“In the fractured 21st century, we can respond to a human yearning to come together”: Baha’i Temple of South America by Hariri Pontarini Architects wins 2019 RAIC International Prize

2019-10-25T22:00:00-04:00

Built at the foot of the Andes near Santiago, Chile, the Baha’i Temple of South America by Hariri Pontarini Architects has attracted over 1.4 million visitors since opening in 2016. Tonight during an awards ceremony in Toronto, the RAIC announced the temple as the winner of their 2019 International Prize.

Established in 2013 by notable Canadian architect Richard Moriyama, the biennial CAD$100,000 prize — formerly called the Moriyama RAIC International Prize — honors socially transformative architecture and is open to architects worldwide. The temple was one of three competitive shortlisted projects.

Photo credit: Andrés Silva.

The domed temple plays a significant role for the local community by providing a welcoming space to gather and sit in quiet contemplation. Perhaps the building's most distinctive feature is the nine gracefully torqued wings that form an oculus at the top. The wings are made of an outer layer of cast-glass panels and an interior layer of translucent marble from ...

Hossein Amanat, the architect of Tehran's iconic Azadi Tower, reflects on religion and architecture in Iran

2017-08-15T15:29:00-04:00

In 1966, a 24-year-old architect who had just graduated from Tehran University hesitantly entered a competition to design a monument to mark the 2,500-year celebration of the founding of the Persian empire. [...] The architect, Hossein Amanat, had no idea that his hastily prepared design, which went on to win the competition, would one day become a focal point of the Iranian capital’s skyline, serving as a backdrop to some of the country’s most turbulent political events.

The Azadi tower, he said, was an opportunity to “design modern architecture using old language, to preserve the good things about a culture, leave aside the meaningless parts and create something new and meaningful”.

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“In the fractured 21st century, we can respond to a human yearning to come together”: Baha’i Temple of South America by Hariri Pontarini Architects wins 2019 RAIC International Prize

Hossein Amanat, the architect of Tehran's iconic Azadi Tower, reflects on religion and architecture in Iran