For any of you who didn't notice, I've updated some of my earlier posts with new images.
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| Portland Oregon Temple |
The Portland Oregon Temple is one of my absolute favorite temples. This temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was completed in 1989. I've been to the grounds twice and inside once (the other time was a Sunday so it was closed). The Portland Temple is modern, detailed, ornate, sleek, bright, rich, original, symbolic, and spiritual.
For those of you who have not been there, it is just off of a freeway (and visible from the freeway) yet the grounds feel secluded due to the dense forest. Its use of the six spire sloped roof style of temples. This brings with it priesthood symbolism with the three towers on the west representing the Aaronic Priesthood and its presidency of a bishop and two counselors. The eastern three towers represent the Melchizedek Priesthood and its presidency, either a stake presidency composed of three presidents or the First Presidency of the church composed of the prophet and his two counselors, all presidents. The temple is covered in the same symbols that are found on the Salt Lake Temple - representations of the earth, moon, sun, and stars in stone, on the spires, and on the doors.
The Portland Temple spires were intentionally sculpted so they would compliment the forest that fills the grounds. The spires are essentially made of a series of pointed arches that taper in as they go up. On the east spires there are stars all over the spires while on the west side no stars are present. The spires are made of white fiberglass and work well against the brilliant white marble stone that coats the main body of the temple.
The sloped roof of the temple is a nice green slate which helps the structure match the evergreen forest that covers the grounds.
The doors of the temple are done in a nice dark wood. Symbolic stars are carved into the doors. The same white stone and dark wood that are found on the temple exterior also run throughout the temple. The contrast between the two, and the richness of both, makes this temple strikingly beautiful.
Upon entering the temple, you notice an atrium filled with natural light and lush vegetation. This atrium is open to the public. To see other atriums, click here.
Inside or outside the temple you might notice the walls glowing. This is because there are actually windows made of stone cut so thin that it is translucent. If you look at this picture closely you'll notice that you can see the sun stones illuminated from within the temple. When I was there, I noticed the earth stones glowing when I was in the downstairs chapel.
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| Portland Oregon Temple Baptismal Font |
Unfortunately, I have not seen the baptistery. I do have this picture of it and I have been to the Las Vegas Nevada Temple's baptistery which is really similar. In the photo you can see the stone windows. I also love the glass used on the railings. It has a design etched in it and similar glass is used throughout the temple. I also notice that the floor has a nice design which appears to either be the Star of David or the Seal of Melchizedek.
One unique feature of this temple are the triangular staircases. These are either in or next to the spires. These staircases are different from normal staircases because you go up a flight of stairs, step onto a landing, turn 300 degrees, go up a flight, step onto a landing, turn 300 degrees, and so on. In this way the staircase is triangular (or perhaps hexagonal if you want to include the landing). I really liked this as it made the temple feel like a special building and not just any architecture. It also showed creativity. In addition, the number 3 is filled with symbolism - particularly about God and the Godhead.
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| Portland Oregon Temple Endowment Room |
The endowment rooms are special. They have the dark wood mentioned earlier. The wood has a bright gold pattern on it that really stands out. The grains in the woodwork are also laid out so they form a diamond pattern, something that must have been carefully planned out and shows skill. The altar is made of the rich dark wood with gold accents. The shapes on the altar echo the small domes found on the temple exterior and help to tie the architecture together. The room also feels different from the world due to its orientation. The room is approximately square, but the altar, screen, and focus is set on a corner of the room. The seating is also oriented with the rows of seats on either side of the aisle at 90 degrees to each other. Finally, the altar and veil are on a raised platform that is sectioned off with a small wood barrier that makes it feel extra special. By the way, this picture doesn't do the room any justice.
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| Portland Oregon Temple Celestial Room |
Going from the endowment room you enter a cross shaped room between the four endowment rooms. Following one of the legs of the cross leads you into one of the most spectacular celestial rooms ever envisioned. As you enter the room you are actually walking beneath a staircase that leads to a mezzanine level of the room. The room is richly decorated and includes gold colored tapestries covering the stone windows along two walls. This room is also set at an angle and the two walls covered in tapestries are the east facade on the temple exterior. The gold tapestries contrast nicely with the brilliant white stone. The tapestries also get thinner as they go up until at the top all you can see is the brilliant white stone windows and any light glowing through them. This wonderfully represents the eternal progression found in the celestial kingdom. A small sealing room can be accessed directly off the celestial room and is actually in the east center tower of the temple. The celestial room also has three bright brass chandeliers that shine with a gold color. They are virtually identical to the chandelier in the remodeled Logan Temple celestial room, although they are brighter and golder and they work very well in this room. Modern sconces are found on the columns along the wall with the tapestries and add a lot of class to the room.
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| Portland Oregon Temple Celestial Room Staircase |
If you decide to venture up the staircase, you will get to see some more features of the celestial room. The stair railing includes glass panels with an etched pattern in them. This keeps the room light and airy. The mezzanine level above provides nice views of the chandeliers. Seating is also present on this upper level. The multilevel nature of this celestial room reminds us that in the celestial kingdom there are multiple degrees of glory. A door leads from the mezzanine level to a number of sealing rooms , perhaps to remind us that to attain the highest degree of glory in the celestial kingdom we must be married eternally through the sealing ordinance.
The temple's special chapel, which is essentially a temple assembly hall, is also found off the celestial room mezzanine. This keeps with the common pattern of having priesthood assembly halls on the top level of temples. The ceiling of the room follows the slope of the roof. It must be nice to attend a special temple meeting in this upper room of the temple, especially in the late afternoon on a clear day when the sun would make the stone windows glow. In that event you would see the sun stones at the top of each window.
The Portland Oregon Temple is one of the six spire sloped roof temples, but it is different than most with a unique floor plan. It is also a lot larger than most other six spire sloped roof temples. The spires are far, far more detailed and the symbolism is more advanced than in most other six spire sloped roof temples. The floor plan of the Portland Oregon Temple was altered slightly and used for Las Vegas Nevada Temple, another one of my favorites and the only example of the six spire sloped roof temple style that can compare to the Portland Temple. If you have been in a six spire sloped roof temple, but not Portland or Las Vegas, don't think you know what those two are like. These temples are different. Although I like the other six spire sloped roof temples, the Portland Oregon Temple is the gem of the style. If you get the chance I highly recommend that you visit this temple. Even if you aren't a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it would still be worthwhile just to see the atrium, the beautiful grounds, and the exterior architecture.
I'm not sure why they only built two temples with this floor plan as it truly is a spectacular style, but I am so glad that they made this temple, and that they used its floor plan for the Las Vegas Nevada Temple.
If you know more about this temple, please comment. You can also comment if you have questions or just want to point out something that you liked.
16 comments:
Thanks for this post. I served my mission in Portland and I quickly fell in love with this temple, especially the celestial room. When we went I always went up to the second level so I could look over the whole celestial room. That room really feels like heaven to me. I was also privileged to attend a zone temple day and we had a meeting in the upstairs assembly room. Thanks for the picture of that.
If anyone wants to know, the black and white photos of the interior come from a 1993 The Friend magazine article and a 1993 Liahona magazine article.
I agree that the Portland Temple is one of the best designed Temples in the church. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed with the Las Vegas Temple when I visited it, having already been to Portland. Las Vegas has some nice features, but I really missed the stairway in the Celestial Room and the 3rd Floor altogether. The interior decorating seems more cohesive in Portland as well. There was a little too much pink for my taste in Las Vegas.
It may be good to do a quick list of Temple Baptisteries that have full-size oxen. The picture of Portland's baptistry made me think of it. I know of Portland, Salt Lake, and San Diego. Do you know of any others? It seems to be somewhat of a rarity.
I don't have any supporting documents for what I am about to say, but my brother is an architect who used to work for the architect of the Portland Temple. According to my brother, the church wanted to build a similar temple to the ones in Boise, Chicago, etc. but he told them that that wasn't going to fly here. So he made a number of revisions. Having been to the Boise Temple as well, I would have to say that they were all for the best.
Before moving here to Portland I always thought that it was just another ugly sloped roof temple--yes this is what I always thought of those types, having grown up in the Idaho Falls area. Then while on my mission, I had a companion from Vancouver, WA who would always brag about it. I would always just ignore him. Then one day I saw a picture of it from the North, and I couldn't hardly believe that it was the same temple that I had seen from the East. Now that I live here I love it. Almost every time I go I have to take pictures. It really is amazing, and unbelievably quiet despite being a literal stone's throw away from the freeway.
Do you mean full oxen? Must are full sized, but many are missing the back half.
Yes, I was referring to full oxen.
We just moved to Vancouver WA, and are getting used to this Temple, everytime my wife and I go we find more and more things that we love about it. My wife is from San Diego and we were married in the San Diego Temple so we love the multi-level Celestial room.
One of the first things I noticed about the Portland Temple when we walked around our first time there is that it doesn't have any windows at all. It wasn't until reading your blog that I realized that it is just thinly cut stone so thank you for that.
In regards to the Assembly Hall; I have attended a couple of meetings in that room. The most interesting one was in the late '90s when the temple President invited stakes in the district to send people on the weekends to do sessions all night long. I began my temple experience in that room singing hymns and listening to a couple of talks in the Assembly Hall, then we did a midnight session. It was a different feeling leaving the temple at 2am.
Recently I attended that temple again (I have moved to Alaska and cannot attend there as much as I would like). I decided I would let the temple (as in the building) preach me a sermon, as the Anchorage temple has very little symbolism compared to the older, larger temples. Oh my, what a sermon I got.
Thanks for your article. I appreciate the insights you had to share.
One thing you are missing is looking at the Aerial view of the Temple. You will notice some interesting geometry and how the temple is laid out. The west base of the triangle there is a water fountain on the east there is a reflection pool and at the north, eye of providence and above that...
I'm a full time employee at the temple.The landscaping and grounds without equal.The lust greenery as only the wet climate can provide brings out contrasting colors like a garden of eden
Another small thing that my wife pointed out to me (I'll have to look the next time I'm there) is that the very bottom of the temple exterior is green instead of white. This gives the illusion that the temple is floating.
Above the baptismal font there is a section of the ceiling that is separated by dark wood and and painted to look like a blue sky with wispy clouds. It really is quite beautiful.
I was a missionary stationed I. Beaverton at the time. The Portland temple was on the edge of my area, so we use to go eat lunch there while it was being built and just sit on a work bench outside the construction gates. It was so peaceful even then. The beauty was striking! I also got to serve at the open house and teach people about the temple. I truly love this temple. Our mission president was given rods of the Vermont marble used to construct the temple, that were left over. He broke them into 4 -5 inch pieces and put a plaque on each one and game them to the missionaries for the 1988 Christmas conference. I will always charish that memento. I just found it in my Mom's things yesterday as we were going through her things now that she passed away a few weeks ago. It brought back many great memories. The dark wood is Honduras mahogany. While the temple was being built, someone broke in and spray painted the side of the temple. They can't just clean it, being a house of the Lord. They had to remove those sections and replace them with new Vermont marble. What a beautiful testament to the craftsmanship of the temple builders. On a tour of the temple while it was being built, as they were walking down the halls, there was a gall that looked finished, but some one had drawn circles all over the walls. When the worker was asked why they did that, he said, those were the areas of the walls that were not perfect and had to be corrected. Then the person asking said "aren't those walls going to be covered with wall paper?" The worker said yes. Then he was asked why those imperfections had to be corrected when they were just going to be covered up. He said, because it must be perfect to the best of my ability. What another great testament to the craftsmanship of that person and knowing that even underneath wallpaper, he wanted it perfect for the Lord's house.
Those lessons will stay with me forever!
The upper portions of the Portland Oregon Temple spires are made of GFRC Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete, so they are closer to being made of stone, rather than fiberglass.
I believe if you recount the number of stars on the east towers, you will find there are 144, not 120 stars,
The oxen under the font in Portland are not only full bodied, but are full size (oxen are much larger than cattle) they are attached to the marble floor with industrial strength velcro so they can be moved for maintenance on the font.
The entire slate roof on the Portland Temple was installed by one man, Gunter from Franfurt, Germany.
The triangular stairs are located inside the tower bases in the SE, SW, NW, and NE towers.
A few other facts of the exterior symbols on the temple are: The Gold Leafed Statue of the Angel Moroni on top of the temple is a reflection of the restoration of the gospel as mentioned in Revelations 14:6. The statue faces east because it is said that Jesus Christ will return from the east. Each Tower has a spire and 12 pinnacles which are representative of the first presidency, the twelve apostles and the High Council. The temple also has stones showing clasped hands, which Elder James E. Talmage said has reference to brotherhood and the free offering of the right hand of fellowship. The super thin marble stones which allow the light through into the temple are called cloud stones showing rays of light coming through which the architect described as the light of the gospel dispelling the clouds of superstition and error. Elder Lauren C Dunn said "It is clear that the meaning conveyed by these representative stones is that the temple is that the temple is a place where heaven and earth come together for the benefit and salvation of mankind.
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