LOTUS TEMPLE

CASE STUDY - 2

BAHAI TEMPLE, DELHI

The Bahai House of Worship in Delhi, India, popularly known as the Lotus Temple due to its flowerlike shape, is a Bahai House of Worship and also a prominent attraction in Delhi. It was completed in 1986 and serves as the Mother Temple of the Indian subcontinent.

The temple gives the impression of a half-open lotus flower, afloat, surrounded by its leaves. Each component of the temple is repeated nine times. The temple is open to people of all faiths, languages and cultures. It is a symbol of a United India.

STRUCTURAL PLANNING

The Lotus temple reaches a height of more than 40m. One can see 27 giant white petals of marble in a lotus shape, springing from nine pools and walkways indicative of the nine unifying spiritual paths of the Bahai’s faith. The temple complex consists of the main house of worship; the ancillary block which houses the reception centre, the library and the administrative building; and the restrooms block.

OUTER EXPERIENCE

All around the lotus are walkways with beautiful curved balustrades, bridges and stairs, which surround the nine pools representing the floating leaves of the lotus. Apart from serving an obvious aesthetic function, the pools also help ventilate the building.

The lotus, as seen from outside, has three sets of leaves or petals, all of which are made out of thin concrete shells.

·         The outermost set of nine petals, called the ‘entrance leaves’, open outwards and form the nine entrances all around the outer annular hall.

·         The next set of nine petals, called the ‘outer leaves’, point inwards. The entrance and outer leaves together cover the outer hall.

·         The third set of nine petals, called the ‘inner leaves’, appears to be partly closed. Only the tips open out, somewhat like a partly opened bud. This portion, which rises above the rest, forms the main structure housing the central hall.

Thus we can conclude that, the form of the built structure itself dictates the different functions of the interior spaces.

INNER EXPERIENCE

When viewed from inside, each layer of ribs and shells disappear as it rises, behind the next, lower layer. Some of the ribs converge radially and meet at a central hub. The radial beams emanating from the inner leaves described earlier meet at the centre of the building and rest on this hub. Consideration to the effects of temperature changes and wind are made during the design and execution stages - providing a line of sight following the form till the central top portion as the main focus.

The nine doors of the Lotus Temple open onto a central hall, capable of holding up to 2,500 people. The House of Worship, along with the nine surrounding ponds and the gardens around comprise 26 acres area.

EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL ILLUMINATION

The interior dome, therefore, is like a bud consisting of 27 petals, and light filters through these inner folds and is diffused throughout the hall. The central bud is held by nine open petals, each of which functions as a skylight. The nine entrance petals complete the design.

The external illumination is arranged to create the impression that the lotus structure is afloat upon water and not anchored to its foundation, by having the light focused brightly on the upper edges of the petals.

Regarding the use of water, a glance at the design will show that the nine pools around the building form the principal landscaping. At the same time, they represent the green leaves of the lotus afloat on water. Moreover, the pools and fountains help to cool the air that passes over them into the hall.

And the above mentioned spaces which includes the superstructure, podiums and the pools are closely knit such that one without another does not form a whole.

THERMAL COMFORT

Natural ventilation - By making openings in the basement and at the top, the building would act like a chimney, drawing up warm air from within the hall and expelling it through the top of the dome. Thus, constant draughts of cool air passing over the pools and through the basement flow into the hall and out through the opening at the top-soothing feel achieved through thermal comfort.

MATERIALS USED

The outer surface of the shells, as also the inner surface of the arches, are cladded with white marble panels fixed to the concrete surface with specially designed stainless steel brackets and anchors. 10,000 sq.m. of marble was quarried from the Mount Pentilekon mines of Greece and thereafter sent to Italy, where each panel was cut to the required size and shape to suit the geometry and architectural pattern before transporting them to the site in Delhi.

The reinforcement used was entirely galvanized steel to avoid the long term negative effects of iron rusting. A Concrete mix design of M30 concrete has been used.