The Newly Remodeled Ogden Temple - Part III

I have already written two posts about the newly remodeled Ogden Temple.  I'd like to give some more thoughts on this remodeled temple.

The remodeled temple is substantially nicer than the original temple.  The original building was built in a time of austerity for the church and while it was an offering to the LORD and a temple, it wasn't as nice as many others.  Frankly, it looked odd.  With time and close inspection I came to appreciate it, but I like that they completely remodeled it.  The remodel has changed the appearance of the Ogden Temple and it has also upgraded its quality in a way that wasn't practical during the original construction in the 1970s.  According to press releases and news reports, the temple has also been structurally upgraded to withstand earthquakes, had mechanical upgrades to increase energy efficiency, and has had significant upgrades to the temple grounds including underground parking and a remodel of the Ogden Tabernacle on the block.  I hope you can understand that the remodel of the Ogden Temple was more than just to make it more aesthetically pleasing (although it definitely has).  The upgrades made the building more efficient and safer and were necessary at some point.

The results of the temple remodel are spectacular.  I am just going to focus on the ordinance spaces here, but I did go into some more specific details in my previous posts.

Ogden Temple Baptismal Font

The baptistery is still laid out essentially as it was originally and is in the same location in the temple.  The main changes here are upgrading the wall coverings, carpet, lights, etc. and the addition of murals.  A baptistery chapel overlooks the font room with a glass wall between just as in the original temple (and others such as the Jordan River Utah Temple).  The font room has 3 original murals.  The side murals are of a river making it almost as if you are in the middle of a river while you are being baptized for the dead.  This river mural looks like it is probably the Ogden River or perhaps the Weber River.  On the front wall of the baptistery there is an interesting new mural of the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist.  I really like how the baptistery has been upgraded.   The lights in the baptistery are fairly simple, but really nice cylindrical chandeliers.  More on this later.  The confirmation rooms are still on the side of the baptistery chapel and appear to have been nicely redecorated.

Ogden Temple Ordinance Room

The endowment rooms are still laid out essentially as they were in the original temple.  There are six ordinance rooms on the top level with 3 on each side of the central celestial room.  I understand that you still spend all of your time in one ordinance room and then go into the celestial room.  The four ordinance rooms that are in the corners don't have exterior windows but they do have back-lit stained glass windows near the tops of the walls and along their ceilings.  The other two ordinance rooms are slightly larger and have stained glass also along the entire back walls which bring in a lot if natural light.  The altars are a pleasing mix of stone and wood with a design carved into the wood.  This same design is carved into the woodwork at the ends of each row of seats which nicely ties the altar to those seated.  This design is also carved into the columns on the walls and was on the original Ogden Temple.  You can read more in my first post.  Finally, the lights in the endowment rooms are really interesting.  They are cylindrical but they have a lot of interesting glass almost in petals.  They are more ornate versions of the baptistery chandeliers which is a great way to show progression in the temple.  I really like these endowment rooms.

Ogden Temple Celestial Room

The celestial room is still in the same location it was in the original temple at the center of the top floor.  Just as in the original temple there is a dome in its center only now it has been upgraded to an art glass dome that matches the stained glass on the walls.  Instead of having a central chandelier, the architects have placed four stunning chandeliers in the room.  These are very interesting art deco styled chandeliers with upper and lower crystals and I assume brass.  The chandeliers have a cylindrical profile and thus are similar to the baptistery and ordinance room chandeliers but more ornate.  I love them.  I also like the torchieres which are essentially chandeliers coming up from the ground or chandelier lamps.  You can read more about these in my previous posts.  There are also really nice hand carved stone pilasters with ornate capitals that I love as I discussed in my previous posts.  The furniture in the celestial room is really nice including a nicely carved table that has been custom made to match designs elsewhere in the temple.  I think some of the furnishings on the tables are from the original temple, although I am not certain about that.  I don't recall seeing any mirrors in the celestial room, which is unique.  I am fine with not having mirrors there.

Ogden Temple Sealing Room

The sealing rooms are on the second level as they were in the temple before it was remodeled. The arrangement of the sealing rooms has changed.  Several of the sealing rooms are on the outside of the temple with stained glass windows bringing plenty of light into the rooms.  The sealing rooms were originally fairly plain, but have been redone in a grand style complete with hand carved stone pilasters, stone altars, carved carpets, and extravagant gold leaf patterns.  The desert rose pattern is used throughout the temple and it works really nicely in the sealing rooms where it works as the symbol of love for those getting married.  The sealing room chandeliers are really exceptional.  They are more elaborate versions of those found in the celestial room.  Here four side clusters of crystal lights have been added.  I love these lights and I love how they symbolically show progression from room to room in the temple.  I love these sealing rooms.  They are some of my favorite ever.  Even the really small rooms that don't have windows are stunning.

As you can see, I love the newly remodeled Ogden Temple.  While the upgrades have significantly strengthened and improved the building from a practical standpoint, they have also improved it aesthetically and architecturally and brought it up to the standard of our finest temples.

I have a little more to write.  I think I will take a break for a few days and then write about the renovation of the temple block.

The Newly Remodeled Ogden Temple - Part II - The Desert Blossoming as a Rose

Stained Glass in Ogden Utah Temple with Desert Rose

This week I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Ogden Temple open house.  During my last post I discussed a few architectural features that relate to the original building.  Now I am going discuss some of my other impressions.

The main themes of this temple are the desert rose (pioneer rose), grass blades, a weave pattern (from the original temple) and a sunburst design.

The desert rose design is meant to remind us of the pioneers (it is also called the pioneer rose) and the scripture where Isaiah says the desert would blossom as a rose.  I like that the designers didn't just use any flower to decorate the temple, but chose one with symbolism.  I noticed that the roses in the glass, etc. have thorns.  It may seem odd to include depictions of thorns in the temple; however, they made me think of several things.  My first thought was of the crown of thorns placed on Jesus Christ's head just before his crucifixion.  Then I thought of the message to Adam and Eve as they were expelled from the Garden of Eden that part of the curse was thorns and thistles.  Since much of the temple is related to exploring the fall, how it relates to us, etc., having thorns present actually works in the temple.  The thorns also make me think about trials and the rose flowers at the top can be symbolic of blessings we receive with our trials.

I didn't really notice the grass design, but grass is very subtle, so that isn't too surprising.  I suppose grass could relate to the pioneers, since most of the valleys the pioneers settled were mainly filled with grass when the pioneers arrived.  I could discuss scriptural links, but honestly I haven't spent much time pondering them yet.

I like how these themes were used in the remodeled Ogden Utah Temple.  The stained glass, wall carvings, gold leaf, stone work, etc. were all beautiful.

Ogden Temple Sealing Room Chandelier Detail

Another thing I loved about the temple was all the art deco styling.  Ogden has a great variety of architecture.  Many buildings have art deco styling.  Because of this, the temple's art deco elements work really well.  Art deco is one of my favorite architectural styles, so I probably would have liked these elements either way, but knowing that they fit in is nice too.

Ogden Temple Torchiere

Probably my favorite art deco element of the temple is the chandeliers and the torchieres (these are like chandelier floor lamps - they are really cool).  They are full of crystals, many contained in a really decorative metal cage (I assume brass).  The lights are really interesting.  There is a cluster of crystals and lights at the top of the chandelier/torchiere and another larger set of crystals and lights towards the bottom.

Sealing Room Chandelier

The sealing room chandeliers also have 4 side clusters of lights that are impressive.  I like how the lights show a progression with more ornate versions of the lights in rooms used for higher ordinances.

The temple also has a lot of incredible carved details such as woodwork and stone, much of it hand-carved.  The woodwork is exceptional.  On the main floor, and somewhat elsewhere, there are carved wood capitals on the columns.  They have an interesting design that is also echoed in stone carving.  In some cases, such as at the recommend desk, the square dots on the capital are echoed in the stonework.  Elsewhere there are more elaborate stone details on capitals, etc., but more on that later.

Ogden Temple Column Capital

One detail I loved was that the dark wood furniture on the main level had a matching detail carved into it which was left stained light.  This means that much of the furniture in this temple is custom built to match the built in details.  In the ordinance rooms, a pattern is carved into the woodwork on the altars that matches a detail from the temple before it was remodeled (see my first post on the remodeled Ogden Temple).  This detail is also carved into the woodwork at the end of each row of seating in the ordinance rooms.  As I discussed in my previous post, I like that how this design connects the seats to the altars, symbolically making it like you are always at the altar.  There is also a pattern carved into the celestial room table woodwork.

Ogden Temple Sealing Room Carved Stone Detail

Even more detailed versions of the carved column capitals are found in the celestial room and the sealing rooms.  I think these are the most impressive stonework detail in the temple.  Here they are hand carved stone.  According to press releases, the Ogden Temple now has more stonework than any other temple (which seems incredible, considering the pioneer temples are made of stone).  I'm not sure if the press releases just mean the finished stonework inside or something else.  I find the hand carved stone column capitals in the sealing rooms to be the most impressive stone detail.  There is also a design detail from the original temple etched into the altars.  This detail is also carved into some pilasters in the endowment rooms, etc. You can read my previous post to find out more.

There is so much more that is great about the remodeled Ogden Temple.  The new art glass is incredible.  Stained glass is used extensively in the temple.  In many locations it has simple geometric patterns, but it often contains the desert rose pattern, grass patterns, etc., and is very beautiful.  The numerous windows make this a very bright temple.  The ordinance rooms have stained glass on their ceilings and the two largest endowment rooms have large stained glass windows along the back walls.  The Celestial room has a large art glass dome in the center.  One great improvement over the original temple is that now some of the sealing rooms have windows to the outside letting in natural light.  I love what the church has done with glass in this temple.

I could go on and on, but perhaps if I stop now I will be motivated to write another post about this temple.  I am very impressed with what has been done with it.

The Newly Remodeled Ogden Temple - Part I

Original Ogden Temple Windows
Link

This will be my first post on the newly remodeled Ogden Utah Temple.  I want to talk about a few details I liked from the original temple that are still present (in some form).

I want to highlight one detail used throughout the remodeled temple that artistically ties it to the original temple.

I have always liked the Ogden Temple more than the Provo Temple and this is largely because of a small detail.  While the Provo Temple has more detailed precast panels, the Ogden Temple had a decorative metal grille covering the windows.  They look dark in the image to the left, but they did have some metallic variation close up.  They were distinctive and beautiful.  Although the new Ogden Temple doesn't have these metal window coverings, I am delighted to see that the design has been integrated into the remodeled temple.

The exterior and interior stonework contains this pattern.  It is also in the stained glass windows.  In the collage I put together from the open house photos you can see on the left that this design is in the stonework. This stonework is on the sides of the windows and on the spire, etc.  The photo one in from the left shows a stained glass detail, which is not exactly the same design, but looks like it is inspired by the original detail.  The next three images show the detail in the ordinance room, first in the woodwork at the end of row of seats, next carved in the woodwork on the altar (I love that the seats and altar are linked so it is like you are symbolically at the altar even when you are in your seat), and then it is also in the stonework on the walls as part of the pilasters.  The photo on the bottom of the collage shows this pattern displayed horizontally carved into the stonework above the altar at the front of the room.  The image on the far right of the collage shows this pattern finely etched into the sealing room altars.  I love that this design detail from the original temple has made it into so many aspects of the remodeled Ogden Utah Temple.  You will also see the pattern in the celestial room dome art glass below.  (Thanks to the reader who pointed this out).

Ogden Temple Celestial Room Dome

There are two other details that I really liked about the original Ogden Temple than I notice have been included in the remodeled Ogden Temple.  The first is a mural in the lobby of Jesus Christ and Peter, James and John along with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration.  Thankfully this mural is still on display in the remodeled Ogden Temple.  The other detail I loved was that the Celestial Room contained a dome.  The new celestial room has a new dome made of art glass.

The remodeling of the Ogden Temple has significantly upgraded the building.  While so much detail and finery has been added to the temple, I am glad that some connections to the past have also been included.  I hope to write soon about my opinion about the remodeled temple as a whole (and maybe the Ogden Tabernacle and temple grounds).  In the meantime, you can attend the temple open house through the first week of September.

Metal Clad Temple Towers, Domes, and Spires

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' temple towers, spires, and domes have occasionally been clad in metal.  I want to talk a little about these.

Many historic Christian churches have metal clad spires.  Lead, Aluminum, Copper, Gold, and other metals have been used throughout history.  The metals serve a practical function of protecting the spire as they weather well.  Placing metals on churches was also a a way to make the church extra special, as many of the metals were hard to come by.

Orig. 1884 Salt Lake Temple Spire Sections

Truman Angel Sr.'s 1884 plans for the Salt Lake Temple had metal sheathed spires.  So the slanted portions of all six towers would have been covered in metal.  In 1887, Truman Angel Jr. changed the design to have the granite spires that the temple has today. (See Salt Lake Temple: A Monument to a People)  Today, the only metal on the spires are five copper finials and the gold leaf covered Angel Moroni statue.


The London England Temple has a metal spire.  You can see a photo here.  The spire is the most detailed portion of the temple's exterior and I like it.  I also served my mission in London so I'm biased.  According to ldschurchtemples.com

The original design of the London England Temple called for a spire of perforated aluminum, similar in appearance to the spires of the Oakland California Temple. The perforations were later removed from the design, however, in favor of a solid sheath of lead-coated copper.

The Oakland California Temple has five perforated gold colored spires.  They are apparently not metal, but rather reinforced concrete that is painted to look like metal.  I've read that the oriental look of the spires is not a coincidence, but rather was used because of the large number of Asian Americans in California and particularly the Bay Area.  You can see pictures of the spires here and here and here.  I love their complexity.  I also love how the lattice structure lets the spires glow.

The Ogden and Provo Temples were the next to have metal spires.  Theirs were originally an orange gold color seen here and here. They were meant to represent the pillar of fire by night that led the Israelites from Egypt.  The upper floors of the temple just below the spire was supposed to represent the cloud that led the Israelites by day.  This is neat symbolism with, in my opinion, horrible execution.  The temples ended up resembling rocket ships, birthday cakes, and other unintended things.  In the 2000s each temple had a statue of the Angel Moroni added (which was actually in the original plans, so we shouldn't think that destroyed the architectural vision of these temples).  At the same time, the spires were painted white, covering the original metal.

Next, the Washington D.C. Temple was built with 6 pointy metal spires.  Their length makes this temple the tallest temple.  The spires are made of steel overlaid with gold leaf.  Each spire has a lot more detail than you usually notice.

The Sao Paulo Brazil Temple was the next temple with a metal spire.  Originally the temple lacked an Angel Moroni statue, but made up for this with a detailed spire.

I think the Tokyo Japan Temple spire is metal.  The Stockholm Sweden Temple and Frankfurt Germany Temple also used metal on their spires.  Many have since used some metal in the spires.

The Houston Texas Temple uses a lot of copper to cover its prominent spire. I really like the style of this temple and feel that the weathered copper gives the modern classical architecture a dignified, mature look.

The Boston Massachusetts Temple was originally completed without a tower due to a lawsuit.  A few months after its dedication, a tower clad in metal was added to the temple.  I like the design.  It is modern, yet fits in with the New England architecture, partially due to the metal spire.

The Helsinki Finland Temple features a metal spire for the tower and a metal dome over the celestial room.

Orig. Oquirrh Mountain Temple Plan With a Copper Spire

The original plans for the Oquirrh Mountain Temple included a copper clad spire.  This would have been nice as Kennecott Copper donated the land for the temple and the Oquirrh Mountains have the largest copper mine (and largest open pit mine) in the world.  The final design has a stone clad tower.


A few temples have metal domes.  The Nauvoo Illinois Temple has a metal tower dome.  I think the Manti Temple towers are clad in metal, but they may use shingles. The Vernal Utah Temple has two copper domes.  The Newport Beach California also has two copper domes, one on the tower, the other above the celestial room.

Other temples have some metal cladding.  The Cochabamba Bolivia Temple was metal on top of its central and 4 side towers.  The Las Vegas Nevada Temple has a copper roof.  Other temples have metal used here and there.

I like metal spires, towers, and domes on temples.  They haven't been used as often as stone or fiberglass or painted spires.  That makes them unique and interesting.  Metal brings a certain dignity to these temples.  There are a wide variety of uses with numerous metals to choose from.  Different styles can and have been used such as perforating the metal, adding etchings, adding a textured pattern, using a smooth metal surface, using several metals, etc.  Metals can retain an untarnished glory or be allowed to develop a dignified patina.  The possibilities are great and so I expect to continue seeing metal temple spires, domes, and towers.  That is a good thing.

Please comment and let us know what you think.

Latter-day Saint Temple Murals - Pt 5 - Miscellaneous Murals

This is a continuation of my posts on Latter-day Saint Temple murals.  You can read the earlier posts by clicking on the links below:
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Celestial Room Murals

After the LA Temple was completed, the endowment began to be presented on film, eliminating the need for murals in endowment rooms.  Because of this, murals stopped being used in endowment rooms until the 2000s.  Even so, between the 1950s and the early 2000s, a few temple murals were included.  These tended to be in hallways or lobbies.  Here is the list I was able to come up with:

The Washington D.C. Temple

Washington D.C. Temple Mural of the Second Coming of Jesus

The main lobby of this temple has a 30 foot long mural of the second coming of Jesus Christ.  The painting is probably familiar to you if you are a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It shows Christ coming and welcoming the righteous (living and newly resurrected dead people are portrayed) on his right hand, while the wicked despair and hide on his left hand side.  The Washington D.C. Temple is also painted into the mural.

The Jordan River Utah Temple
In the main lobby of the Jordan River Temple there is a mural of the Garden of Eden based on the LA Temple garden room mural.  You can see the LA Temple garden room mural in part 4 of my temple murals posts.


The Mexico City Mexico Temple

Mexico City Temple Lobby with Mural of Jesus Christ in 3 Nephi 11

This temple has a print of a famous painting of Jesus Christ coming to teach the Nephites in the Americas after his resurrection as recorded in 3 Nephi 11 in The Book of Mormon.  The print is in the main lobby.

The Ogden Utah Temple
This temple had a mural of Jesus Christ and some apostles on the Mount of Transfiguration.  I'm not sure if it was a print or an original, but it was large and striking in the main lobby.  I hope it is kept in the temple after the current remodel is completed.  This mural was also effective because the Mount of Transfiguration has been linked to the temple and multiple people (prophets and apostles) have said that this is likely where Peter, James, and John received their endowments.

Salt Lake Temple Annex
The new (added in 1960s) Salt Lake Temple Annex includes a chapel with murals on both the front and rear of the room.

The Bountiful Utah Temple

Bountiful Utah Temple Chapel

The chapel in this temple includes a print of part of a painting of Jesus Christ's second coming.  This is technically a mural as the room is planned around the piece and the piece is permanently applied to the wall.







The Vernal Utah Temple

Vernal Utah Temple Celestial Room

The same painting of Jesus Christ's Second Coming is used as a mural in the Vernal Utah Temple Celestial Room.










Baptistery Murals
There are many temple that have baptistery murals, but I am going to cover those not already covered in a separate post.

There is my list of miscellaneous Latter-day Saint Temple Murals from 1960 to 2000.  Surely I have missed some.  Please comment and let us know what you think, tell us of other murals I didn't know about, and discuss murals you would like to see.  While I am thrilled that temples have begun using endowment room murals again, I also like seeing these murals in various places in the temple.  I love how each temple is different, with random murals adding interesting variety.  Please Comment. 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Historical Temple Artifacts

While most Latter-day Saint temples have historical artifacts placed in their cornerstones, several temples built by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have historical artifacts on display.

I was walking through the Ogden Temple one day and right by the clothing rental I noticed a copy of The Book of Mormon on display.  I believe it was a first edition, although it may have been a few years newer.  I assume they will keep it on display once the temple remodel is completed.

In the Manti Temple there are many neat things to see such as the spiral staircases.  One item that can be overlooked is a piece of temple clothing framed and hanging on a wall in a hallway.  If I remember correctly, the item was from the 1850s.  It is in the hallway leading from the recommend desk to the clothing rental.

The Nauvoo Illinois Temple was rebuilt in 2002.  Both times that I visited it I asked the workers to show me what they could.  They showed me the sealing rooms, baptistery, and assembly hall.  They also showed me the historical artifacts that are now in the temple.  In the recorder's office you can see a sword owned by Joseph Smith from when he led the Nauvoo Legion.  The sword is engraved by him with his name, and also with the names of each person who owned it through the years.  Eventually it was donated to the church and is now in the temple.  This isn't the only artifact.  The hallway north of the assembly hall contains several.  There is a framed set of original keys to the temple.  Several are replicas, but some keys in the set are the originals.  There are also several pieces of framed temple clothing dating to Joseph Smith's time.  I believe the first framed set belonged to Lucy Mack Smith, Joseph Smith Jr.'s mother.  There is another piece of temple clothing further down the hall.

These temple artifacts are nice to see.  I particularly like the old temple clothing as it allows me to compare how pieces were then to how they are now and determine what is merely style, and what is potentially significant and symbolic.  It also let me see a way something used to be.  I didn't realize we could use more white.  I won't say more on that.

Do you know of any historical artifacts on display in temples?  Please comment.

Temple Baptisteries

My brother and I have been going to a lot of different temples to do baptisms for the dead recently. I want to discuss some of my feelings about their architecture.

Ogden, Provo, Jordan River and Logan have essentially the same design with a chapel overlooking the font and confirmation rooms on the left hand side. I think Ogden and Provo work best, probably due to the obvious addition of stone tile flooring, light wallpaper, geometric ceiling designs and in the case of Provo small crystal chandeliers and sconces in the confirmation rooms. Jordan River has a lot of potential, although it is a bit dark due to off-white wallpaper and dark woodwork which I think could be redone while preserving the original architecture. Also, the confirmation rooms are cramped and feel like closets which isn't very fitting for a room set apart for an important ordinance. As for Logan, the baptistery has natural light but is essentially a clone of the other temples, including the font. I think this is a shame as we have the original temple font in the Church Museum of History and Art so I don't know why it isn't placed in the temple.

The Bountiful and Mount Timpanogos temples both have nice baptisteries. I prefer Bountiful but that is due to my tastes. I like that in these baptisteries there are two semicircular rows of pews on top of the oxen immediately next to the font.

The Salt Lake Temple baptistery has a wonderful font. The confirmation rooms are small and out of the way which is a downside. Also the entrance is hidden and the tunnels leading into the baptistery have a 60s or 70s feel. Still, I like this baptistery.

Utah's two newest temples, Draper and Oquirrh Mountain have wonderful baptisteries. Draper has stained glass behind the font letting light flood in. The confirmation rooms have glass doors making the rooms for this ordinance seem important and not an afterthought. Oquirrh Mountian has the best baptistery as a whole in my opinion. There the chapel has glass on all 4 sides. The front overlooks the font (with glass on 3 sides) and behind are the confirmation rooms with glass doors and wall. This allows the confirmations to be seen from the font and chapel and definitely makes the rooms for this ordinance important.

In general I liked tiled baptisteries better than carpeted ones because carpet (especially in locker rooms) tends to mildew causing a bad smell.

I love the variety in temple baptismal fonts listed here and others I have seen and hope to see many more.