Detached Temple Spires

The vast majority of temples built by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have their spires and/or towers attached to the main structure of the temple.  There are a few that instead have a spire or spires away from the main structure.  I'd like to highlight these.

Most of the detached spire temples were the 6 spire sloped roof style of temple used throughout the 80s.  All of these except the final two (Portland and Las Vegas) have spire(s) away from the main building and in every case except Frankfurt Germany they have six spires.  These temples were built around the time that detached spires were common in Latter-day Saints' meetinghouses.  The meetinghouse spires were very often structurally unsound, particularly in earthquakes, and aesthetically unappealing.  They were given names such as the 3 Nephites (as many were essentially 3 flag poles clustered together) and generally not liked.  Most of these spires clashed with the architecture of the church building they were attached to and looked like afterthoughts.  The dislike of this type of spire has gone so far that the church has removed many of them and is actively removing others.  The detached spires on temples are an entirely different story.  They tend to look good, are high quality, and are obviously part of the temple designs.  With the six spire temples, the spires represent the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods and tie these temples to the Salt Lake Temple's architecture.  Here are the temples (Click on the links for the original photos):

Boise Idaho

Manilla Philipinnes

Dallas Texas

Taipei Taiwan

Guatemala City Guatemala

Notice that the central spire has a large arch to let light through.  I'm assuming that this lets light get to a window on the front of the temple (although I'm not sure if this is a window).  You can see a picture of this here.  Other temples of this style have an opening at the front, but their spires don't have a corresponding hole.

Stockholm Sweden

(see photo here)

Notice that the spires are more different than other temples in this style.

Chicago Illinois

Johannesburg South Africa

Seoul Korea

Lima Peru

Buenos Aires Argentina

This temple is soon to look like this:

Frankfurt Germany

 Notice that this temple only has one spire despite clearly being the same style as these other six spire sloped roof temples.  I'm guessing there were local ordinances that only allowed a single spire, but I'm not sure.  The bottom of this spire is composed of four columns so it also lets light through the spire as was also done in the Guatemala City Guatemala Temple.  You can see pictures of this here and here.  I also think this spire has been made more unique than most of the spires on this style of temple.

Overall I like the detached spires in this type of temple.  A lot of them are similar, but they have minor variations and I think they are all stylish and nice and work.  Architecturally these detached spires remind me of minarets (in a good way) or watch towers.  They definitely make these temples feel unique.  Their presence seems to mark the land around the temple as a sacred space.

One other temple has had a detached spire.  This is the Copenhagen Denmark Temple.

Copenhagen Denmark Temple

This temple was built from an existing historic chapel that was remodeled to be a temple.  The architecture of the original chapel didn't have a spire and, looking at the building, it would have been difficult to add a spire on the main structure aesthetically.  The solution, which I think works, was to add this detached spire.  It identifies the building clearly as a temple and gives a place for the Angel Moroni statue, while preserving the main building's architecture.  

Those are the detached spires currently on Latter-day Saint Temples.  I personally like them, and wouldn't mind seeing them used on other temples (despite hating them on churches for the most part).  I don't expect to see more detached spires in the short term as I don't feel they are popular among architects at the moment (although the Copenhagen Denmark Temple was completed in 2004).  In time I think detached spires will become popular again and hopefully we'll see some interesting variations.

Detached spires and towers are not unique to temples.  Other religious buildings have them.  For instance, the leaning tower of Pisa is just the detached bell tower for the Pisa Cathedral.  Other freestanding bell towers can be seen here.  The Taj Mahal, a mausoleum in India, is sorrounded by 4 detached minarets.  Many other churches and mosques and other structures can be found with detached spires and towers.

Please comment and let us know what you think about detached spires on temples built by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, how they are used, and the possibility of using them on future temples.

The Portland Oregon Temple

For any of you who didn't notice, I've updated some of my earlier posts with new images.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Distinctively "Mormon" Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Temples

While researching about the Cardston Alberta Canada Temple I cam across this article.  In it, the author praises the Cardston Temple as his favorite temple; however, he adds this statement:

Despite my Prairie-School love, I am not even completely comfortable with the Cardston temple. After all, it is a fine work derivative of a larger tradition. Its primary aesthetic is not distinctively Mormon.                                   (emphasis added)

 This made me think about what is distinctively Mormon architecture and what temples meet this criteria.  I want to note that the term "Mormon" is slang for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members. Latter-day Saint is a term for the members and I will use that term from here on. Let me be clear from the start, I don't think a temple has to have distinctively Latter-day Saint architecture to be a good temple or great architecture.  Some of my favorite temples are in styles common to the rest of the world.  We are supposed to take what is good in the world and apply it to us.  At the same time, using architecture that is distinctively Latter-day Saint has great benefits.  It allows a temple to be recognized as a temple, and not just by using an Angel Moroni statue.  Distinctively Latter-day Saint architecture also is usually filled with symbolism.  Also, our architecture was often a conglomeration of various styles brought by immigrants from around the world.  The resulting eclectic styles contained a history of the gospel going to all nations and of the gathering of Israel.

I'd like to see some discussion on what you think is distinctively Latter-day Saint temple architecture, how it has been used, and how it is being used in newer temples.  I'll begin the discussion by focusing on what I see as distinctively Latter-day Saint architecture.

Six Towered (or spired) Temples

While the interiors of the Kirtland, Nauvoo, and St. George Temples contained unique architecture, their exteriors borrowed heavily from architectural precedents and weren't really distinctly Latter-day Saint on a macro level.  The Logan (1884), Manti (1888), and Salt Lake Temples (1893) introduced the highly symbolic 6 tower style that I see as being distinctively Latter-day Saint.  This and the castellated style (also present in St. George) make these temples easily identified as Latter-day Saint, despite the fact that two of them lack statues of the Angel Moroni.  The towers represent the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods with 3 towers on each side.  The west three towers represent the Presiding Bishopric, or any bishopric in the church.  These are the leaders of the Aaronic Priesthood.  The east towers represent the First Presidency of the church, the leaders of the Melchizedek Priesthood.  Priesthood is an important principle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is inseparably connected with the temple and is woven firmly into the ordinances of the temple,

Visually, the six tower architectural style makes these temples look unlike any other religious buildings I know of.  Chapels and cathedrals throughout Christendom use single spires and sometimes two spires on one end.  The six spire architecture used in Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Temples is a unique style.

The Washington D.C. Temple (1974) was built to visually echo the iconic Salt Lake Temple's architecture.  One way it accomplished this was through the use of six towers (three on each side).  Even though the Washington D.C. Temple is very modern and sleek in its design, I think it is also distinctively Latter-day Saint in its architecture.  It is a successful fusion of styles that keeps the priesthood symbolism intact on the macro scale.

In the 1980s the church began to build numerous six towered temples.  These are often referred to as the six spire sloped roof temples (or sometimes derogatorily as the six spire meetinghouse temples).  I personally really like this style and think it succeeds in being uniquely Latter-day Saint.  The following temples used this style:

Boise Idaho Temple (1984)

Manila Philippines Temple (1984)

Dallas Texas Temple (1984)

Taipei Taiwan Temple (1984)

Guatemala City Guatemala Temple (1984)

Stockholm Sweden Temple (1985)

Chicago Illinois Temple (1985)

Johannesburg South Africa Temple (1985)

Seoul Korea Temple (1985)

Lima Peru Temple (1986)

Buenos Aires Argentina Temple (1986)

*Frankfurt Germany Temple (1987)

I have placed an asterisk next to the Frankfurt Germany Temple because it uses the same style, but actually only has one spire.  Two other temples look similar the these temples with six spires.  These temples used a different, larger floor plan and have a lot more detail on the spires, use sun, moon, star, and earth stones, etc.  These are the:

Portland Oregon Temple (1989)

Las Vegas Nevada Temple (1989)

Each of these temples from Boise to Las Vegas has architecture the looks distinctively Latter-day Saint to me.  The multiple spires and their symbolic arrangement sets these buildings apart from other religious buildings in the world as LDS Temples.  I have been to the grounds of the Boise Temple and have attended the Dallas, Portland, and Las Vegas Temples.  I like how each is, although the Portland and Las Vegas Temples excel in their internal architecture.  I like the interior of the Dallas Temple as well, but it isn't as well executed., mainly due to a necessary addition.  That and the endowment room seats have a hideous pattern on them, in my opinion.

I've heard and read that the church has tried to build temples with six spires since the 1980s but has been unsuccessful, mainly due to protests from neighbors and burdensome local building codes and planning committees.  This is unfortunate because using six spires is a way that LDS Temples display their identity and symbolically teach important principles through sacred architecture.  The Brigham City Utah Temple  (currently under construction) was the first temple in a long time to have six towers (counting the corner spire-less towers)

The Brigham City Utah Temple

Two Towered Temples

The San Diego California Temple (1993) has two main towers (although additional towers bring the total to 10) and the Vernal Utah Temple, (1997) created by extensively remodeling the Uintah Stake Tabernacle, also has two towers.  In the last few years, the church has begun building more two towered temples.  This is a creative way to symbolically represent the priesthood, while using only two towers.  These temples echo the Logan and Manti Temples which had six towers, but only two prominent ones.  Several Temples use this style, including the aforementioned Brigham City Temple which actually has six towers.  Currently, the church is building the Kansas City Missouri Temple and Rome Italy Temple using two towers,  It has been reported that the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple will have two towers.  Other temple(s) now in the planning stages also use the two tower style.  I really like these styles.  The two towered style brings symbolism and strength to the temples.  It also looks distinctively uniquely Latter-day Saint to me.  I think this is especially helped by keeping the towers on opposite ends of the temples.

Kansas City Missouri Temple

Rome Italy Temple

Having either six towered or two towered temples is one way I think our temples become distinctively Latter-day Saint.  They look different from other architecture on the macro level, even while borrowing from many types of common architecture.  I hope the church continues to build two towered temples and I also hope that we resume building six towered temples as well.

I've only covered a small part of what I think is distinctively Latter-day Saint temple architecture.  Please comment and let us know what you see as being distinctively Latter-day Saint architecture and how it is - or can be - applied to temples.