Specifics

Location: Wilmette, Illinois, U.S. Cook County
Administration: On the same day as the internment of the sacred remains of the Báb on Mount Carmel, March 21st, 1909, the first American Bahá'í Convention opened in Chicago. The Convention established the 'Bahá'í Temple Unity', incorporated to hold title to the Temple property and to provide for its construction. A constitution was framed and an Executive Board of the Bahá'í Temple Unity elected. This body became the future National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada. [BBD39; BBRSM:106; BW10:179; GPB349; PP397; SBBH1:146; BFA2:XVII, 309; BW13:849; MBW142–3]
Foundation Stone: by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1 May, 1912
Construction Period:The purchase of the site completed: 1914. Design Chosen: 1920. Superstructure: 1921 – 1 May 1931. External Ornamentation: June 1932 -1943. Interior: 1951
Dedication: 1 May 1953
Architects: Louis Bourgeois with Alfred Shaw (interior cladding) Bourgeois became a Baha’i in New York City in 1907, and two years later responded to the call for designs for the Temple. In 1920, delegates from across the country unanimously selected his innovative design. Bourgeois traveled to Haifa to consult with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. With ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s encouragement, Bourgeois refined and scaled down the size of his design. [The House of Worship Architecture]
Seating: 1,191 [DP220]
Dimensions: 203ft at the base and 49ft high
Cost: $2.6 million (another source) $51,500 (land) plus $3,212,517.60 (construction costs 1921-1953)
Dependencies: Construction of a home for the aged was began in December, 1957 and inaugurated on 1 February, 1959. It is located about three blocks away.
Note: In GPB349 Shoghi Effendi states that “…this enterprise—the crowning achievement of the Administrative Order of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in the first Bahá’í century…”.
References: CEBF236-241,GPB348-353, MDM121-239, The Dawning Place, The Bahá'í Faith 1844-1963 Information Statistical & Comparative p36-37. iiiii

Specifics

Location:Northern Kampala, on Dikaaya Hill in Kawempe Division.
Foundation Stone: 26 Jan 1958 (Beneath the stone is a silver box containing the sacred earth from the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh and a wooden box containing a piece of the plaster from the Prison Fortress of Máh-Kú where the Báb had been incarcerated.)
Construction Period: Land purchased: 20 April 1954, January 1958 – 14 January 1961
Site Dedication: 14 January 1961 (Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum brought a gift from the Guardian- a carpet from the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh was hung on the inside of the door facing the Qiblih.)
Architect: Charles Mason Remey
Seating:Over 400 (800 for Dedication ceremony)
Dimensions: Dome at its base-44ft. Diameter of inner floor-84ft. Circumference: 265ft yielding 5,550 sq ft of floor space. Height of the building-124ft.
Cost: $ ? (initial budget was 42,00 Pounds Sterling)
Dependencies:
References: BW13p704-719, CEBF241, CG45

Specifics

Location:Sydney, Australia (Ingleside on the MonaVale Road).
Foundation Stone: 26 Jan 1958 (Clara Dunn and Hand of the Cause Charles Mason Remey, who had been designated by the Guardian as his representative, while attending the 2nd International Conference 21-24 March, 1958. A small bag of earth from the inner Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh and a piece of plaster from the room of the Báb in Máh-Kú was deposited under the floor.)
Construction Period: 1957-1961
Site Dedication:16 September 1961 (Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum brought a gift from the Guardian- a green silk carpet from the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh.)
Architect C.M. Remey
Seating: 500
Dimensions: 124ft at the base and 130ft high
Cost: Original budget was 120,000 Pounds Sterling
Dependencies:
References: BW13:319-322, BW13p720-732 CEBF241

Specifics

Location: Frankfurt, Germany (near the village of Langenhain in the Taunus Hills)
Foundation Stone: 20 November 1960 by Hand of the Cause Amelia Collins representing the World Centre. She placed Sacred Dust from the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh in the foundations.
Construction Period: 1960-1964
Site Dedication:4 July 1964 Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum represented the Universal House of Justice.
Architect: Teuto Rocholl (plans approved by Shoghi Effendi)
Seating:450 – 600
Dimensions: Diameter at the base: 48m (158ft), Height from the base to the top of the dome: 28m (92ft), Outer diameter: 25m (82ft); Inner diameter: 23m (69ft), Inner height of the dome: 24m (72ft). Height 20.5m (67ft)
Cost:
Dependencies: A home for the aged.
Note: The construction of this temple was delayed by legal roadblocks instigated by church opposition, both Protestant and Catholic.
References: BW14p483, BW14p483-484, BW18p104, CEBF241

Specifics

Location:Panama City, Panama (On the Cerro Sonsonate (Singing Hill), a few miles north of Panama City)
Foundation Stone: 8 October 1967 (Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum)
Construction Period: 1969-1972
Site Dedication: 29 April, 1972 (Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum)
Architect: Peter Tillotson
Seating: 550
Dimensions:
Cost:
Dependencies:
References: BW14p493, BW15p632-649

Specifics

Location: Apia, Samoa (9km south of the city)
Foundation Stone: Laid by Malietoa Tanumafili II and Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum on 27 January 1979. She placed a small casket of Dust from the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh in a niche in a stone.
Period: 1980-1984
Site Dedication:1 September 1984
Architect:Husayn Amanat
Seating: 500 - 700
Dimensions:Top of the dome to ground: 28m (92ft), Top of the dome to basement floor: 31m (102ft), Height of the dome: 19m (62ft), Width of the dome: 27M (88ft)
Cost: $6.5m
Dependencies:
References: BW16p488-489, BW17p371-374, BW18p104, 585-588, BW19p547-557,

Specifics

Location: New Delhi, India (Bahapur (Abode of Light))
Foundation Stone: 17 October 1977 (Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum)
Construction Period: April 1980 - December 1986
Site Dedication:24 December 1986 (Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum placed a silver casket containing Dust from the Shrines of Bahá’u’lláh and the Báb into the crown of the Prayer Hall arch facing ‘Akká)
Architect/Project Manager: Fariburz Sahbá
Seating: 1200
Dimensions:Inner buds are 34.3m high, the outer leaves are 15.4m wide and 22.5m high.
Cost: $10m
Dependencies:
References: BW16p486-487, BW17p368-370, BW18p103-104, 571-584, BW19p559-568, BW20p731-753

Specifics

Location: Santiago, Chile
Foundation Stone:
Construction Period: 2013 – October 2016
Site Dedication:13-16 October 2016
Architect: Siamak Hariri
Landscape Architect: Juan Grimm
Seating:
Dimensions:2,415 square-metre (26,000 square-feet)
Cost: approximately $30m
Dependencies:
References: BWNS800, BWNS921, BWNS940, BWNS959, BWNS982, BWNS1123, BWNS1125, BWNS1055, BWNS1199
• Since its dedication in October 2016, the Temple has been a recipient of an International Architecture Award as well as awards for structural artistry from the Institution of Structural Engineers, for innovation in architecture from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, for innovation from the American Institute of Architects, for design excellence from the Ontario Association of Architects, for “Best in Americas, Civil Buildings,” from World Architecture News, and for Architectural and Cultural design from American Architecture Prize. [BWNS1262]
• The Temple design won the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) International Prize. This renowned prize is awarded every two years and was created to celebrate socially transformative, respectful, uplifting and inclusive architecture. [FloorNature site.]
• This site states that since the opening some 1.4 million people have visited. Some weekend have had up to 36,000 visitors.
• This site has some spectacular photographs.
• The announcement that Hariri Pontarini Architects had won the prize on the 25th of October, 2019.
• Some spectacular pictures, some of which were taken during the construction.
• See a short video made by Hariri Pontarini Architects.