The Albanian-LDS school of design
First we got the fortress-like LDS Convention Center that has been likened to the East German Stasi Headquarters. Now, it has been joined in the vaticanization of downtown by the LDS History Library, above. This edifice brings to the city's skyline all the grace of a cem
ent block.We should have seen it coming, of course, after the LDS Office Building that Wallace Stegner reportedly quipped "looks like the box the Temple came in."
In trying to find out who highjacked the culture that built the Salt Lake Temple and the Tabernacle, I came across a 1973 Dialogue in which Mark Leone theorizes that the imposing older Mormon architecture intimidates the new worldwide church. In "Why the Coalville Tabernacle Had to be Razed," Leone argues:
The new church's bureaucrats, perhaps, are more comfortable with buildings that look like insurance offices rather than sacred spaces.It reminded them every day of all that they were not, and all they had stopped being. . . . If the past sits around speaking eloquently of what it was, especially if it is the past of your immediate ancestors, the differences between you and it can be discomforting.
18 Comments:
I'm no Mormon apologist, but if these buildings aren't architectural wonders they certainly aren't all that bad. Slow op-ed day?
You're right. I've always been mystified why LDS architectures is so plain and ugly (except the historical stuff). Walking into a modern wardhouse is like walking into your jr. high school gymnasium.
This from an institution that moved out of the Kearns building to a bland tan stucco box in the Gateway? Hypocrisy knows no bounds, apparently.
The planets must be aligning: I've always thought that Ezra T. Benson http://www.lds-index.org/ga/apostles/ezra_taft_benson.JPG
and Yuri Andropov http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_agim-eig_CA/RxjNvaKGi7I/AAAAAAAAAWM/Oyaw0YZ7yH4/s400/Yuri+Andropov.jpg were separated at birth. Temple Square has always reminded me of Red Square.
The only difference between the two places is one is the headquarters of a fascist state; the other is in Moscow.
I think the LDS church office building has got to be the most phallic looking structure on the planet. I wonder what it means?
If you think the LDS Church Office Building is the most phallic building on the planet, either your experience with high rises is limited because you're from Utah, or you have some weird anatomy. Look up the Gherkin in London on Wikipedia, or the Torre Agbar in Barcelona, and then tell me that the COB is phallic.
Well there is a reason that the General Authorities want buildings that look like insurance companies: most of them made their fortunes in insurance or closely-related fields. They don't do well at out-of-box thinking.
The LDS Conference Center was built to match the rock quarried more than a hundred years ealier to build the adjacent Salt Lake Temple. The interior of the Conference Center looking towards the rostrum and organ is magnificent. You should go take a look for yourself someday. :)
By the way Ant-Chr Korihor, fascist movements promote violence between nations, political factions, and races; and require individuals to subordinate self-interest to the collective interest. You need to go back to school to relearn the meaning of the words used in your post.
Clearly, you also misunderstand the LDS church. It's basic belief is that God is your Father in Heaven. He knows you personally. Jesus Christ is the Son of God and your Savior. His life and teachings are the way to peace and happiness. (hmmm....doesn't sound fascist to me)
Actually those buildings are quite beautiful and bright. Perhaps if the images weren't purposefully darkened to fit your description, it wouldn't appear so. What a douchebag
Anybody who doesn't think that "Heavenly Father" is a total fascist has obviously never read the Book of Joshua. According to it, God is not only a fascist, but a genocidal psychopath, a mad deity who would be tried for war crimes in the Hague were "He" here today. This idea of a loving, non-vengeful Yahweh is nothing more than revisionist history.
And, yes, SLC architecture, Mormon and otherwise is hideous--just look at ESA. And while the temple is not so horrific, it pales in comparison to the great cathedral of Europe, built centuries earlier.
Yes Mormon architecture can be kind of bland when compared to the most flamboyant examples out there. However, the church's buildings downtown have a quality and permanence that any city would welcome. The conference center was applauded by the British press when they were here for the Olympics and the family history building makes almost all commercial architecture look cheap. None of this architecture is cutting edge, but, they add to our built community. It would benefit this community to have a few words of thanks to the LDS church for the money and effort it spends in SLC—if they didn’t this city would be no different than Wichita or Reno.
Just accept that one of the core missions of the LDS faith is to stamp the individuality out of everyone and everything. Once you've accepted that, then you'll accept how beautiful LDS architecture really is. Oh, and brass, horn and percussion instruments are of the devil and should never EVER be played during a church service. Oh and a guy selling calendars featuring returned missionaries with their shirts off gets excommunicated but it's okay to slap posters of shirtless Polynesian folk dancers all over BYU campus if it's done to promote a Polynesian cultural event.
With the exception of a few old ward houses (Capitol Hill, near the cemetary in the Avenues, and the old church-like building on Temple Square) I think every mormon building is an eye sore. The temple and the conference center are just so stark and white that they look sort of scary. But, I all in all, I think it's a cultural thing. Utah mormons are probably raised to think the temple is some great example of architecture. If that's your view, then the conference center is probably not so unsightly. I tihnk mormons consider "stark and white" to be pleasing to the eye. But, how could anyone like the church office building? It is obviously a cubic phallus. Does anyone dispute that?
Only those who are latent homosexuals would look upon a building as being "phallic".
Personally, I LIKE onions. Onions, onions, rah rah rah!!
I'd like to know what the author has against the Mormon church. I'm reading blog post after blog post ripping on the church, their buildings, etc. Tell you what: as soon as your office building is built to look a little less tacky, then perhaps you can talk more smack. I'm still irked that you seem to have no problems with any other religious buildings, however.
And let's not forget that the church isn't concerned with flashy, bright, stand out stuff. They are concerned with running things effectively and properly. How shallow to be concerned with what a building looks like on the outside! Do you judge books by their covers too?
"How shallow to be concerned with what a building looks like on the outside." ????
How shallow do you think Brigham Young was as he collaborated with Truman Angel on the outside appearances of the Salt Lake Temple?
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