerating
Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, and to vindicate on the
other its broad, its humanitarian, its
all-embracing principles!
True, we cannot fail to realize at the present stage of our work the extremely limited number of contributors qualified to lend financial support to such a vast, such an elaborate and costly enterprise. We are fully aware of the many issues and varied Bahá’í activities that are unavoidably held in abeyance pending the successful conclusion of the Plan of Unified Action. We are only too conscious of the pressing need of some sort of befitting and concrete embodiment of the spirit animating the Cause that would stand in the heart of the American Continent both as a witness and as a rallying center to the manifold activities of a fast growing Faith. But spurred by those reflections may we not bestir ourselves and resolve as we have never resolved before to hasten by every means in our power the consummation of this all-absorbing yet so meritorious a task? I beseech you, dear friends, not to allow considerations of number, or the consciousness of the limitation of our resources, or even the experience of inevitable setbacks which every mighty undertaking" is bound to encounter, to blur your vision, to dim your hopes, or to paralyze your efforts in the prosecution of your divinely appointed task. Neither, do I entreat you, to suffer the least deviation into the paths of expediency and compromise to obstruct those channels of vivifying grace that can alone provide the inspiration and strength vital not only to the successful conduct of its material construction, but to the fulfillment of its high destiny.
And while we bend our efforts and strain our nerves in a feverish pursuit to provide the necessary means for the speedy construction of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, may we not pause for a moment to examine those statements which set forth the purpose as well as the functions of this symbolical yet so spiritually potent Edifice? It will be readily admitted that at a time when the tenets of a Faith, not yet fully emerged from the fires of repression, are as yet improperly defined and imperfectly understood, the utmost caution should be exercised in revealing the true nature of those institutions which are indissolubly associated with its name.
Without attempting an exhaustive survey of the distinguishing features and purpose of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, I should feel content at the present time to draw your attention to what I regard as certain misleading statements that have found currency in various quarters, and which may lead gradually to a grave misapprehension of the true purpose and essential character of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár.
It should be borne in mind that the central
Edifice of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár,
round which in the fulness of time shall cluster
such institutions of social service as shall
afford relief to the suffering, sustenance to
the poor, shelter to the wayfarer, solace to
the bereaved, and education to the ignorant,
should be regarded apart from these Dependencies, as a House solely designed and
entirely dedicated to the worship of God
in accordance with the few yet definitely
prescribed principles established by
Bahá’u’lláh in the Kitáb-i-Aqdás. It should not
be inferred, however, from this general
statement that the interior of the central Edifice
itself will be converted into a conglomeration
of religious services conducted along
lines associated with the traditional procedure
obtaining in churches, mosques, synagogues,
and other temples of worship. Its various
avenues of approach, all converging towards
the central Hall beneath its dome, will not
serve as admittance to those sectarian
adherents of rigid formula: and
man-made[Page 277]
creeds, each bent,
according to his way, to
observe his rites, recite his prayers, perform
his ablutions, and display the particular
symbols of his faith within separately
defined sections of Bahá’u’lláh’s Universal
House of Worship. Far from the
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár
offering such a spectacle of incoherent
and confused sectarian observances
and rites, a condition wholly incompatible
with the provisions of the Aqdás and
irreconcilable with the spirit it
inculcates, the central House of Bahá’í
worship, enshrined within the
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár,
will gather within its chastened walls,
in a serenely spiritual atmosphere,
only those who, discarding
forever the trappings of elaborate and
ostentatious ceremony, are willing worshippers
of the one true God, as manifested in this
age in the Person of Bahá’u’lláh. To them
will the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár
symbolize the fundamental verity underlying the Bahá’í
Faith, that religious truth is not absolute but
relative, that Divine Revelation is not final
but progressive. Theirs will be the conviction
that an all-loving and ever-watchful
Father Who, in the past, and at various
stages in the evolution of mankind, has sent
forth His Prophets as the Bearers of His
Message and the Manifestations of His Light
to mankind, cannot at this critical period of
their civilization withhold from His
children the Guidance which they sorely need
amid the darkness which has beset them,
and which neither the light of science nor
that of human intellect and wisdom can
succeed in dissipating. And thus having
recognized in Bahá’u’lláh the source whence
this celestial light proceeds, they will
irresistibly feel attracted to seek the shelter of
His House, and congregate therein,
unhampered by ceremonials and unfettered by
creed, to render homage to the one true
God, the Essence and Orb of eternal Truth,
and to exalt and magnify the name of His
Messengers and Prophets Who, from time
immemorial even unto our day, have, under
divers circumstances and in varying measure,
mirrored forth to a dark and wayward
world the light of heavenly Guidance.
But however inspiring the conception of Bahá’í worship, as witnessed in the central Edifice of this exalted Temple, it cannot be regarded as the sole, nor even the essential, factor in the part which the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, as designed by Bahá’u’lláh, is destined to play in the organic life of the Bahá’í community. Divorced from the social, humanitarian, educational and scientific pursuits centering around the Dependencies of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, Bahá’í worship, however exalted in its conception, however passionate in fervor, can never hope to achieve beyond the meager and often transitory results produced by the contemplations of the ascetic or the communion of the passive worshipper. It cannot afford lasting satisfaction and benefit to the worshipper himself, much less to humanity in general, unless and until translated and transfused into that dynamic and disinterested service to the cause of humanity which it is the supreme privilege of the Dependencies of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár to facilitate and promote. Nor will the exertions, no matter how disinterested and strenuous, of those who within the precincts of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár will be engaged in administering the affairs of the future Bahá’í Commonwealth, fructify and prosper unless they are brought into close and daily communion with those spiritual agencies centering in and radiating from the central Shrine of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár. Nothing short of direct and constant interaction between the spiritual forces emanating from this House of Worship centering in the heart of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, and the energies consciously displayed by those who administer its affairs in their service to humanity can possibly provide the necessary agency capable of removing the ills that have so long and so grievously afflicted humanity. For it is assuredly upon the consciousness of the efficacy of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, reinforced on one hand by spiritual communion with His Spirit, and on the other by the intelligent application and the faithful execution of the principles and laws He revealed, that the salvation of a world in travail must ultimately depend. And of all the institutions that stand associated with His Holy Name, surely none save the institution of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár can most adequately provide the essentials of Bahá’í worship and service, both so vital to the regeneration of the world. Therein lies the secret of the loftiness, of the potency,
The Dome of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár (March, 1934) showing details of the ornamentation.
Bahá’ís assembled at the geometrical center of the Temple grounds, and invoking the Greatest Name as their faces are turned toward ‘Akká, April 27, 1910.
[Page 279]
of the unique position of the
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár as one of the
outstanding institutions conceived by Bahá’u’lláh.
Dearly-beloved friends! May we not as the trustees of so priceless a heritage, arise to fulfill our high destiny? Haifa, Palestine, October 25, 1929.
————————-
THE SPELL OF THE TEMPLE
ALLEN B. MCDANIEL
"And finally who can be so bold as to deny that the completion of the superstructure of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár *—the crowning glory of America's past and present achievements—has forged that mystic chain which is to link, more firmly than ever, the hearts of its champion-builders with Him Who is the Source and Center of their Faith and the Object of their truest adoration?—SHOGH1 EFFENDI.
ONE hot afternoon in August, 1921, two men entered the office of the Earley Studio in Washington. They arrived unannounced and presented to John J. Earley, the head of the studio, the photograph of a model of a beautiful building. One of these gentlemen, a man of rather distinguished appearance, introduced himself as Louis Bourgeois, the architect of the building shown in the photograph. He stated that he had been sent to the studio by an engineer, a mutual friend.
Mr. Bourgeois explained that the model was the accepted design for a universal Temple, which the followers of Bahá’u’lláh all over the world were going to erect on a sightly location on the shore of Lake Michigan about fifteen miles north of Chicago. Soon it became evident that the design was the dream of this architect’s life, a vision that had come to him. At that moment he was seeking a material with which to build this unique and beautiful structure and someone with the sympathetic understanding, ability and experience to put this design into material form. The architect left the photograph of the Temple with the studio and thus began an eleven-year study by Mr. Earley and his assistants of one of the most remarkable building projects in all history.
Meanwhile, the Temple Trustees, the national organization in charge of the building of the Temple, started construction
————————
* The Dawning Place of God’s Praise.
work with the sinking of nine great concrete caissons to a depth of 136 feet to bed rock, and the erection of a circular foundation containing a domed hall which has been used for meetings since its completion.
Nine years passed and funds became available for the building of the superstructure of the Temple. During this period an almost continuous investigation was carried on to solve the problem of what materials to use in building a structure, the design of which seemed to be a “lacey envelope enshrining an idea, the idea of light, a shelter of cobweb interposed between earth and sky, struck through and through with Light—light which shall partly consume the forms and make of it a thing faery.”
Mr. Bourgeois and the Temple Trustees
had originally planned on erecting the
Temple in sections, story by story, as funds
became available. And so in 1930, when
$400,000 was on hand for the resumption
of the building work, it was decided to
build the first story complete and cover it
with a temporary roof, until further funds
made it possible to build the first gallery
story, and so on until the dome was finished.
But a careful analysis indicated the
desirability of constructing the entire
superstructure framework for an amount
well within the
available resources. This plan was adopted
and carried out within a year’s time. So
efficiently and economically was this done
that it was possible to install the entire
plumbing system and part of the
heating[Page 280]
and lighting systems
thus affording a completely enclosed and
usable building.
Just before the building of the superstructure of the Temple began in September, 1930, the architect, Mr. Bourgeois, died in his studio home on the Temple property. But he had completed his design including full-sized drawings of all of the exterior ornamentation, great drawings of remarkable beauty and accuracy, and details for the dome reaching a length of 109 feet. With these detailed data and with the results of years of consultation with the architect, we believe that we know the problem and have a clear conception of his vision—a Temple of Light with a great pierced dome having ribs extending toward the heavens like great arms lifted in supplication—a gleaming white building through which the sunlight would stream to illumine all within, and through which by night the temple light would shine out to enlighten a darkened world. The vision of the architect penetrated the sky, where he saw not only the stars and constellations, but their orbits, circles, ovals and vesicas of endless variety weaving in and out like a great celestial fabric. This is the theme of the dome ornamentation, the courses of the firmament. But to give life to this fabric, tendrils, leaves and flower forms were added. Interwoven in this fabric are the symbols of the great religious movements of the past and present, the swastika used in many ancient faiths, the six—pointed star of Moses, the cross of Christianity, the star and crescent of Muḥammadanism, and the nine-pointed star of the universal religious faith of the followers of Bahá’u’lláh (Glory of God).
With the architect gone, and with the fruits of his years of devoted service in hand, the Temple Trustees turned to The Research Service of Washington, D. C., an organization of specialists in the fields of engineering and construction, men who had been associated with some of the great works in America and abroad, and requested this concern to determine on the material or materials and the methods to be used in clothing the Temple superstructure with “the lacey envelope” that would complete the building and materialize the dream of Bourgeois.
And so nearly eleven years after the Earley Studio received its first call from the architect, two engineers called on Mr. John J. Earley and informed him that his studio had been selected, after two years of intensive investigation, to prepare the exterior ornamentation of the dome of the Temple of Light.
Fortunately the Earley Studio had available a plant at Rosslyn, Va., that was especially adapted to the construction of the dome ornamentation. This plant was assigned to the project and early in July, 1932, the preliminary work was started. This involved the layout and construction of a full-sized wooden model of one panel of the structural outer framework of the existing dome structure that would finally support the concrete ornamentation. An analysis quickly indicated that it would be more efficient and economical in the end to make the dome ornamentation at this plant rather than on the Temple property, as originally contemplated by the architect.
The principal purpose of this model of the dome panel was to serve as a standard of measurement from which the dimensions of the various sections of the field and the ribs of the dome could be taken off later and used. Also this model was used for the purpose of studying the plaster of Paris casts of the dome ornamentation.
It was necessary to study the dome ornamentation, which is unique in having about one-third of its area perforated. If these perforations were too large they would destroy the architectural continuity. Were they too small they would not be apparent. All of the exterior surfaces of the ornamentation were carefully modelled and this modelling studied so as to secure the proper lights and shades and thus give character to the surface, especially when seen from a distance. It was necessary to study every ornamentation detail over a period of several months. so that it would fit into the design, as the brush strokes of the painter fit into and form a part of his masterpiece.
The first step in the preparation of the ornamentation was the modelling and carving of the original clay model for each and every section. The sculptor made a tracing of the architect’s original full-sized drawing for each surface and then transferred
this[Page 281]
Detail of outer surface of concrete case.
“The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, the crowning institution in every Bahá’í community. . . . An edifice that will in time become God’s Universal House of Worship.”
Model of dome with plaster models of panel and rib.
An aeroplane view of the Temple and beautiful site at Wilmette on the shore of Lake Michigan.
Carving model of a section of the dome ornamentation.
The Temple as it will look when completed.
[Page 283]
design on to the clay surface.
From this outline he modelled and carved out
the full-sized clay model. Plaster of Paris
impressions were taken of the clay surfaces and from
these the plaster of Paris model was prepared.
These models were well reinforced
with hemp and jute and rods. The rough
plaster of Paris model was carefully carved
to give the final surface texture and modelling.
From each plaster cast or model a
plaster of Paris mould was made and this
represented the negative of the final cast
section.
The unique feature in the casting of the concrete sections is the use of a mat or framework of high carbon steel rods which forms the reinforcement, serves to give high early strength to the casting for handling and subsequently makes of each section a structure which is designed to resist the highest possible pressures produced from wind, snow, ice, etc.
After the concrete casts are taken out of the moulds a group of skilled laborers scrape the mortar from the outer surfaces and thoroughly clean these surfaces down to the exposed aggregate. This leaves the entire outer surface of a white radiant quality. The vision of the architect involved a structure that would be indeed a Temple of Light. His design called for an outer surface that was radiantly white at the dome and graded to a light buff tone at the base of the building. The contractor and the engineer spent several months in a search through the eastern section of the United States to find just the right material for the aggregate of the concrete. After visiting many outcroppings of native stone and quarries it was decided to use two qualities of quartz—a pure white opaque quartz from Kings Creek, S. C., and a crystalline quartz from Moneta, Va. This material is quarried and shipped in large pieces to the plant where it is passed through a jaw crusher and a series of rolls until it is of the required size for the coarser aggregate. The waste is then taken and again passed through the rolls and crushed finer for the sand. These aggregates are mixed with white cement and water to form the plastic concrete which is carefully poured and tamped in the moulds. The casting is allowed to set for from eighteen to twenty hours depending upon temperature and moisture conditions before it is removed from the mould.
The scraping and finishing of the outer surfaces of each cast requires a little less time than an average working day. After the cast has been scraped and cleaned, it is then removed to a large room where the air is kept moist. The concrete casts are allowed to remain in this moist chamber for a period of at least two weeks. They are then removed to the storage yard and subsequently loaded in freight cars and shipped to the Temple for erection on the dome.
Inserts are imbedded in the four corners of each concrete casting. These provide a means of bolting the ornamentation to the structural steel skeleton of the dome.
An interesting feature of the ornamentation is its division into the two hundred and seventy sections of the field of the dome and the one hundred and seventeen sections of the great ribs. These sections are separated by a space of a half inch to allow for deflection and temperature changes in both the steel structure and concrete material of the ornamentation.
This entire project is unique in the history of building construction. It does not mean simply the building of another church or temple. Continuous study and investigation extending over the past decade has evolved the new idea of constructing a framework and then building and placing on this framework the design which in itself is a superimposed structure. Even to the layman it is apparent that this method of construction is simple, direct and economical. It is believed that it is the only practicable method for a building of this unique and ornamental nature. The estimates of the engineers for the construction of this Temple, in accordance with the ordinary methods of stone masonry and with the use of white marble, would have involved an expenditure of about ten times what this building will cost. Even a building laboriously carved out of white marble and requiring a long period of years for execution would not have met the architect’s requirements of a radiantly white building of a permanent and enduring material.
The development of the work of the
orna[Page 284]
mentation has
developed a spirit among the
workers which is known as “The Spell of
the Temple.” Many delightful little stories
of personal interest could be told of the
workers who are largely craftsmen of long
experience. Then man who had the final
carving of the plaster of Paris casts insisted
on doing all of this work. Several of the
workers, when learning that the Temple was
being built by voluntary contributions made
largely by poor people all over the world
and on the basis of sacrifice, voluntarily
suggested a reduction in their pay. Mr. Taylor,
Mr. Earley’s associate, personally laid out and
superintended every part of the work involved
in the construction of the wooden
model of the dome panel, the casting shed
and other parts of the job. The design and
supervision of this work involved an endless
amount of time and effort.
And thus the work goes on and on. The spirit of the project seems to involve devotion and selfless service. The “Spell of the Temple” has inspired everyone connected with the work to heights of craftsmanship, to degrees of ingenuity and a sustained enthusiasm that recall the days of the cathedral builders of the Middle Ages.
————————
A STATEMENT BY THE ARCHITECT
THE Master, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, told us that the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár will symbolize the body of the Manifestation among men. Of supreme importance, then, to all Bahá’ís, and especially to those of us who live in America is the building of this great Edifice at Wilmette, Illinois, by the shores of beautiful Lake Michigan.
The history of this Temple, as step by step it unfolds, is so unique that already the story will fill a book. Its inception was not from man for, as musicians, artists, poets receive their inspiration from another realm, feel themselves to be a receiver by whose means a heavenly melody is transmitted, a new idea is given to the world, so the Temple's architect through all his years of labor was ever conscious that Bahá’u’lláh was the creator of this building to be erected to His glory. And the architect’s belief was confirmed in a talk with the beloved Master.
When the man-made creeds are stripped away from all the religions we find nothing left but harmony. Today, however, religion is so entangled in the superstitions and hypotheses of men that it must needs be stated in a new form to be once again pure and undefiled. Likewise in architecture those fundamental structural lines which originated in the faith of all religions are the same, but so covered over are they with the decorations picturing creed upon creed and superstition after superstition that we must needs lay them aside and create a new form of ornamentation.
Into this new design, then, of the Temple is woven, in symbolic form, the great Bahá’í teaching of unity—the unity of all religions and of all mankind. There are combinations of mathematical lines, symbolizing those of the universe, and in their intricate merging of circle into circle, of circle within circle, we visualize the merging of all the religions into one.
On the first floor of the Bahá’í Temple there will be the great auditorium of the building, above which will rise the stately dome, 162 feet high. A corridor encircles the dome on the outside, and inside the building is a circle of rooms, or alcoves, all opening upon the main auditorium. A circle of steps, eighteen in all, will surround the structure on the outside and lead to the auditorium floor. These eighteen steps represent the eighteen first disciples of the Báb, and the door to which they lead stands for the Báb himself.
In the rear of the building will be steps leading to the first and second balconies which, tier above tier, follow the circular dome. In the second balcony chairs of children will sing their songs of praise to God, the all-glorious.
The auditorium under the dome, with its beautiful molded tracery, will be protected inside by a glass dome and in the space be
Work on Exhibit—Workmen fit together plaster sections of the full-size model of the dome for the Bahá’í Temple of Light.
The Dome of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár as now assembled. The ornamentation of the dome was completed in March, 1934. The remainder of the ornamentation still to be completed.
[Page 287]
tween the stone dome and
the glass dome will be placed electric
lights which will shine
through the auditorium. On the dome’s
pinnacle there will be a sunken room and
this will house a mighty search light.
Through the nine faces made by the ribs
which will bind the dome into a unity this
search light will radiate its star-like rays.
THE PROJECT OF ORNAMENTING THE BAHÁ’Í TEMPLE DOME*
From Journal of the American Concrete Institute.
{{center|BY JOHN J. EARLEY†
TWELVE years ago, last August, two gentlemen came to my studio in Washington. They came unexpectedly and they brought with them only the photograph of a plaster model. They had been sent by a mutual friend, an engineer, deeply interested in the work being done with concrete by this studio, who suggested that we might offer a solution for their problem. One of these gentlemen was Mr. Louis Bourgeois, an architect, and the most unusual personality I have met in that profession. The other was Mr. Ashton, his friend, and the photograph which they brought was of a Temple, the most exotically beautiful building I have ever seen. It came up out of the earth like the sprout of some great plant bursting out to life and growth.
Mr. Bourgeois explained that he was the architect of the building and a member of the Bahá’í Faith who believe themselves to be the children of a new era, who believe that they have received a new Manifestation. It soon became clear that this Temple was the dream of Mr. Bourgeois’ life, that all his hopes and ambitions were centered in it, and that he believed himself to have been inspired to design a temple unlike any other in the world, so that it might be the symbol of a new religion in a new age. At that moment he was anxiously seeking a material with which to build it and someone with the ability to understand his work and the skill to execute it. He left with me the photo- ———————— * Presented at 29th Annual Convention, Chicago, Feb. 21-24, 1933. † Architectural Sculptor, Washington, D. C.
graph, after autographing it. I have it still. It marks the beginning of the project for me.
In the time which intervened between
this meeting and the death of Mr. Bourgeois
about two years ago, there developed between
us an interesting and instructive
friendship. We studied this temple with all
its ramifications of form, of treatment and
of meaning as a preparation for the time
when work on it would be begun. It was
strange, in a way, that we of the studio
should have given so much thought to it.
We had no authority to do so and as a
matter of fact we were not commissioned
to do the work until this summer just past.
But somehow it always seemed to be our
work. We understood it, we had the material
and were equipped to do it. The architect
was interesting to us and we to him.
And then there was the job itself, a thing
to fascinate the imagination. A temple of
light with a great pierced dome through
which by day the sunlight would stream to
enlighten all within and through which by
night the Temple light shone out into a
darkened world. When at night we look into
the sky we see only the stars but could we
see the arbits of the stars how wonderful
it would be. Great curves intertwining in
weird perspective. Ovals, circles, and vesicas
of endless variety twisted and woven into
some great cosmic fabric. This is the theme
of the dome, the courses of the stars woven
into a fabric. But this is not all, interwoven
with the courses of the stars in the pattern
of the dome are the tendrils of livings things,
leaves, and flowers, because no symbol
of[Page 288]
creation would be complete
without a symbol of life. Lifted above the
dome are nine great ribs, nine aspirations
that mount higher than the courses of the
stars. I wonder after
all if it was strange that we of the studio
should have given so much thought to this
project?
The drawings left to us by the architect adequately illustrate his ideas about the decorations of the dome but they do not pretend to show a method for making the dome nor for attaching it to the steel skeleton. Among his drawings are some of the most extraordinary full-sized details of ornament. There is one of a panel in the field of the dome which is seventy feet long, another of the face of the great rib which is ninety feet long. Each of these drawings was made in one piece in a loft building on La Salle Street in Chicago where Mr. Bourgeois stretched out on the floor a great sheet of paper and with his pencil tied to the end of a long stick he drew in great sweeps, in a manner never to be forgotten, the interlacing ornament of the dome. One line through another, under and over, onward and upward until the motif was completed. Never have I seen a greater feat of draftsmanship nor a more interesting draftsman than Mr. Bourgeois. Most surprising of all perhaps is the approximation to accuracy which he maintained in these great drawings in spite of the disadvantages under which he worked. He was obliged to stand on the drawing which he was making and his only view of the whole was from the top of a step ladder. It became necessary after the death of Mr. Bourgeois for the Temple Trustees to carry the drawings further. This matter was put in charge of The Research Service of Washington, D. C., which allotted to our studio the development of the ornamental dome.
I can not begin to tell you how many factors enter into such a problem and I am sure that we automatically give consideration to many without being able to recall or to name them: Just as an operating surgeon might know the position and function of every vein and sinew, the names of which have long since been forgotten. So in discussing such a problem consideration can be given only to principles such as these: The decoration of the temple must always be subservient to the architecture, the theme of the ornament must not be lost. The craftsmanship must be adequate, practical and economical; the materials must be suitable and enduring.
Were we to treat the exterior surface of the dome so that the perforations were too large they would destroy the architectural continuity. Were they too small they would not appear to be perforations. If the surface were simply perforated without further treatment the decoration would be inadequate, the theme would be lost, there would be no pathways of the stars nor movements of living things. All this must be modelled into the surface of the dome with care and good judgment, so that at no place will the intertwining of this complicated grille escape from the configuration of the hemisphere. The interior surface of the dome is the subject of another group of considerations. If the solids between the perforations are too large the dome will appear as a dark surface spotted with bright dots. It would be like looking into a colander. If the solids be too thin, the light which enters will seem to bend around them and the bright spots will resolve into a confused blur. The pattern would be lost. And so with time and the greatest of care every ornamental detail must be adjusted to the unity of the architecture and the sequence of the story, as words are made to tell a story in the cadence of a poem.
Intermediate between the artistic and the
practical there is a zone of translation where
the asthetic is translated into the practical
and where the complex is made simple. One
who makes this translation must be thoroughly
versed in theory and in practice.
He must be able to understand the abstract
form of a project and the means by which
it may be determined in material by the
operation of craftsmen. Such a translation
has a real economic value, for it brings to
the execution of the work many pairs of
skillful hands which would not be available
if the pure form of the project were not
determined in the medium of the craftsmen.
This work was undertaken by my associate,
Mr. Taylor. It required a perfect understanding
of all the factors of the
problem[Page 289]
and unusual
resourcefulness. It was necessary to express
the forms, relations and
measurements in terms which our craftsmen
could understand and use. In my opinion it
was one of the most important factors in
the execution of the work. Imagine translating
such a theme into a practical operation, which
would not involve anything
new in the technique of the studio. Spherical
measurements must become bits of wood
of certain length cut to a given radius,
complicated angles became jointed boards,
skewed solids became simple frame work
with internal bracing. The pathways of the
stars were just clay models of ornamental
grilles, plaster casts were just plaster casts
and piece molds remained unchanged. The
work of the craftsmen was as yesterday and
the day before. It interested them. It was
in their medium. They understood it. Formulas
became pieces of wood and of plaster:
We have men who can do nothing with
formulas but who can do wonders in wood
and in plaster. This translation was brought
about by means of a full-sized model of
one ninth, forty degrees, of the dome. In
my opinion a model of this kind was
practically necessary. Drawings could have been
made but from the viewpoint of the studio
they would have been exceedingly complicated.
Certain architectural requirements
disturbed the geometrical symmetry of the
dome. By this I mean that the great ribs
would not have been well done if they
radiated simply from the pole as do meridians.
They needed a thickness at the top which
moved their sides from the meridians of the
sphere and required that they be joined
together at the top into a boss. Further, the
sides of these great ribs warp continuously
from the spring line of the dome where they
are radial, to the top where they are parallel.
Cross sections through the rib taken at intervals
between the bottom and the top may
be likened to a series of trapezoids becoming
more nearly rectilineal as they progress from
the bottom to the top. In addition to this
all fillets diminish at a purely arbitrary rate
from bottom to top and the fields of the
ornament are continuously changing. Theoretically
the three panels in the field of
the dome were distorted but the distortion
was actually very little and practical
economy indicated that they should be made
symmetrical to a degree where one model
and one mold would serve for all.
We began our model by constructing in the yard of our studio a full-sized wooden frame representing exactly the steel for one-ninth of the dome. To do this we gathered from the structural drawings of the building all available information pertaining to the dome. All of this was condensed to one diagram showing a reflected plan and a section. This was a diagram pure and simple, there was nothing pictorial about it. It contained every available shred of information about the structure and we reproduced it at full-size on specially prepared strips of concrete pavement in the yard of the studio. The principal lines of the plan were extended far out beyond the periphery of the dome to points where one could see up and over the dome. These lines terminated in bronze pins set in concrete hubs. Over the plan a frame work was constructed and on it were placed timbers located exactly as are the steel ribs and purlins on the skeleton of the dome. From over the pins, which terminated the principal lines of the plan, a transit quickly and easily drew planes up and through the curved surfaces of the dome, just as a great invisible knife might slice a melon. Strips of wood were made which represented the thickness of the concrete shell and a frame was made which represented the form of the great ribs. These were carefully lifted up over the frame work of the dome and carefully set with the aid of the transit in their proper relation to the ornamental dome and the structural steel.
Now for the first time, we faced reality and were able to see the relation between the existing steel structure and a proposed concrete covering. All other relations of form such as that between the area of the concrete dome and its thickness; the relations of length, height and width in the great ribs, and curve of the rib up over the arc of the dome, all such ceased to be concepts and became experiences. The question whether this dome should be poured in place as a continuous fabric or precast and set, ceased to be a question. It was immediately apparent to practical judgment that a per
Figures 1, 2, and 3.
Fig. 1—“We began our model by constructing in the yard of our studio a full-sized wooden frame representing exactly the steel for one- ninth of the dome.” Figs. 2 and 3—“Every available shred of information about the structure we reproduced at full size on specially prepared strips of concrete pavement.”
Figures 4, 5, and 6.
Fig. 4–“A frame was made to represent the form of the great ribs."
Fig. 5—"The precast sections of the field were joined in a pattern following closely the center lines of the steel ribs and purlins.” Fig. 6– “The great ribs we divided into voussoirs corresponding to the heights of the sections of the field from purlin to purlin.”
[Page 292]
forated concrete shell such as
this dome, if cast as a continuous fabric
attached to and supported by steel members,
would tear it self to pieces in its first
drying. I do not mean by this that the dome
would break into many pieces and fall to
the ground but I mean that the first volume
change between wet and dry would set up internal
stresses which could be relieved only by a
great number of incipient cracks which
might heal or which might grow larger as
time passed. We, therefore, decided to
precast the dome and set it in place. In doing
this we completely excluded every element
of construction, even a stiffening effect, and
placed the concrete dome simply as a load
upon the steel. We decided that the precast
sections of the field might each contain a
hundred square feet more or less and that
they might be jointed in a pattern following
closely that established by the center lines
of the steel ribs and purlins. The great
concrete ribs we divided into voussoirs the
length of which corresponded to the heights
of the sections of the field from purlin to
purlin. Pieces of this size would, we estimated,
weigh approximately two or three
tons. They would be large enough to contain
a dignified section of ornament and
small enough to be easily handled and to
be reinforced against shrinkage with a
reasonable hope of success. Between each
precast section there is an open joint one-half
inch wide. It is provided to allow free movement
in every direction to each cast, and
to provide a means of taking up such variations
as would naturally occur between the
contours of the steel skeleton and the concrete
shell. Considered from the point of
view of appearance such joints in the surface
of a white dome should be hardly visible.
On a curved surface one quickly loses direct
elevation and in perspective the joints would
quickly be lost. A brilliantly white surface
may be expected to cast a halo of light over
the joints to obscure them and further, if
they do appear, they will be an orderly
division of large areas that are well in scale
with the dome. The pieces of the dome and
ribs will be mechanically attached to the
steel frame. Fittings will be cast in the
concrete by means of which the castings
will be bolted to the structural steel skeleton,
nothing will be needed to set this dome in
place but light hoisting apparatus and
wrenches.
Much yet remains to be done in designing reinforcements, and in the selection of materials for the metal attachments, the reinforcements, the aggregate, the cement, and all the various details of preparation and execution. Each decision affords a new thrill and stirs our interest to the highest point. It is a project for which we feel that the best is none too good. It has never lost its interest for ourselves or for our men. Many delightful little stories of personal interest might be told of such incidents as these: My associate, Mr. Taylor, personally laid out every line and measurement on the job; our plaster carver desires above all else to carve the great plaster model by himself without help; a member of the Bahá’í Faith wanted to give all the aggregate, if the quartz deposit on his homestead would meet our requirements. Unfortunately it did not. And so the development of the work goes on. It has been sincerely studied and sincerely met. No combination of steel and concrete could be more frankly made. No separation of finish from structure could be more completely made. I am deeply impressed by the simplicity and the economy of this solution to a complex problem, and I present it to you for your consideration.
I have spoken to the Institute before of a method of construction, which completely separated the structure and the ornamentation, pointing out its practical advantages and the reasons for them, indicating its history and giving examples of its application. The idea of building without decoration and of decorating after construction is not new. Indeed it is so very old that perhaps it may seem to be new. Familiarity with architectural form does not go back much further than the Renaissance and the same may be said of building methods, therefore, very old forms and very old methods particularly when applied by a new technique to a new material may easily be regarded as a daring innovation.
When the time came to build, the Temple
Trustees were forced to decide whether the
temple should be built as an indeterminate
structure or whether it should be
translated[Page 293]
into a conventional
form. I do not know
the reasoning which led them to accept the
conventional design. We have never considered
the structure of the building except
to dream that this Temple might have been
built as it seems to be built. On the other
hand I am sure that sound economic reasoning
led them to decide to separate completely
the ornamentation from the structure. The
separation was as complete as it could
possibly be. The structural elements were
entirely completed before we began our work
which consisted only in clothing the skeleton
with an ornamental covering expressive
not only of the form but the spirit of the
architect’s design.
ARCHITECTURAL CONCRETE OF THE EXPOSED AGGREGATE TYPE*
From Journal of the American Concrete Institute.
BY JOHN J. EARLEY†
Member American Concrete Institute
THIS paper is the continuation of a paper presented last year to the Institute. The previous paper described the problem presented by the ornamentation of the Bahá’í Temple.1 This paper describes some of the technique by which architectural concrete of the exposed aggregate type has been developed and some of the methods by which the ornamentation of the Temple has been done.
As I look back over the work of our studio with concrete I see from year to year a noticeable improvement in its appearance. The work is better both in design and execution. The improvement has been continued and rational and in general what should be expected from a studio such as ours. Nevertheless, I am impressed that the most important improvements affecting the nature of the material did not come gradually from year to year but quickly, when the material was made to take on an added quality to meet the requirements of some particular job of work. It took on character, which was necessary for that work, which suddenly developed in the highly concentrated attention paid to the problem, which remained with the material after the ———————— * Presented at the 30th Annual Convention American Concrete Institute, Toronto, Feb. 20-22, 1934. † Architectural Sculptor, Washington, D. C. 1 JOURNAL American Concrete Inst., June, 1933, Proceedings, Vol. 29, p. 403.
experience had passed and which befitted it for a new order of use.
I have in a more or less disconnected way recorded in the Proceedings of the American Concrete Institute some of the most important developments. For instance: We developed for the work at Meridian Hill Park control of the appearance of concrete of the exposed aggregate type by means of a two—step gradation of the aggregate.2 Upon this theme rested all future development of this type of architectural concrete. We reasoned that if every particle of stone exposed upon the surface of the concrete might be considered as a spot of color in juxtaposition to other spots of color, all the knowledge of color and texture of the mosaicist and of the pointilist[sic] painter could be immediately applied to concrete. It would eliminate the necessity for a long period of experimentation. It would, if a technique could be devised, permit concrete to participate in the traditions of these older arts and transform it almost immediately into an acceptable architectural medium. We thought that a suitable technique must be one by which the particles of stone could be distributed and exposed on the surface of the concrete in a predetermined manner. Reasoning from the surface to the mass is a natural process. It is particularly so to an artist. We, therefore, thought that the
2 Proceedings, Amer. Concrete Inst., Vol. 16, p. 70
1933 Convention of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada.
[Page 295]
desired end could be reached
by making the concrete so that any section
through it would have the character desired
for the surface. Current work in the laboratories
at home and abroad indicated that by carefully
grading the aggregates, highly desirable
qualities could be given to concrete, such as
increased strength and density. Two methods of
gradation were being studied. That
by which the aggregate was evenly graded
through many sizes from fine to coarse, and
that by which it was graded into three sizes,
fine, medium, and coarse. Practically equal
strengths and densities were obtained by
either method but it always appeared that,
when the latter method was applied to
aggregates passing a half-inch sieve, the best
results were obtained by omitting the medium
size. We, therefore, designed a two-step
gradation which proved itself to be just what
we wanted. It gave to concrete of the type
in which we were interested the best
structural qualities and characteristics
of appearance adaptable to our theme and
quite different from the appearance of
concrete made with aggregate graded by
other methods. Furthermore, our two-step
method of gradation
gave to concrete better workability than
did the other methods. It prevented
segregation and bridging and gave better flow.
It permitted us to fill perfectly the most
complicated molds.
Another example: We developed for the casting of Lorado Taft’s Fountain of Time3 a control of the water-cement ratio in the molds at the time of set by means of an absorptive core, which as part of the mold extracted free water and permitted the concrete to be placed in one consistency and to set in another. The Fountain of Time is so large a single group that we decided to cast it in place, in a plaster mold of more than four thousand pieces made on the original model. The usual process of casting is to pour material into a mold as into a basin, but in this case the usual process was reversed.
The material was packed between an inverted mold and an inner core. The core was framed with wood, covered with metal lath and a very porous plaster. This highly ———————— 3 Proceedings, Amer. Concrete Inst., Vol. 19, p. 185.
absorptive inner core drew off the excess water, which had been used as a vehicle for placing the concrete, and left the concrete tightly packed between it and the mold in such a condition that it would not shrink away from the mold but would harden into a strong, sharp cast. Here a major change in technique added something new to our concrete not only for the Fountain of Time but for succeeding work.
Again: For the Church of the Sacred Heart at Washington4 we developed polychrome coloring by means of the aggregate to meet the requirements of the architects, Murphy and Olmsted, for a Byzantine-Romanesque church done in the manner of the churches of Ravenna. Technical control was exercised by means of raised contour lines in the molds. They permitted the use in one casting of many aggregates of as many colors, separated them and kept each in its own place without losing anything of unity in the mass of concrete. Design in color was now possible and concrete became a modern mosaic of unusual beauty with a character all its own and an adaptability greater than that of any medium with which we had had experience. I believe that this was the most impressive gesture ever made with architectural concrete. For us it was a great adventure. It stimulated us to efforts which can be clearly seen in a steady and rational improvement. Not for a long time did another problem force us to devise an essential change in technique.
In the years 1932 and 1933 we had entrusted to us two epoch marking jobs of work, namely: the ceilings of the passages to the courts in the new building at Washington for the United States Department of Justice and the dome of the Bahá’í Temple at Wilmette, Illinois. Both of these works presented the difficulties, the challenge necessary to lift us above normal improvement to one of those extraordinary technical changes which give new and lasting character to a material. For the ceilings of the Department of Justice We devised a system of forming by which thin precast slabs of concrete mosaics were used as forms for structural elements and normal forming was eliminated. ———————— 4 Proceedings, Amer. Concrete Inst., Vol. 20, p. 157.
[Page 296]
(With your permission I will
reserve a discussion of these ceilings for
another time.)
For the dome of the Bahá’í Temple it was necessary to develop in the concrete greater early strength than we had done before. We did this by a new modification of technique. It retained a predetermined quantity of water in the concrete in the mold at the time of set by controlling the size, that is to say the surface, of the small aggregate.
The casts for the dome of the Bahá’í Temple weighed as much as three tons each. The nature of the molds in which they were cast made it necessary to turn them over within twenty hours and to remove the mold so that their surface might be treated to expose the aggregate. Frankly we were impressed. We felt the necessity for increased stability in these casts and we reasoned that it could be obtained by further decreasing the quantities of water in the concrete at the time of set. The difficulty was that we had been in the habit of extracting as much water as we could. We knew from experience that a properly designed capillary system when applied to wet concrete would extract all free water, that is, water which is not restrained in concrete by some force equal to or greater than the force of the capillaries. We also understood that this restraint is exercised principally by the surface of the aggregates and of the cement, to which water attaches itself with ever increasing tenacity as the particles become smaller. From this we reasoned that if surface could be brought under control a predetermined quantity of water, either more or less, could be retained in concrete against the pull of a capillary system. We learned that control can be exercised to a remarkable degree. Concrete can be designed from which water will run freely or in which water will be retained against the force of capillarity.
Our concrete is composed of materials generally grouped into three sizes, the large aggregate, the small aggregate and the cement. We applied our theory to the small aggregate because the surface of the large aggregate was too insignificantly small and because the surface of the cement was too tightly covered by water to afford us much hope of success. Changes in the size of the small aggregate produced the exact result desired. We extracted the additional water, obtained the increased stability in the concrete, turned over the three-ton casts in twenty hours, removed the mold and exposed the aggregate. Exactly what we did was to increase the mean diameter of the small aggregate .0015 inch by changing the opening of a sieve from .0125 to .014 inch. Considered casually it seems ridiculous that so small a change to but one of the ingredients should make so great a difference in the character of the concrete. It might be interesting to note that particles of the size indicated are about the largest which may be classified as small aggregate with surface sufficiently dominant to be subject to this technique. The application of this theory clearly proves that less water makes better concrete. But it should be remembered that water means practically nothing to a concrete product in its first phase. When concrete is being mixed and placed, water is only a vehicle carrying the solid particles. But water is of great importance in the second phase when the concrete is at rest in its mold and beginning to set. Further, our experience teaches that the new technique will control not only the strength of concrete but its density. There is no need for elaborate tests to establish this. It is perfectly apparent to one watching the concrete in the mold while the water is being extracted, and to one handling and studying the casts after they have been made.
Here, I believe, is another extraordinary technical improvement devised for the execution of the dome of the Bahá’í Temple, which gave an added character not only for the improvement of architectural but of structural concrete. Here is a means to control over a wide range the water-cement ratio in concrete at the time of set. It is a tool from which much is to be expected. We believe that such close control of water will be of ever increasing value as thin sections come into more general use. Indeed it may be that thin sections will never come into general use without such a close control of water.
Other interesting processes and devices
were used in casting and erecting the Temple
dome. Some of them are new to
concrete[Page 297]
construction and
others of them are improvements. The
character of the work was
such that one major technical development
was not sufficient to meet all requirements.
Many minor improvements and ingenious
devices were also needed.
The process of exposing aggregate evenly over the surface by brushing concrete with wire brushes before it is thoroughly set is still essentially of the technique of making architectural concrete of the exposed aggregate type and is now used in our studio for all our work with concrete. Certain difficulties imposed by the process would be relieved if a substitute process could be found to expose the aggregate properly after the concrete has set. Our experience with other methods such as rubbing, mechanical brushing, chemical treatment, sand blasting, tooling and the like have not been satisfactory. Hand brushing establishes beautiful architectural planes, uniform surfaces and good drawing. The other methods have produced for us poorly established architectural planes with marked erosion and bad drawing. The advantages of hand surfacing are still more apparent when colored aggregates are used. More violent methods fracture the surface of these aggregates and change their color.
The mold or forms in which concrete is cast are at present one of the great difficulties of the industry. Complicated forms test the skill of a craftsman and are a handicap on the performance of concrete in the architectural field. Had the molds for the Bahá’í Temple dome been necessarily made with some nonplastic material, as wood or metal, the difficulties and the cost might have endangered the project or might have defeated it. Indeed there were many who admired the beauty of the Temple dome but who thought its execution to be impossible or impractical. Fortunately we had had much experience in making molds for other unusual projects. We knew the remarkable adaptability and economy of molds made with a plastic material when applied to complex forms, therefore: we made the molds of the Temple dome with plaster. Although these molds were far more complicated than any we had previously made for concrete, they added nothing new in principle but much to experience.
It was difficult to fill the deep and narrow molds of the great ribs. It was particularly difficult to fill the molds of the perforated sections of the ribs. They were channel shaped and consisted of an inner and outer form with five inches between. This space was almost completely choked by projections designed to form the holes in the ornament and by reinforcements. Here, truly, was a need for two consistencies. One for placing concrete in these complicated and unhandy molds and one for a strength to meet previously explained requirements. The problem presented was paradoxical. If the consistency were wet enough to permit the concrete to fill properly such a mold, the required strength would not be developed; and, if the consistency were dry enough to develop the required strength, the concrete could not be properly filled into such a mold.
The casts were cured in a chamber in which the air was kept close to maximum humidity by intermittent spraying of the floor. The floor was covered to a depth of about three inches with pebbles screened through a one-quarter inch sieve. Evaporation from the floor kept the air moist but not filled with spray. The intention was to keep the casts from drying out and not to add more water.
The structural steel designed to support the concrete dome was composed of curved ribs radially spaced and of straight purlins fastened on top of them. This structure did not coincide with a spherical form well enough to support the ornamental envelope. We, therefore, imposed upon it a furring system of light steel tees bent to conform to a sphere and to the underside of the envelope. These tees afforded a support along two sides of each piece of concrete and a means to fasten the concrete envelope to the structural steel. The concrete dome was divided into three hundred eighty-seven pieces, which corresponded to the panels formed in the structural steel by the intersecting ribs and purlins.
At every corner of the concrete casts there
was inserted a steel fitting drilled and
threaded to receive a cap screw. The inserts
were placed so that each fitting in the top
of a cast could be joined to a corresponding
fitting in the adjacent cast by bolting
to[Page 298]
them a steel plate passed
behind the furring tee. This arrangement
held each concrete
cast close to the furring tees but permitted
it to move as might be required by expansion
and contraction in either the concrete or the
steel. To the fittings at the bottom of the
casts were attached short pieces of steel
angles, which rested on the purlins and
prevented the casts from slipping down. When
the concrete casts were set by this method
there was an open joint one-half inch wide
on every side, and each piece of the concrete
dome was completely free from every other
piece. I have no knowledge of another masonry
structure assembled by this method. It
is a logical one even though somewhat
contrary to precedent.
The members of the Bahá’í Faith look upon their Temple as a building which will last for a long time and so does this studio. Every precaution has been taken to make the concrete as well as it can be made in the present state of the art. We believe that the concrete in the Bahá’í Temple will endure better than terra—cotta, freestone, marble or any other building stone excepting granite. At the same time our studio, because of its experience with all these materials, knows that masonry materials in architectural form will not endure indefinitely. To monumental buildings which have stood for a long time, as time is reckoned in human history, there have been many repairs and replacements. We have, therefore, arranged the temple dome so that any piece can be repaired and, if need be, removed and replaced without disturbing any other piece. Further, if the furring system through neglect should deteriorate to such a condition that it were advisable to replace it, it can be moved and replaced without disassembling the concrete dome. These provisions for maintenance should be regarded neither as unnecessary precautions nor as a lack of faith in the durability of any of the materials. Indeed it would be presumptuous to attribute to the steel structure and the concrete envelope an endurance greater than they can possibly possess.
Materials were chosen with care like to that exercised in making and assembling the dome. White quartz was selected for aggregate because it is beautiful and strong and can resist erosion and corrosion. Copper bearing steel was used for the furring system because some metallurgists say that steel containing a small quantity of copper will not rust as readily as plain steel. We were not greatly impressed by this, but, if the effect were there we wanted the dome to benefit by it. Chrome-nickel-steel alloy, usually called stainless steel, was chosen for the fittings which hold the concrete casts in place. It can hardly be called stainless but certainly it has shown a good resistance to rusting, as the term is generally understood. We felt the need of a rust resisting metal for the fittings because, if rust worked back between them and the concrete, it might break the corners of the casts. We considered aluminum but thought it might corrode excessively in concrete. We disliked the green stain of bronze. From other suitable metal we selected the steel alloy as the best obtainable within reasonable costs. The fittings have since been inserted in wet concrete, stored in damp storage, washed with muriatic acid and weathered, all in the process of making the concrete dome. We are pleased by their performance and feel assured that their deterioration will be very slow.
I understand from the engineer in charge
that the economy afforded by concrete for
the ornamental dome of the Bahá’í Temple
was truly remarkable. Great difference
between the cost of concrete and that of other
material is to be expected when the work
is difficult and complicated. When the work
is simple the difference in costs is not so
great. But, when concrete is properly used,
when the technique is intelligent, there is
always economy, freedom of design and a
flexibility unequaled by another material.
Let the Bahá’í Temple be admitted as
evidence to support my testimony that
concrete of the exposed aggregate type is no
longer in an experimental state but is ready
for use and is an entirely satisfactory
architectural medium. All present indications
point to exposed aggregate as the mark of
architectural concrete. I see nothing in the
art of making concrete which threatens its
supremacy. I know of no existing process
which is likely to set up another element
of concrete in the place of the aggregate
to[Page 299]
dominate its appearance,
and I repeat what I said more than ten
years ago, namely: the aggregate is the
dominant element of concrete, therefore,
the appearance of the concrete should be
the appearance of the
aggregate. Further, it has been thoroughly
demonstrated that the character of the
aggregate has been made to control the
character of the concrete and that such concrete
has been made to meet every architectural
requirement. I do not hesitate to assert
without weakening qualifications of any
kind that from the point of view of
designing architect, artist architect,
and the studio executing their work there
is no masonry
material with which as much of form and
color can be expressed as with exposed
aggregate concrete. That is a positive
statement. It is as definite as any statement I
have made before the Institute. I mean it.
I can support it. The reason for making it
is that it is now time to make an end of
unbelief and doubt in concrete as an
architectural material. The architects who still
doubt are depriving themselves of a great
and efficient medium, with which to solve
modern architectural problems. They might
do well to investigate and to learn why Louis
Bourgeois chose exposed aggregate concrete
for the execution of his exotically beautiful
temple and why Zantzinger, Borie and Meary
chose it for the strikingly colorful
ceilings of their Department of Justice.
The presentation of the foregoing paper by Mr. Earley was followed by stereopticon views with descriptions of details of manufacturing and construction methods, devices and procedure. Their presentation here is in turn followed (p. 274-278) by "convention discussion”—consisting almostwholly in questions from the convention audience and Mr. Earley’s answers.—EDITOR.
The Bahá’ís are a Persian faith which originated about 70 years ago and came to this country by way of the Paris Exposition of 1900. The architect, Louis Bourgeois, (deceased), had, as the dream of his life, that he might execute an architectural symbol of a new religion which would not be reminiscent of the forms which had served as symbols for other religions. The sketch indicates the nature of the problem for execution in architectural concrete. The dome is about 100 feet in diameter; the decorations perforated. Reduced in scale, they are as fine as a piece of Duchesse lace, and these perforations are carried down through the building in grilles filling all the openings and with architectural surfaces covered with a tracery as fine as is found in the marble slabs of the Taj Mahal.
Our studio had nothing to do with the construction of this skeleton (described by Benjamin Shapiro in a paper before this Institute*). The dome is of glass to serve as a watershed. Above it is now superimposed the perforated concrete dome. Its theme is that by day the light of the sun will filter into the Temple, symbolic of the light of faith and at night the light of the Temple will filter out to illuminate the darkened world. It is called “A Temple of Light.” It is of very unusual design. The plan of the first lift is of a nine-pointed star; the second is the same, but oriented so that the points do not coincide. First a record had to be made of the physical condition of the dome. Men made wooden templates on every line of pylons around the dome, because to pre-cast the dome sections in concrete in our studio in Rosslyn, Virginia, and then to ship and assemble them at Wilmette, it was very necessary that no mistakes be made. The dome was very complicated by reason of the fact that the ribs were not radial. It would have been difficult to translate the necessary calculations into the mind of the craftsmen who had to do the work. ———————— * JOURNAL, Amer. Concrete Inst., Jan.-Feb. 1934, Proceedings, Vol. 30, p. 239.
Figures 1 and 2.—Surveys marked on concrete bases for a full size model of one-ninth of the dome.
We decided to build a full size model of one-ninth of this dome so that all the measurements and lines could be taken off it in a series of templates rather than in a series of calculations. First, on a concrete platform, a full size projected plan of the dome was laid out. The white lines (Figure 1) indicate the joints between the sections of the field and two ribs. From the periphery of the dome another plan was projected of the outer edge of the dome. The dark spots indicate sections through the rib and the dark line connecting them is the plan of the five-inch thick concrete envelope of the dome. On top of this full sized plan of a ninth of the dome we constructed a scaffolding; timbers were set with exact relation to the steel which existed on the dome.
Figures 3, 4, and 5.—A scaffold supports timbers constituting a replica of the steel of a dome section.
Over timbers exactly representing the steel work were timbers exactly representing the purlins and over the purlins in turn were placed strips representing the thickness of the concrete field sections of the dome. (Figure 3, top left.) Both ribs and purlins were marked with center lines (Figure 4, below). The great ribs were laid out in plan on the ground in relation to a vertical section through the dome. The framework running up over the section describes one of the great ribs (Figure 5, top right).
Figures 6 and 7.—First steps in making models.
After the layout had been made it was necessary that the configuration of the dome be translated from the model into the workshop as a basis upon which to build the models of the field of the dome. That was done by spinning on the floor a plaster disk like a saucer. (Figure 6, top.) Then there was laid off on that the lines which correspond with the boundary lines of the field of the dome. On the saucer-like form plaster slabs were cast. The timbers are merely reinforcements for the back of the slabs, and those slabs were taken off this saucer-like shape and placed on the floor at some other position. Subsequently they were sawed into lengths and put together to give sections of the surface of the dome as might be needed for the work. (Figure 7, bottom.) Such curved slabs formed the basis of all models of the dome.
Figures 8 and 9.—Details were carved in plaster models.
Models were first roughed out in clay and then cast in plaster and then re-carved by hand. (Figure 8, top.) This was done so that the lines, the drawings, of this very complicated ornament might be as true and as nice as possible. Then again it was done so that the modelling on the face of the dome might be carefully done with due consideration to this phase of the problem: If the modelling of this ornament were overdone by erecting projections or by excessive perforations, the continuity of the architectural dome would be lost. If, on the other hand, the surface of these models was without movement, the dome would present an appearance more like a colander, just a plain surface with holes punched in it, which would not be architecturally acceptable. Figure 9 shows two sections of the great ribs placed together on the pattern of the dome showing the half-inch joints which separated them.
Figures 10 and 11.—Plaster models erected on the dome frame.
Models were carefully checked by placing them on the frame of the dome. (Figures 10, 11.)
The bottom sections of the great ribs extending down over the clerestory were not a part of the dome: they were modelled separately. (Figures 12, 13, next page.) The top of the model coincides with the springline of the dome. In this assembly it was possible to judge the character of the ornament and the character of the modelling to be sure that the uniformity of surface was retained and the proper degree of decoration and that there had been achieved a proper balance of perforations with the general area of the dome. Note the half-inch joint surrounding every piece—each casting independent of every other. The bottom castings were about ten feet square, five inches thick and, as finally cast of concrete, weighed between three and three and a half tons each.
Figures 12 and 13.—Bottom sections of ribs to extend down over the clerestory.
After the models were made, the next thing was to make molds on them, and these molds were necessarily very complicated (Figures 14, 15, 16) because the ornament is perforated, which means that, wherever there is a perforation in the ornament, there must be a projection in the mold. Those projections were five inches high and very numerous, which meant that if a concrete casting were made in a mold as ordinarily constructed, it would be impossible ever to remove that mold, because if, in moving it, it was twisted the slightest bit, all of these projections would bind so on the perforations that it would be entirely impossible to remove the mold. Another thing, these molds had to be removed within 24 hours, before the cast was as hard as it would have to get. So, wherever there was a perforation, it was treated in the mold as a plug, and, when the mold was removed from the cast, the plug would remain in the cast and it was removed separately, and afterwards reassembled in the mold.
Figures 14, 15, and 16.—Plaster molds were made from the models.
Figure 17.—A reinforcement unit.
Figures 18 and 19.—Casting operations.
Reinforcement (Figure 17) was designed
on the theory that, if sections of the dome
could be held rigidly around the edges, there
was very little likelihood that castings would
flatten. That is a thing we have to be very
careful about, because slab castings,
particularly when they are new, have a tendency
to bend; if they are flat, they will curve, and,
[Page 308]
if curved, they have a tendency
to flatten. Every one of these castings is
a section of the curved surface of the dome
and we held the edges of them as firmly as we could.
Reinforcements were bent to follow the
curvature of the ornaments and wherever
they crossed they were electrically welded so
that each reinforcement unit was a welded
mesh.
Figures 20 and 21.—Brushing the surface to expose the aggregate.
It was the desire of the architect that the
dome should be the whitest thing possible
and we have learned that so much white
presents a difficult problem. Because we
thought that, even though the surface was
to be broken by ornamentations and perforations,
there was great danger that it
might be dead or chalky or have the appearance
of a plaster casting, we chose an aggregate
to give a maximum of reflection—a
white crystalline quartz. Studies made with
the white crystalline quartz, while they were
better than dead white surfaces, because the
broken faces reflected light, showed too
little scintillation to avoid monotony. So, we
also chose a clear translucent quartz. We
mixed about one-quarter of the translucent
quartz with three—quarters of the white
opaque quartz and the result was very pleasing.
This quartz came from South Carolina
and the clear quartz from a little deposit
near Lynchburg, Virginia. Because our requirements
for size are so exact that nobody
[Page 309]
has any sympathy with us,
we crush our own
aggregates. The quartz passes through a jaw
crusher to an elevator, through screens and
back through a set of balanced rolls, and it
keeps circulating, and whenever the stone
passes through one of these screens it passes
to its proper bin. By this method we effect
an economy because the amount of crushed
material of one size which may be expected
from the mass of raw material is about
fifteen per cent. That was impossible,
because some of the aggregates we have used
(some highly colored ones), cost as much
as $2,000.00 a ton and fifteen per cent is
not a satisfactory recovery in usable product.
Therefore by taking out all particles
which are the right size, between every
crushing operation, so that further attrition
does not further reduce those sizes and by
using two sizes in a two-step gradation, we
are able to get seventy per cent of usable
product out of the crude material.
Figures 22 and 23.—Curing chamber.
Pictures will not show, so you must accept my statement that all particles of each of the two sizes we use are as nearly of one size as it is practical to make them. To indicate the character of the screening, 1 would say that the size is such as you might expect to have between alternate sieves in a set of standard sieves.
We used a little open mixer, for a one bag batch. We find that by using a small mixer that is open, in which we can see the concrete while it is being mixed, we can vary the consistency as the cast progresses to meet our requirements. I suppose that sort of
Figures 24, 25, and 26.—Castings ready for shipment.
[Page 311]
thing applies to our own particular work
much more than it would to ordinary concrete.
Casting this dome involved matters of economy as well as artistic problems: When the molds were finished from models done with the greatest care, our mental attitude changed and we made an effort to produce casts with the least possible effort that would maintain quality. We have a shed which is covered by a light framework; in this molds were set on concrete foundations in a crane line one after another, and every day every alternate mold was filled. (Figures 18, 19.) Across every mold an angle iron was bolted down to a fitting in the mold. The angle iron has holes bored in it to serve as a jig in placing the fittings (used in final assembly of the dome) which were bolted to the angle. (Figure 19.) The iron served also as a gage for centering the reinforcing web in the concrete casting.
The following morning these castings were turned out from the mold and leaned in a vertical position against posts. That put them in exactly the right position to be brushed and surfaced to expose the aggregate. Some may wonder that so many men are employed on one piece. The reason is that concrete which has stiffened enough in 18 or 20 hours to permit its removal from molds and to stand it up, has a tendency to keep on hardening, and it is very wise to finish the surfacing as soon as it possibly can be done, because the difference in the hardness of the surface between morning and afternoon is a thing you would have to experience to believe.
Figure 27.—The dome as now assembled—the remainder of the structure still to be completed.
While the casts are being surfaced the alternate molds are being filled and the molds released are assembled for their next pouring the following day. When casts have been washed they are picked up by the crane and stored in a damp chamber. (Figures 22, 23.) This has wooden walls, plastered inside with emulsified asphalt and a roof of canvas in panels on light frames easily lifted off when at the end of two weeks curing, the crane lifts castings out for air curing and shipment Figures 24 and 25 show castings of dome sections preliminary to shipment. The figure indicates about the scale of the texture and also the varying shades in the color of the
Cast of clerestory section of great rib of dome.
Model of dome panel and casts.
[Page 313]
two kinds of aggregate.
The darker spots are of the translucent
quartz and the white
spots are the opaque quartz. Though the
clear quartz appears dark in a photograph
it is, as seen in the casting, not a white spot
but a bright spot. We determined in these
castings that we would avoid patching, and
wherever something occurred that was a defect
of an inconsiderable character, we just
frankly left it; it is better to leave them
than to make an attempt at patching.
The drawings which were left to us by the architect from this point onward are rather sketchy. They are all that is necessary to convey his idea, but they do not in any sense express any of the details of the ornamentation. We feel, however, that the building below the dome is going to introduce an exceedingly interesting problem in ornamentation. We have already established in the dome a pattern, but as we come down we have two characters of surface—openings to be covered by perforated grilles which must be done in relation to perforated grilles in the story above, which in turn are related to the dome. So, while the dome and all the openings require perforations, we have structural surfaces which are not perforated and we are looking forward with a great deal of pleasure to the experience of relating this continuous ornament so that we will not lose the structure of the building nor the sense that the structure is solid and that the openings are perforated ornamentations.
————————
GOD-INTOXICATED ARCHITECTURE
MANKIND in the making has marked his progress by the temples he has built. Most of these have long since disappeared; the records of these are blank. When fragments of others are found they give us perhaps our only evidence as to the existence of nations, wholly lost except for these fragments. Such ruins prove that these forgotten nations possessed intelligence and a high degree of skill during milleniums long before the historic era. They afford clues, fascinating but elusive, of systems of primitive thought and practice. The material temples have survived the deities to which they were erected.
Primarily a temple is not a church, not a place of public worship, quite the contrary. It is a consecrated piece of ground, not to be profaned by the careless crowd; it has been defined as the dwelling house of the Deity to which it is consecrated and whose presence is marked by a statue or other symbol. Here are kept the sacred treasures, the gifts and tribute of the worshipers.
A church building on the contrary is often regarded as a social center, a place of meeting for all who may be interested. It is not narrowly limited to the use of the priesthood but is more comparable to a school or place of instruction, an evolution in part comparable to the Jewish synagogue, a place for religious instruction and worship.
The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár with its surrounding buildings may be said to combine the conceptions both of a temple, and of a church with class rooms and facilities for study and meditation. In one sense it has no direct ancestors; it stands in a class by itself. Yet it has its predecessors or prototypes, infinite in number and variety. Some of these doubtless have had an influence on the design; a few in a negative way, warnings what not to do; others have been helpful in suggesting size and form. It is well worth our time to study the “ancestors” or predecessors of the temple, so that we may appreciate the magnitude and far-reaching effect of the work in hand, namely, the building of the Bahá’í Temple, now in course of construction at Wilmette, Illinois. It is, of course, impossible in a brief article to do much more than suggest a few lines of thought.
The most complete or readily available
source of information on the growth of the
ideals of a temple are in the Hebrew sacred
books, at least those combined and printed
together as the Old Testament. There have
been recorded the traditions reaching back
into pre-historic times; giving the
development of a Semitic people from the
days of[Page 314]
human sacrifice,
when each tribal deity had
a local habitation, on up to the times when
there was erected for their god a permanent
home or temple in Jerusalem, a rectangular
room or structure into which the high priest
alone could enter once a year. This was
surrounded by courts and cloisters where
the various classes of people might meet for
public worship.
The essential feature of each temple, erected in succession at Jerusalem on the older ruin, was this “Holy of Holies” devoted to the Divine Presence. So far as is known, it was a plain box-like room of 20 cubits on each edge; that is, about 30 feet high, wide and long. The buildings which surrounded and concealed this, in whole or in part, were doubtless ornamented in Oriental fashion; possibly a mixture of Cretan, Egyptian and Babylonian styles. Nothing characteristically Hebraic has been found. There are no traces of the ornamentation nor of the colors used; many of which were doubtless vivid.
The Greeks had much of the same idea, a room or darkened enclosure devoted to the presence of a particular god whose statue was enshrined there. This was surrounded by columns all relatively severe, with little ornamentation; a striking contrast to the elaborate details of their far Eastern contemporaries. It must not be supposed, however, that these temples were colorless. Those that remained have been bleached white by the weather, but particles of color found in interstices show that they were not originally of the snowy white pentalic marble. Possibly the best idea of one of these temples devoted to the presence of a specific god can be had from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. C., where the great statue practically fills the building. The doorways of the Lincoln Memorial are unobstructed, whereas the doors of the Grecian and Roman temples were thrown open only on great occasions when the multitude was allowed to gaze upon the statue from a distance.
The Romans followed the Greeks in simplicity of outline, erecting rectangular buildings, carefully proportioned and conforming to certain architectural conventions which became more and more rigid as the arts declined.
In contrast to these Grecian and Roman structures, which the world has regarded as the highest achievement of art, were the Egyptian temples. In these the more striking feature was the entrance or approach with gigantic pylons guarding the door-ways, all massive, everything designed for permanence and with resultant heavy, serious and gloomy effects.
Opposed to the straight lines, low roofs and box-like forms of the classic age are the curves and elaborate tracery of the temples and tombs of Persia, India, and China, with arches, slender posts, openings of all sizes and shapes, riots of forms and color, peaked roofs, spires, pagodas, minarets and domes, fantastic to western eyes, grotesque rather than serious. All in a sense were intended to serve the same purpose, namely, to guard and protect the sacred relics, images or symbols which denoted the presence of a diety or which turned the worshipers from worldly to spiritual thoughts.
One of the most impressive forms of architecture evolved by the human race, the Byzantine, was a creation of the Greco-Roman world, particularly, its Eastern branch, the Eastern Roman Empire located at Byzantium (now Constantinople) from whence the name Byzantine is derived. The special character of this Byzantine architecture, of which St. Sofia is the most notable example, is the placing of a round dome upon a square base the four walls of which are each supported externally by half-domes. In the most perfect elaboration of this architectural system, as in the Turkish mosques of Constantinople, the central dome lifts its majestic head skyward above the friendly grouping half-domes clustering at its base and enclosed in the four slender tapering minarets; while the interior presents a special beauty of vast space unbroken by supporting columns, a majestic simplicity which commends itself especially to Muḥammadans as expressive of the Unity of God.
During the progress of the renaissance of
art in Europe came the evolution of the
Gothic forms notable for the pointed arch
and for symmetrical pinnacles. There was
in medieval Europe a period when men’s
energies seemed to be devoted to the
multiplication of these churches and
cathedrals[Page 315]
repeating
over and over again, with slight
variation, the more attractive of
these structures, embodying a union of
the Greek system of columnar construction
with the Roman vaulting and arches.
In fact, to the European mind a church
or temple must be based upon some of these types.
A reaction from these well established forms took place in New England where there developed the characteristic colonial church, barnlike in form and with a plain pointed steeple; possessing a certain charm from simplicity as contrasted with the more ornate European structures.
There is a tendency to try to improve on these forms. In attempting to develop something suitable and yet characteristic, there has come about a wide range of effort shown by some of the more recent structures in the United States, particularly those adopted by the founders or followers of the newer religions or sects. As an illustration of such an attempt may be noted the temple at Salt Lake City, obviously inspired by European ideals and yet not following classical lines. This is a temple in the restricted sense in that its use is confined to the priesthood; while the people as a whole must congregate for worship in a tabernacle nearby.
Bearing in mind these recent attempts and the older well-known types, it is of peculiar interest to view the sketches of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár. It is erected on a circular foundation which reaches down to bedrock, the building itself being nine-sided. It has no front nor back, as all sides are identical. There is hardly a straight line visible, everything is curved. In place of solidity an attempt is made to create an impression of airiness. The architect, Louis Bourgeois, “has conceived a Temple of Light in which structure, as usually understood, is to be concealed, visible support eliminated as far as possible, and the whole fabric to take on the airy substance of a dream; it is a lacy envelope enshrining an idea, the idea of Light, a shelter of cobweb interposed between earth and sky, struck through and through with light—light which shall partly consume the forms and make of it a thing of faery.”1 ———————— 1 Statement of Mr. H. Van Buren Magonigle, architect of New York City.
It is to be noted that each type of religious architecture that humanity has created has been an expression of a definite religious belief. The Egyptian, Hebrew, Greek and Roman temples, respectively, were of this kind. Christendom experimented with adaptations of the Roman basilica, until the glorious Gothic architecture flowered out in the middle ages as a perfect expression of the inspiration and upsoaring qualities of the Christian faith.
Meanwhile the Muḥammadan world was evolving from the Byzantine church the mosque which, as already stated, is a perfect expression of the simplicity of dogma of the strictly unitarian faith of Islám.
It was to be expected that the new power and inspiration of the Bahá’í Faith should express itself in new forms of art and architecture. Such a form would naturally evolve from pre—existing forms just as, for instance, the Muḥammadan mosque evolved from the Byzantine, and the Gothic from the basilica; yet would be in a way a de novo creation. A study of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, designed by Louis Bourgeois, will make it evident that his glorious creation does exactly this. It embodies, as definitely conceived by him, the characteristics of past religious architecture brought together in a new whole of which there is no similar example. In other words, this inspired architect has created a new form of architecture perfectly adapted to the expression of the Bahá’í Faith with its universality and its world-wide comprehensive scope.
The test of a beautiful form is to see it without ornamentation. This test is well met by the Temple as it stands at present;2 even without the external decoration which the architect, Louis Bourgeois, has designed for it. Standing as it does near the Lake Shore, without the competition from tall buildings, it dominates the landscape. The sun’s rays reflected from the glass and aluminum roof catch the eye when miles away. Approaching, the details gradually become prominent, but seen from any angle or distance the building is singularly well balanced and attractive. Much more is to be done; to enable the visitor to gain some impression of what ———————— 2</sup 1931.
[Page 316]
the building will ultimately
look like there has been erected in a most
conspicuous place near the road-side,
a drawing of the structure
as it will ultimately appear when the surface,
including the dome, has been covered by
the tracery designed by the architect.
To the engineer or person of imagination, the structure as it now stands is perhaps more interesting than it will be when fully completed. It is now possible to see the large and graceful curves and to appreciate the care and skill required to preserve proper proportions and bring about a true balance of lines. There is no other building like it nor have constructors been called upon to meet similar problems.3</sup
In the first place, as well known, the building is nine sided with nine similar entrances. Thus from whatever direction the structure is seen, the view, excepting for the foreground, is practically identical. The front, seen from any angle, is not a flat surface but the arches are curved either toward or away from the observer, as well as in the vertical plane. The play of sunlight and shade on the building, changing from hour to hour brings out new beauties in the design, so that one, for the time being, does not notice the bare, rough surfaces of the concrete.
The accompanying picture taken soon after the dome was erected in May, 1931, gives an excellent idea of the general shape and proportions as seen from the ground. Another view from the air gives the setting in connection with the surrounding highways, waterways and buildings. The site is peculiarly well adapted for the building. On the east, across Sheridan Boulevard, is the broad expanse of Lake Michigan. To the north and west of the building the North Side Canal takes clear water from the lake and carries it down through the city of Chicago, helping to purify or dilute the wastes from that great city. In the same way, the influences flowing from the Temple may well be pictured as helping to elevate the spiritual conceptions of the great mass of people. ———————— 3</sup The writer, the late Frederick H. Newell, was president of The Research Service, Inc., engineers who supervised the construction of the Bahá’í House of Worship.
The dome is perhaps the most conspicuous feature. This has been built of about 100,000 pieces of aluminum and glass. When complete, according to the vision of the architect, this glass dome will not be seen either from outside or inside the Temple. It is to serve the useful purpose of keeping out wind and weather. Outside of it will be the highly ornamental covering designed by the architect through which is to shine the light from the interior, making real the conception of a Temple of Light.
On the inside of the dome it is intended also to place ornamental patterns through which the daylight may shine into the great central auditorium. The ornamentation will extend downward covering the bare spaces. The great vertical windows will ultimately be partly concealed by tracery of stone or metal, both inside and out, bringing about the general view given in the picture as conceived by the artist.
These perforated panels which will appear upon the outside as well as the inside of the structure are shown in the accompanying illustrations, one of these being for the exterior of a doorway, the other to partly conceal the window. These are made from full size drawings or casts prepared by Mr. Bourgeois.
Turning from the vision of what will be, it is interesting to note some of the details as to how the present structure has been completed. The accompanying views show the way in which the steel columns were erected and then covered by the protecting concrete poured in wooden forms ultimately stripped away. The preparation of the forms for the arches with their complex curves afforded excellent opportunity for theoretical and practical mathematics as well as skilled carpentry.
The contract for erecting this superstructure
was entered into with George A. Fuller
Company on August 27, 1930. This
organization worked in collaboration
with twenty-four sub-contractors under liberal and
mutually satisfactory arrangements. It is
gratifying to note that in all the various
operations where men of different trades and
training must of necessity work together
and at times get in each other’s way, there
was the utmost harmony with no
visible[Page 317]
labor disputes nor
strikes. In fact, a spirit of
devotion to the work and enthusiasm in its
outcome was shown throughout the entire
operations. There were no delays due to
misunderstanding but each and every man
connected with the work seemed to regard it
as an opportunity to take part in a
worth-while undertaking.
Mrs. Nettie Tobin kneeling by the stone which she carried as her contribution to the Temple in the very early days, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá chose as the “corner stone” when He visited the site in 1912. The stone is now incorporated into the building, and serves as a special place for prayer and meditation.
When first it became apparent that funds
would be available to continue construction
on the foundations, laid in 1922, the
assumption was that, with the funds
available, the first story only could
be completed with the exterior ornamentation.
This would have necessitated the building of
a temporary roof, an expensive affair which later
must be removed. Careful consideration of
all of these factors led to the conclusion
that it might be possible, while building the
lower story, to continue the work to the
point where the entire building would be
outlined and enclosed. This was found
practicable; by executing the work as a whole
large savings have been made and economies
secured which otherwise would have been
impracticable. Thus by clear engineering
vision, it has been possible to realize the
hopes of a structure completed to a degree
where it can be put to use and one which
is an inspiration and a challenge to all
believers to continue to the degree of perfection.
The building of the Temple has aroused
interest of the people the world over,
for[Page 318]
this is truly the
first universal temple which
is open to all the peoples of the world,
regardless of race, sect or belief. In the years
to come people from everywhere will gather
under the central dome to worship the one
God in the spirit of loving unity, in
accordance with the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh.
MODEL OF THE MASHRIQU’L-ADHKÁR AT THE CENTURY OF PROGRESS EXPOSITION
CHICAGO 1933
BY SOPHIE LOEDING
AT MIDNIGHT on September 9, 1933, a beautiful model of the Temple, made by Mr. Louis J. Voelz, of Kenosha, Wisconsin, was placed on exhibition in the Hall of Religions at the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago. Its position was most advantageous, as everyone entering the Hall of Religions passed this replica of the Temple at some time during his progress through the building. Significantly enough, it was only about ten feet away from the famous Chalice of Antioch, which was also on exhibition in the Hall of Religions.
In order that the greatest possible amount of dignified publicity might be obtained from the use of the model, a placard, bearing the following inscription was placed above it:
"BAHÁ’Í HOUSE OF WORSHIP UNDER CONSTRUCTION AT WILMETTE, FOURTEEN MILES NORTH ON SHERIDAN ROAD, DEDICATED TO THE NEW WORLD ORDER REVEALED BY BAHÁ’U’LLÁH BASED ON HUMAN BROTHERHOOD WITHOUT PREJUDICE OF RACE, CLASS, NATIONALITY OR CREED. VISITORS WELCOME.”
as well as a small framed photograph of the architect’s drawing. In addition to this it was arranged to have one of the friends constantly in attendance each day from ten o’clock in the morning until ten o’clock at night. The days were divided into three four-hour periods, the ladies serving during the day and the gentlemen during the evening hours. The National Spiritual Assembly authorized the printing of fifty thousand pamphlets “What is the Bahá’í Faith?” These were distributed to those persons who evinced suificient interest to ask for them. However, several weeks before the close of the Exposition, the supply of fifty thousand pamphlets was exhausted, and an additional twenty-five thousand was ordered.
When it was realized that Fair officials conservatively estimated that ten thousand persons passed through the Hall of Religions daily, all of whom saw the model and a large percentage of whom stopped to examine it, read the legend accompanying it, and listened to the remarks of the attendant, it is not difficult to form a fairly accurate opinion of the very great number of people from all over the world who have, through this medium, learned something of the Bahá’í Faith.
Much could be told of the hundreds of extremely interesting experiences enjoyed by the various attendants in their contacts with the public. It was illuminating to find how very many persons, who, although not Bahá’ís, had a knowledge of the Bahá’í Faith. Equally, or perhaps more important, was it, to learn how many, many there were, who had never even heard the name “Bahá’í,” for it brought a realization of how great is our responsibility today, to spread the Message of Bahá’u’lláh.
Again and again were voiced such thoughts as “That’s what the world needs today,” and “That’s the first sensible religious idea I’ve heard.” Especially interesting was the experience of one of the friends who had an opportunity to speak with a
[Page 319]
Model of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár exhibited in the Hall of Religions, A Century of Progress Exposition, Chicago, 1933.
The first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, ‘Ishqábád, Turkistan, Russia.
[Page 321]
lady who said that just
a year ago she had
visited the Temple in ‘Ishqábád, which,
she said, strangely enough, was the only
church in Soviet Russia which had been
permitted to remain open. There were a
number of visitors from the Holy Land who
had known ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and who knew
the Shrines on Mt. Carmel, and also one
oriental group whose members, in passing,
hissed, reminding us of the enemies always
about us.
Many, too, were the remarks which made us realize how very much teaching there is to do—such as statements that the little model of our Temple represented the Vatican, St. Peter’s in Rome, a Jewish Temple, a Sun-worshippers’ Temple, the Mormon Temple, the Taj Mahal and many others, equally far—fetched. It was a privilege to be able to explain to those having such erroneous ideas, what the Temple really represents, and to give them, however briefly, an outline of the Bahá’í Faith. So often the response was instantaneous, showing how ready the world at large is for the Message of Bahá’u’lláh.
The results of this exhibit have already become apparent in a number of ways. The beauty of the model is so arresting that a great many of those who saw it have visited the Temple in Wilmette, and have attended the public meetings there. The Publishing Committee reports an increased demand for books from various parts of the country, proving that interest in the Bahá’í Faith has been greatly stimulated by this concrete evidence of the existence in the world today of a new Revelation from On High.
Those who had the opportunity of serving as attendants at Bahá’í Exhibit at the Century of Progress Exposition, bear eloquent testimony to the wonderful part it has played in bringing a knowledge of the Bahá’í Faith to a very great number of people, in deepening the knowledge of many others and in correcting innumerable erroneous ideas entertained by thousands of persons.
