Bahai House of Worship in Wilmette

• Construction start: 1920
• Construction finish: 1953
• Designed by: Louis Bourgeois
• Type: Holy Place
• Maximum Height: 135 feet / 41 meters

> Seating capacity: 1,191
> Interior height of the dome: 73 feet / 22 meters
> Width of the dome: 90 feet / 27 meters
> The building has nine sides.
>This was the first Bahá'í House of Worship in the Western Hemisphere.
> The exterior filigree is full of symbols of the world's religions from the Christian cross to the Jewish Star of David to the Islamic crescent.
> Because of the delicacy of the design, the building had to be made out of a special mixture of quartz and white cement.
> Much of the building was manufactured near Washington, DC and then shipped to Illinois for assembly.
> 1903 - Planning begins.
> 1909 - Canadian architect Louis Bourgeois begins work on the design.
> 1920 - Construction begins.
> 1931 - The steel skeleton of the building is completed.
> 1953 - The building is completed.
> 1978 - The Bahá'í House of Worship is added to the National Register of Historic Places.

> Some of the architectural sketches for this building are on pieces of paper 109 feet long.

• CAIF - Chicago Architecture Info Forum

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There are two comments.

  A symbol of religions's unity.A sing that we can hope et work for a better future. Le symbole de l'unité des religions, un signe de ce que nous pouvons espérer et construire pour un avenir meilleur.

Louise Gagnon - Thursday, October 21st, 2010 @ 12:14pm  

  its more beautiful and holy place

ahmad elahmar - Sunday, December 23rd, 2007 @ 8:34am