Temple architecture (LDS Church)
As the needs of the church have changed, so has temple architecture—from large castellic structures adorned with celestial symbols, to smaller, simpler designs, often derived from a standard set of plans.
Truman O. Angell recorded in his journal that about this time Frederick G. Williams, one of Smith's counselors in the church's First Presidency, came into the temple during construction and related the following: Joseph received the word of the Lord for him to take his two counselors, Frederick G. Williams and Sidney Rigdon, and come before the Lord and He would show them the plan or model of the house to be built.
The third floor contained rooms for the "Kirtland High School" during the day and Church quorum meetings in the evening.
Differing from Kirtland slightly in that it edged more towards neoclassical,[8] the temple was designed in the Greek Revival style by architect William Weeks, under the direction of Smith.
Like Kirtland, the Nauvoo Temple contained two assembly halls, one on the first floor and one on the second, called the lower and upper courts.
The basement of the Nauvoo Temple, used as the baptistery, contained a large baptismal font in the center of the main room.
Written in gilded letters along the arch of the ceiling, above the eastern pulpits, were the words "The Lord Has Seen Our Sacrifice – Come After Us.
A 41-foot-long (12 m) stone arch ran north and south between the circular stairwells supporting the massive timbers for the tower above.
[10] The floor would have had a similar configuration as the Great Hall with a set of double pulpits and pews, but the interior was never completed.
The reconstructed baptistry follows the original, with the addition of a metal lining to prevent deterioration and a platform where witnesses may sit.
The window moldings included framework for six-pointed stars made of red, white, and blue glass to replicate the originals.
The exterior walls of the Logan Utah Temple were originally painted a buff color to hide the dark, rough-hewn limestone.
One of the more dramatic engineering marvels of the early Mormon pioneers are the open-center, self-supporting, spiral staircases located adjacent to the temple's west tower.
It was the first temple to feature the prominent standing angel Moroni statue, which was created by Paris-trained sculptor Cyrus E. Dallin.
The Oakland California Temple (13) is an unusual variation on the center spire design because it incorporates four additional spires—one on each corner of the building—for a total of five.
This temple was designed to show a film of the presentation of the endowment, rather than live actors, to accommodate the many languages of Europe.
It was the first temple since Salt Lake to have a priesthood assembly room, added to the plans when World War II delayed construction.
Ten years later the church built four temples, similar in style, based on the single-spire design.
In support of the Dover Amendment, which exempts religious structures from local zoning laws, the court continually sided with the church.
Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall wrote in the 17-page ruling, "A rose window at Notre Dame Cathedral, a balcony at St. Peter's Basilica, are judges to decide whether these architectural elements are 'necessary' to the faith served by those buildings?
"[15][16] Some recently constructed temples have returned to this earlier style, with two floors and a smaller building, with fewer ordinance and sealing rooms.
Early examples of this design proved inadequate: Boise, Dallas, and Chicago were closed for extensive renovations not long after opening.
The angel Moroni statue, which stands atop the tallest tower, is 18 ft (5.5 m) tall and weighs 4,000 pounds (1,800 kg).
The Tabernacle's foundation was constructed of nearby sandstone, with walls built of four layers of fired brick from local clay.
Constructed using considerable donated labor from the fall of 1899, it was dedicated on August 24, 1907, by LDS Church president Joseph F. Smith.
Unlike many of the smaller temples built since the pilot program, the ordinance rooms are perpendicular to each other to adapt to the size limitations of the building.
The cornerstone containing the year of dedication, commonly found on the outside facade of most temples, is located in the interior lobby next to the elevator which leads to the chapel portion of the building.
Inside the temple, beehives are carved into the molding, and door handles that look like the Statue of Liberty torch are found throughout.
In a local church conference on November 12, 2006, it was officially announced that the fourth floor, which formerly housed classrooms and offices associated with the third-floor chapel and the old stake center, would be converted to become part of the temple.
Completed in 2016, the Provo City Center Temple utilizes much of the external shell of the tabernacle, all that remained of the original building after a fire in December 2010.
