The exhibition Embodied Light: The Bahá’í Temple of South America opens at Paul H. Cocker Gallery, Ryerson University, 325 Church Street, on Thursday, October 29. The exhibition opening will be accompanied by a lecture by Siamak Hariri starting at 6:30 pm, followed by a reception from 7:30-8:30 pm.
Born out of an international competition, the Bahá’í Temple of South America in Santiago, Chile, uses light for its spiritual and design inspiration. The architectural challenge was to design a sister temple to the existing temple of North America, which also formed its own unique presence at the foot of the Andes.
The Bahá’í Temple aims to achieve an interplay of seeming contradictions: stillness and movement, simplicity and complexity, intimacy and monumentality, solidity while being capable of dissolving in light. Employing an investigation into physical and digital technology, the new Temple combines advanced engineering solutions, cutting-edge material innovation, and computerized fabrication methods to create a space that expresses light and embodies that intangible quality that helps lift the human spirit.
This exhibition and accompanying lecture will demonstrate the development from conceptual design through material explorations and digital fabrication techniques, as well as highlight the Temple’s six-year construction process.
The exhibition runs until November 13.