FARIBORZ & THE

LOTUS TEMPLE

KWANTLEN 1200 ARCHITECTURAL PROJECT

BY: JUSTIN MAAN & SUMEET DHOAT

INTRODUCTION

Introduction

The Lotus Temple is located in New Delhi, India and is a house of worship completed in 1986. This famous structure was designed by Fairborz Sahba. The Lotus Temple is known for its flower shape and is also known as a mother temple. The Lotus Temple appears to look like a half open lotus flower encircled by leaves. The Lotus Temple is a significant tourist attraction in New Delhi. In addition to being a tourist attraction The Lotus Temple has won numerous architectural awards and been featured in many newspapers and magazine articles.

• The building of the Lotus Temple started in many stages. The main Architect, Fariborz Sahba started the designing of the lotus temple in 1976. The building of the temple was finished in 1976. The basement and inner podium were built first. After, for the forming of the arches and shells the structure was divided into suitable parts. This took into consideration, that when the shells would support themselves until the remaining shells were completed.

• The Structure was divided as follows:

• Arch

• Inner leaf, radial beams and central hub.

• Interior Dome

• Entrance and outer leaves

TIMELINE

• The Lotus Temple is a place of worship that is open to all religions. At the Lotus Temple there is no distinction. Similar to other Baha’i rules, The Lotus Temple symbolizes unity between all religions and beliefs of god. The Lotus Temple also regulates that only Holy Scriptures of Baha’i faith and other cultures can be read and recited as no musical instruments can be played within the Lotus Temple. In addition no orations or ritualistic beliefs can be practiced within the lotus temple.

WORSHIP

• Similar to other Baha’i houses of worship The Lotus Temple also shares certain architectural fundamentals. Abdu’I-Baha the son of the founder of The Baha’i religion stated that an important architectural element is a nine sided circular shape. While most Baha’i houses have a dome, it is not known as an essential part of the architecture. In addition, The Baha’i religion also regulates that no statues or images may be displaced in the house of worship. The structure has a height of more than 40m. The entrance leaf of the Lotus Temple is 18.2 meters wide at the entrance and rises 7.8 meters above the podiums. The outer leaf of the Lotus Temple is 15.4 meters wide and goes up to 22.5 meters above the podium. The inner leaves of the Lotus Temple are 34.3 meters above the inner podium.

STRUCTURE

• The lowest level of each shell has a width of 14 meters. The structure was inspired by the Lotus flower and the design of the Lotus Temple is made up of 27 free standing marble clad pedal. The pedals are set up in groups of three to create 9 sides. The outside pedals also called the entrance leaves open out to create the nine entrances around the building hall. The next set of pedals consists of nine pedals which are also known as the outer leaves. The outer leaves point inwards towards the building. The entrance as well as the outer leaves combined is called the outer hall. The third set of pedals which are also known as the inner leaves show to be somewhat closed as the tips only open out thus, it appears to look like an opened lotus bud. The rest of the pedals which appear at the top, houses the central hall. Nine radial beams are placed at the top where the pedal separate to accommodate for the lateral support of the temple. The top of the temple is open, covered by a glass and steal roof. This provides protection from the rainy weather as well as a source for the natural light to enter.

STRUCTURE

• Around the central hall there are nine arches which are placed at 40 degrees intervals. These nine arches hold the weight load of the super structure. The Lotus Temple is composed of 9 doors which open up to a main hall which is a little over 40 meters tall in height and is able to hold 2500 people. In addition the temple consists of the main house of worship, the reception center, the library and the administrative building and the restrooms blocks. The basement of the temple includes electrical and plumbing components as well as the super structure for the Lotus shape. Similar to other Baha’i temples, the exterior of the Lotus Temple is composed of white colored marble which is from the Penteli Mountain which is located in Greece. In addition to the exterior of the building, the lotus temple is placed on a 26 acre lot composed with 9 pools. While the pools provide for an aesthetic look they also provide ventilation for the building. Fariborz was approached to design the structure in 1976 and later managed the construction of the Lotus Temple. Lint Neil from UK overtook the structural design. A majority of the funding for the land was given by Ardishir Rustampur from Hyderabad. In addition a share of the money was left aside to create a greenhouse to study aboriginal plants and flowers.

STRUCTURE

• http://www.bahaihouseofworship.in/architectural-blossoming

STAGING&FORMWORK/

LOADING

• The reinforcement that was used to construct the white concrete shells and binding wires was completely galvanized to prevent rusting over a long period of time. Since galvanized reinforcement in concrete is rarely used in New Delhi, India, many tests were done to make sure that the properties of the reinforcement do not become greatly due to galvanizing. Sandblasting was used to avoid hydrogen embrittlement. First the bottom formwork for one shelf was created after the edge lines of the surface was used as a sample to decide the shape and length of each reinforced bar. To create an appeasing aesthetic appearance on the exterior of the shells the inner reinforcement was held by special steel spacers.

•

REINFORCEMENT

• The reinforcement that was used to construct the white concrete shells and binding wires was completely galvanized to prevent rusting over a long period of time. Since galvanized reinforcement in concrete is rarely used in New Delhi, India, many tests were done to make sure that the properties of the reinforcement do not become greatly due to galvanizing. Sandblasting was used to avoid hydrogen embrittlement. First the bottom formwork for one shelf was created after the edge lines of the surface was used as a sample to decide the shape and length of each reinforced bar. To create an appeasing aesthetic appearance on the exterior of the shells the inner reinforcement was held by special steel spacers.

CONCRETE

• Cusp-Ridge

• Re-Entrant – Valley

• Toroid - A surface that is created by the revolution of any closed plane curve or contour about an axis lying in its plane.

• Cycle tube- Typical toroid

• Guniting – Process of repairing concrete work and providing a resistant layer.

TERMINOLOGY

• The different shapes of the Lotus Temple had to be transformed into actual shapes such as spheres, cylinders, toroids and cones. These shapes were interpreted into equations which were used for structural research and engineered drawings. Due to the complex geometry it took designers more than two and a half years to complete the detailed drawings of the temple.

GEOMETRY

• The setting out of difficult geometry created a problem. Normally a structure would be defined by levels and linear dimensions, but the Lotus Temple imposed a different problem. The lotus Temple was indicated through equations, levels and radii. Furthermore, these equation levels and radii had to be converted into dimensions, latitude, height, and thickness which would further be understood by an engineer and carpenters. A system was established that included coordinates along the x, y and z axis for every 40 degrees. Furthermore the problem was more easily understood by setting up eighteen reference stations around the Lotus Temple for the creation of the arches, entrances, and both outer and inner leaves.

SETTING OUT

• The shells created inside of the building were initially supposed to be 50mm thick and were proposed to be cast by in-stu guniting. In addition full scale mockups were used to study the different possible problems of special issues, which consisted of working space as well as accessibility. Thus, it was decided that the working conditions for in-stu guniting would impose a great challenge. As a substitute option the shells would be constructed using formwork on both sides. Both the fixing of the formwork and reinforcement also created a serious problem since each shell had to be in cast in one pour and placed between two faces of formwork only 60mm apart from one another. Furthermore, the distance between each petal created a great problem of spatial movement when the formwork, reinforcement and concrete were placed.

TEST & MOCKUP

• Based on the order of construction envisioned, the research completed in the design and formwork process, the investigation completed in the mockup process, and the research and tests done on materials, thorough technique reports and standards were created. The checking of quality was done at each design stage to ensure that there was no abnormality from what was thought out in the design and formwork stage. Furthermore, a full concrete analysis was completed to ensure that the quality standards were met.

ASSURANCE OF QUALITY

• The outer and inner faces of the shells and arches are covered with white marble panels which are fixed to the concrete faces by stainless steel brackets and anchors. 10,000 sq. m. of marble comes from the Mount Pentilekon mines of Greece and where later sent to Italy where they were cut to the proper size and shape to follow towards the geometry as well as pattern. The reinforcement that was used was made up of entirely galvanized steel in order to avoid rusting. In addition M30 concrete was used to provide reinforcement. To find out more visit: http://www.bahaihouseofworship.in/architectural-blossoming

MATERIALS USED

• The intricacy imposed in the design of the lotus temple as well as the high quality of skill that was anticipated to be achieved , created for a vigorous construction management with a great deal of innovative ideas, team involvement as well as quality assurance which was achieved through workers and contractors. Moreover, thinking about possible conflicts in advance through the process of tests and mockups was a main factor in the site development. Moreover, a great deal of effort was placed to ensure that the project was completed within the time frame and budget.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

• Since the opening of the Lotus Temple in December 1986 to late 2002, the Lotus Temple has had over 50 million visitors which demonstrate that it is a famous Tourist attraction spot. As an interesting fact, the Lotus Temple has exceeded the number of visitors in 2002 in the Taj Mahal and the Eiffel Tower. On Hindu holy days the Lotus Temple has had over 150,000 people in a single day.

TOURISM

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvjAGEWSl-o

VIDEO

ARCHITECTURAL

AWARDS

-1987- Fariborz Sahba was given the award for excellence in religious art and architecture by the UK -based Institution of Structural Engineers.

-1987 - Fariborz Sahba received the First Honor award for “Excellence Religious Art and Architecture” from the American Institute of Architects, Washington, D.C.

-1988 the temple wan the Paul Waterbury Outdoor Lighting Design Award from the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America.

-1989 The temple received the “Excellence in a Concrete Structure” from the Maharashtra-India Chapter of the American Concrete Institute.

-1994 the Encyclopedia Britannica gave the temple recognition to the temple as an outstanding achievement of the time.

-2000 The Lotus Temple was published in the Architectural Society of China as one of 100 acknowledged works of the 20 century in the magazine “World Architecture 1900-2000: A Critical Mosaic, Volume Eight, South Asia”.

-2000 The Globe Art Academy from Vienna, Austria presented Fariborz Sahba with the “Globe Art Academy 2000” award.

SOURCES

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Temple http://www.sahbaarchitect.com/http://www.architecture-student.com/architecture/lotus-temple-delhi-innovation-in-architecture/http://www.bahaihouseofworship.in/architectural-blossominghttp://dictionary.comGoogle imageshttp://civilblog.org/2014/06/29/what-is-guniting/https://prezi.com/lriq4a0vrpzq/the-lotus-temple/http://arkistudentscorner.blogspot.ca/2012/06/lotus-temple-bahai-temple-delhi.html