Symmetry in Worship

Tabernacle in the wilderness


Endowment House - Salt Lake City

The physical facilities department of the Church exists, in part, to provide Church facilities that help bring souls unto Christ. How do our buildings do this? At face value, *any* building that provides shelter from the elements can help bring us to Christ. Joseph Smith's Red Brick Store, the Endowment House, the Israelite Tabernacle in the wilderness - no more than a tent - all provide examples of simple structures erected to provide ordinances and bring others to Christ. If these structures are sufficient, why do we need more?


LDS Chapel - Pacific


LDS Chapel - Pacific

At the other spectrum, our temples seek to be the best built, with the best materials, with not a vase or piece of artwork out of place. But many other buildings offer the same luxuries. There are buildings all over the world that use the best materials and craftsmanship. High-end homes, hotels, and retail are a few examples of buildings that often equal or exceed what we would call temple quality. So what is unique about our buildings that others could not provide for us? How do they stand out in a way others can't or don't? A common answer will be that our buildings are dedicated, through prayer, for a different purpose from other buildings. And they are. But the real answer to this question has to be something tangible – part of the building itself. In built form, how are they different? Our buildings can act as a tool to help increase faith and to teach the doctrines of the restored gospel. Similar to President Kimball’s call for the artistic representation of Mormonism, I feel that we have yet to truly represent ourselves in built form.

"We are proud of the artistic heritage that the Church has brought to us from its earliest beginnings, but the full story of Mormonism has never yet been written nor painted nor sculpted nor spoken. It remains for inspired hearts and talented fingers yet to reveal themselves. They must be faithful, inspired, active Church members to give life and feeling and true perspective to a subject so worthy.” “God expects Zion to become the praise and glory of the whole earth, so that kings hearing of her fame will come and gaze upon her glory…” (Spencer W Kimball)

He excluded buildings from his list, which may provide some insight into our current ‘function-heavy’ state of buildings in the Church. But the reality is our places of worship have the potential to provide arguably the best forum for sharing the story of who we are. Speaking of the Salt Lake Temple, President Hinckley said, "They [the architects] recognized that they were not simply constructing another building. They knew they were creating a temple of God." (source) Building practices and techniques are different now. For all intents and purposes, today we construct temples and chapels the same as other buildings. Temples are high-end commercial buildings and chapels are large residential buildings. Again I ask: how can we distinguish today a temple or chapel from another building?

Symmetry and asymmetry provide one potential answer.


Plan sketch of Cardston Alberta Temple by GMA with four reflective axes converging on the baptistery and Celestial room above

What is symmetry and why is it important? One definition is an attempt to achieve balance, proportionality, beauty or perfection. This reflects our desire for order and perfection in life. We see examples of symmetry all around us. There are many religious symbols of symmetry - a beehive, a cross, the star of David, a steeple, the sun, or a full moon. Reflective symmetry is the most easily recognizable form of symmetry and the most often used in LDS buildings. This involves utilizing at least one major axis and reflecting the objects to the other side of the axis. I have only found one LDS Temple (Manhattan New York) that did not use reflective symmetry in the design of the building; all the others do. Also, many LDS chapels use reflective symmetry.

Reflective symmetry in a building finds its literary equivalent in scriptural chiasmus. One of the best examples is found in Alma 36. Here Christ is the unchanging axis of reflection at the center of the scripture. Applying Alma 36 to our buildings forces us to ask - how is Christ at the center? How does He cause a transformation within? What does He change and how is that change reflected in the building? If incorporated into the design, this can be a powerful tool to infuse meaning into our spaces of worship. But real change is not possible under the rigor of reflective symmetry. If both sides of the coin are the same, the discussion is pretty much over. Reflection is symmetry for the masses - easily achievable and easily understood. It is also the most basic. We have to move beyond this to get to the real meaning of symmetry and what can make our buildings unique.



A broader and more engaging definition of symmetry is the transformation of an object with at least one property remaining constant. This opens the door to many new possibilities. Symmetry is never perfect - there are never all properties remaining constant - it wouldn't be a transformation then. Therefore, what is dis-similar becomes the most important part uniquely positioned as different. Looking at DaVinci’s Vitruvian man shows the ideal of perfection sought with a perfectly proportioned human body shown. What it fails to account for is the asymmetry of the internal organs, such as the heart - off center and only to one side of the body. This places the heart in a unique position, standing out from the rest, as to importance in sustaining life.



"Objects and phenomena around us show signs both of symmetry and its lack at the same time. In reality, a thing is symmetrical in one or more aspects. In other words, it conserves one or more of its properties under a particular transformation, (such as a reflection or a rotation), while it is asymmetrical in other aspects: that is, its other properties are not conserved. There is no perfect symmetry (when all properties are preserved) and no perfect asymmetry (when no single property is preserved)." (source)

So while Alma 36 is perfectly reflected internally, the position of the story in context of the Book of Mormon is not at the exact center, but slightly off center. Similarly the position of the heart in our body is not at the exact center, but slightly off center. Looking at several of our temples will provide similar examples. In the case of the Orlando and Helsinki temples, the baptistery is placed off axis. Located as an object within an otherwise symmetrical building, the baptistery becomes the lifeblood, or heart, of the building. The plan tells us the baptistery is more important than the other spaces. It is out of place and therefore set apart for a special purpose within the context of order, rigor, and sameness. Some transformation shifted it off axis. As the heart of the Temple, the baptism of our deceased ancestors provides life and salvation for us and for them. As Joseph Smith taught, "Those Saints who neglect it in behalf of their deceased relatives, do it at the peril of their own salvation." (TPJS, p. 193) In this way, even the Celestial room, by remaining on axis, is overlooked and blends in with the other symmetrical spaces.


Plan sketch of Orlando Temple by GMA showing baptistery as heart of building off both axes


Plan sketch of Helsinki Temple by GMA showing baptistery as heart of building off the axis

Applying this broader definition of symmetry to our spiritual lives places us as the object being transformed. A conversion is a spiritual symmetry, transforming from the 'natural' person to one born of God. This creates a perfect, new creation - beautiful and full of balance. A new person. Pulling important spaces off axis is one way our temples and places of worship assist us in this sometimes painful and wrenching transformation as we learn of God and participate in saving ordinances. In this way, perfect reflective symmetry is actually the opposite of conversion because if both sides of the reflection are the same, there is no change. The spiritual transformation we want of ourselves is not an exact replica of who we are, but a transformation that changes us into something better. This could be seen in the building as we symbolically progress through our mortal existence, as shown in the examples at Orlando and Helsinki. Other examples could involve a transformation through movement and progression.


Pablo Picasso. Nude on a Beach

Another type of symmetry was explored by the cubist painters and expands on the concept of a transformed object with a property remaining constant. The cubist painting seen above offers multiple viewpoints of the object while maintaining a fixed vanishing point. This allows us to see individual details of an object from different directions. Here we are seeing the woman from three vantage points at once. This type of symmetry is more than a simple balance in our lives. Holding the same end in a fixed state provides a symmetry of how God sees us - seeing all of a person at once - a true representation of who we really are, and what we have become. A place of worship could provide us a glimpse into such a world of how God sees us and how God views us as a complete person. Using this approach, one possible solution to a representation of heaven, would be to think of the Celestial room as the fixed vanishing point in a painting, similar to the example above. Gods' view of us is all-encompassing at once, therefore the Celestial room could provide multiple layered views of the individual progressing through life. Glimpses into the previous spaces traveled in the Temple would be provided, layered and juxtaposed to provide a complete timeline or picture of mortality, all from a single vantage point. We are then more easily able to recognize who we have become and where we have traveled, seeing our lives in an eternal context as God does.

This is an example of Symmetry in Worship.
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New Temple Design: Rexburg and Twin Falls Idaho

Rexburg Temple by Scott O. Smith

Not having visited the Rexburg or Twin Falls Idaho Temples in person yet, I can hardly offer an expert critique of their design and execution. However, I wanted to take the opportunity to share my thoughts on the most recent Temples of the LDS Church. From an exterior standpoint, the Rexburg Temple is more grand, elegant, proportional, and attractive than that of the Twin Falls. Whether intended or not, the building merges elements from both the St. George and Mesa Temples to draw from the past, giving us something familiar, while presenting those elements in a new and fresh way.


Rexburg Temple by GoofyJ


Rexburg, Idaho Temple
The architect of the Rexburg Temple, Architectural Nexus, designed repeating narrow vertical windows in the side façades that are very much in the language of the Mesa Arizona Temple. As is the building base that the Temple rests on. Additionally, the extension of this base pulling forward from the main building is almost an exact replica from Mesa. With a single axis rectangular plan rather than a dual axis square plan, the Rexburg Temple also has similarities with the St. George Temple. Here we have a linear, elongated plan and a prominent steeple that hierarchically establishes the focal point of the building, directing us to the building entrance. The St George Temple took the single steeple from Kirtland and Nauvoo and pulled it out of the building, protruding to the front. This similar language has been used at Rexburg and Twin Falls. Windows have been inserted into this protruding steeple, and the most prominent part of the Temple, the Celestial room, placed inside of it.


Mesa Temple by MatthewPHX showing facade and protruding entrance base similar to Rexburg


St. George Temple showing a single protruding steeple


Twin Falls, Idaho Temple
The architect of the Twin Falls Temple, MHTN Architects, was lead by Principal Kyle Taft for this project. The Temple square footage is about half the square footage of the Rexburg Temple, and it definitely has similar features. But somehow, using Rexburg as a model and adding the change in scale did not equal as strong of a design in this case. As you can see, the base is gone, there is no front extension, and the elegant window repetition on the sides is not nearly as interesting.


Twin Falls Temple under construction

Another design failure is quoted from the architect himself, “He noted that the endowment room clerestory windows were originally intended to filter natural light, but architectural requirements for passage of electrical and mechanical systems necessitated that artificial light be used behind that stained glass.” (source) The technical systems running through a building should never dictate the design, unless of course that is what’s intended. For this reason, this project would get a very negative critique in any beginning design school. The design process should allow for the expression of form, materials, and systems. To not account for the technical systems through the building while compromising one of the most important spaces in the building is embarrassing. Design is problem solving. If beautiful natural light is desired, there is an economical, beautiful workable solution. There always is. To me, this is where preparation, planning, and revelation can come to play for an LDS architect - especially as it regards the important design of a Temple.

One good feature of the Twin Falls Temple to note is the placement of the exterior lighting. Rather than washing out the night sky, the lighting is strictly focused on the Temple. This will help minimize waste, save money, and keep the night sky dark, protecting wildlife and the observatory at the nearby College of Southern Idaho.


Regional Materials
At the Twin Falls Temple, the beautiful rock forming the flowerbeds is native to Idaho, but most of the other interior finishes are imported. The granite floors are from India, and the anigre wood on the first floor is from Africa. While this may seem exotic and desirable, for a Temple to feel like a local Temple, a beautiful touch is to search for the best local materials available and use them. This regional approach to building adds distinction and flavor to each Temple, even in a “standard plan.” This approach is utilized for the artwork and stained glass, where local Idaho painters are featured, which is beautiful. The building, as a work of art, could reflect the same local flavor and customs. Rexburg, Twin Falls, and St. George all used regional materials for the exterior of the buildings. St. George used native red sandstone quarried north of the city, which was then plastered white. Both Rexburg and Twin Falls used white quartz precast panels that were mined in neighboring Washington state. While the St. George material selection was done out of necessity, I think a regional material selection today adds to the local beauty of the temple by becoming a Temple of the people and of the land in which it serves. Additionally, this provides significant cost and transportation savings as well as helping to stimulate the local economy in which the Temple is based. Regional building is sustainable building.


Temple as Art or Decoration?
Part of the problem may be how we view our buildings. The Magic Valley Times-News had an article highlighting the Twin Falls Temple. A quote from the article states, “But all the art, as well as the architecture, is just decoration. As an architect, Taft strived to avoid having the temple distract from the function it will serve. ‘What happens within the temple is quantum leaps more important than the building itself. We're providing a setting for the sacred worship,’ he said.”


Twin Falls Endowment Room - art, architecture, or decoration?

I profoundly disagree philosophically with the architect on his approach to this project. If what he stated were true, there would be no trims, mouldings, or wall mural paintings inside the Temple, because they would distract from what’s really important. If the building is simply viewed as a necessary evil that is constantly taking away from the sacred worship inside, then the most appropriate solution would be Minimalism. Since LDS Temples are far from being designed in the minimalist language, this explanation cannot be true.

My belief is that buildings are a sculpted art form that we inhabit. This is especially true in context of a Temple – a house of worship. As such, the building has the ability to add something of real value to our worship. In my mind, I cannot separate worship from the surrounding context in which it is placed. There will always be a relationship between the two. As such, all forms of art can enhance and add to our worship.


Rexburg Temple by packarddaniel
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Highlighted Environmental Artist: Daniel McCormick

The Watershed: An Ecological Installation, Sleepy Hollow Creek, San Anselmo, California, 2002 (photo: Mary O'Brien) (source)

Daniel McCormick creates Healing Sculptures using natural materials to help control erosion and restore ecosystems and watersheds. Using art to heal and restore damaged environments is an amazingly beautiful concept. Rather than being an object of reflection or worship, the artwork points towards the grandest ‘art installation’ of all – the Earth, and acts as a catalyst for bringing life back to the Creation. This is truly selfless art, the life of the artwork breaking down and returning to the earth, in order to bring new life to an ecosystem. While I have not seen any of these installations in person, these images portray the exact balance of beauty, sensitivity and materiality that so many of our abused ecosystems need.


Site plan of art installation in agricultural area with a salmon spawning creek (source)

“My approach to creating ecological art relies on the interplay of restoration science and the creative process… It consists of large-scale sculptural forms that lend assistance in the restoration of watershed ecosystems. These sculptures function effectively as silt traps and erosion control devices. They are designed and sized to fit the curves of stream banks and gullies…The ultimate goal is to transform these sculptures into a sustainable component of the watershed, in order to reestablish vegetation and prevent further erosion.” (Daniel McCormick)

“I have received a lot of inquiries about how people can view my finished work. This is often tricky, since my intention is that the art eventually disappear into the land leaving thriving vegetation to stabilize the creek banks.” (Daniel McCormick)


Watershed sculpture in Corte Madera Creek watershed at low water, Fairfax, California, summer 2004. (source)


Watershed sculpture in Corte Madera Creek watershed one year later, during the winter floods, 2005. (source)

“I want my sculptures to have a part in influencing the ecological balance of compromised environments. I am compelled by the idea of using sculpture in a way that will allow the damaged areas of the watershed to reestablish itself. As it has evolved, my art has become focused on strategically congregating sculptural components made from riparian materials back into the watershed system. They are intended to give advantage to the natural system, and after a period of time, as the restoration process is established, the artist's presence shall no longer be felt.” (Daniel McCormick)


Silt Trap Basket (source)

“The sculptures are constructed of material taken directly from the watershed—trimmings from trees and brush. Once constructed and placed in damaged gullies and stream banks, the sculptures act as silt traps that collect the eroded soil and debris from pasturelands. The traps are filled with more riparian material—cuttings from nearby willows—which help to filter the silt and allow cleaner flows downstream. (If left to flow into the stream during the winter rains, this silt would suffocate the eggs of spawning salmon and steelhead.) The sculptures eventually breakdown leaving the newly established willow to stabilize the stream bank, and begin the stream restoration process. The ability of the native willow to re-root and establish itself with just the slightest bit of encouragement, sets the stage for the next phase of my work. I intend for the sculpture to disappear completely leaving a succession of native erosion-controlling growth to take hold. The intent is to make adjustments in the watershed so as to return a degree of equilibrium to the stream system.” (Daniel McCormick)


Flood Plane Wall - A curving wall woven of native Willow, California Sycamore, Alder and Cottonwood. Living Willow and Cottonwood saplings were woven into the wall, and will reinforce the recovery action. (source)
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Highlighted Environmental Artist: Chris Jordan

Paper Bags, 2007
60x80"
Depicts 1.14 million brown paper supermarket bags, the number used in the US every hour.


Partial zoom:


Detail at actual print size:



Running the Numbers
An American Self-Portrait

"This series looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something…My hope is that images representing these quantities might have a different effect than the raw numbers alone, such as we find daily in articles and books…This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society, in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs. The underlying desire is to emphasize the role of the individual in a society that is increasingly enormous, incomprehensible, and overwhelming."


Cans Seurat, 2007
60x92"
Depicts 106,000 aluminum cans, the number used in the US every thirty seconds.


Partial zoom:


Detail at actual size:



Plastic Cups, 2008
60x90"
Depicts one million plastic cups, the number used on airline flights in the US every six hours.


Partial zoom:


Detail at actual size:


"My only caveat about this series is that the prints must be seen in person to be experienced the way they are intended. As with any large artwork, their scale carries a vital part of their substance which is lost in these little web images. Hopefully the JPEGs displayed here might be enough to arouse your curiosity to attend an exhibition, or to arrange one if you are in a position to do so. The series is a work in progress, and new images will be posted as they are completed, so please stay tuned."

~chris jordan, Seattle, 2007
http://www.chrisjordan.com/
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Highlighted Environmental Artist: Ben Coultate

Namib Aerial 019

Ben Coultate is a Civil Engineer living in London who has a passion for photography according to his Flickr profile. The images posted on his page show aerial images of the desert unlike any I have ever seen. This series includes 18 images of the Namib Desert that are compelling, mesmerizing, and full of beauty.


Namib Aerial 032

The Namib Desert is in Namibia and Southwest Angola and features the tallest sand dunes in the world, up to 340 meters high. (source) "The world's oldest desert, the Namib Desert has existed for at least 55 million years, completely devoid of surface water but bisected by several dry riverbeds." (source) It is an extremely arid region receiving "less than 0.4 inches of rain annually and is almost completely barren" (source)


Namib Aerial 014

"A major threat to the Namib Desert is the impact of off-road driving. The impact is the greatest on the gravel plains where depressions left by vehicles remain for more than 40 years because the rainfall is too episodic and sparse to erase them. These tracks are unsightly and cause long-lasting damage to the lichen fields. Lichens are particularly sensitive to mechanical damage as they grow extremely slowly and cannot quickly repair damaged thalli. Most of the damage is done by mining company vehicles when on prospecting expeditions." (source)


Namib Aerial 034

"The present conservation status of the Namib Desert is good as most of the ecoregion is intact and is protected in extensive conservation blocks. The Namib-Naukluft National Park is the largest conservation area in southern Africa and protects the central area of this ecoregion." (source)


Namib Aerial 035
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Highlighted Environmental Artist

Robert ParkeHarrison: The Architect's Brother

Reclaimation

"ParkeHarrison conjured a destiny in which humankind's overuse of the land had led to environments spent and abandoned, with the exception of one indefatigable spirit (portrayed by ParkeHarrison himself). Donning the ill-fitting suit of the Everyman, ParkeHarrison is the earthbound relation to the Creator-the Architect's Brother-complete with human foibles. With lyric poeticism and wry humor, he is the romantic anti-hero, taking up tasks of preservation that appear futile, yet also lay the foundation for the potential redemption of the natural world. Placing himself within the images, ParkeHarrison attempts to patch holes in the sky, construct rain-making machines, and chase storms to create electricity."(source)

The Sower

The Architect's Brother embodies aspects of theater, sculpture, painting, and photography-creating a mythical world that mirrors our world, where nature is barely domesticated or controlled.

The Clearing

"Inherent in this civilization of consumption and technology is the waste and destruction of the vulnerable earth. The mythic world we create in our photographs mirrors our world, where nature is domesticated and controlled. The scenes we depict however, display futile attempts to save or rejuvenate nature. We portray these attempts within our work by inventing machines and contraptions from junk and obsolete equipment. These contraptions are intended to help the character we portray to jump-start a dying planet. We patch holes in the sky, create rain machines, chase storms to create electricity, communicate with the earth to learn its needs. Within these scenes, we create less refined, less scientific, more ritualistic and poetic possibilities to work with nature rather than destroy it." Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison

Cloud Cleaner

"He (Robert ParkeHarrison) comes down on the side of lamentation but expresses it with an unusual combination of poetic license, laboriously constructed props and a wry and melancholy, vaguely allusive sense of myth. He appears in every picture, in a black suit and white shirt with no tie, a kind of Everyman or a minor employee of the universe, patiently, dutifully doing a job that's too big for him. That job is essentially to take care of the devastated Earth with inadequate equipment. He works or performs obscure rituals in large and empty landscapes beneath gray skies. Perhaps this is one man's private way of saying that neither pollution, global warming nor digitalization can entirely extinguish the hands-on experience and the human desire to create." StumbleUpon blogger

Mending the Earth

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Highlighted Environmental Artist

For those subscribed to this feed, sorry if you got several unintelligent drafts of postings in the past day. I accidentally posted a draft - twice! I was able to delete it (both times), but I think it still shows up in the feed...

So here is a new feature where I would like to highlight an artist who has done work that relates to the environment.

Robert Smithson: Spiral Jetty

Photo from Estate of Robert Smithson

NY Times article about Smithson's work:
"The most famous work of American art that almost nobody has ever seen in the flesh is Robert Smithson's ''Spiral Jetty'': 6,650 tons of black basalt and earth in the shape of a gigantic coil, 1,500 feet long, projecting into the remote shallows of the Great Salt Lake in Utah, where the water is rosé red from algae."

The reason I post about Smithson now is there is a newly proposed oil drilling near the Spiral Jetty that is causing concern. It is worried that the drilling and extraction of oil will disrupt the natural environment of the lake with barges, equipment, and introducing toxins and chemicals into the wetlands. There is also concern about traffic and noise from the drilling and operations. The owner of the land sculpture, Dia Art Foundation, is calling on the State of Utah to consider the effects of what they are doing. They are also encouraging the public to write to the Utah Public Lands Policy Coordination Office (template letter here).

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