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.