A History of LDS Temple Architecture: Part 3 - Expansion & Progression

Note: This is Part 3 in a series on the history of the development of LDS temple architecture. This series is based on my personal research and is a looser, less detailed, and less formal version of a paper that was presented at the 2015 BYU Religious Education Student Symposium. For a complete list of posts in this series, click here.

After the St. George Temple was dedicated, Brigham Young dedicated sites for temples in Logan and Manti. Truman O. Angell, Jr. was the director for the Logan Temple; William Folsom was placed in charge of the Manti Temple, and Church architect Truman O. Angell, Sr., was directed to oversee their work and that of the Salt Lake Temple.

Angell, Jr. developed a new floor plan for the Logan Temple. This called for progressive rooms that followed the pattern of the Endowment House, taking advantage of the temple's larger floor plan and increased attention to detail. Apparently, Angell, Sr. approved these changes reluctantly (he left his signature off of the revised plans), but Folsom applied the same plans to the Manti Temple. This resulted in a very different type of floor plan that would influence future temples greatly.

Logan Temple Garden Room

The Logan Temple's emphasis was on immersion (which facilitated the endowment's presentation) and symbolism. Murals in the Creation, Garden, and World rooms enveloped patrons in the setting of the endowment; stairs, higher ceilings and windows, and increasingly ornate decor highlighted the physical and spiritual concepts of progression that the endowment teaches.

The terrestrial room was particularly unique, as the veil at the front of the room was a full half-floor above the terrestrial room itself.

Logan Temple Terrestrial Room

The Manti Temple employed this concept with a little more detail (as they had more time to take this plan into account before the temple's completion). It's particularly detailed in the increased ornateness of the woodwork, moldings, and rooms as patrons progress from creation to celestial room.

Manti Temple Garden Room

This temple arguably has one of the most successful terrestrial rooms; on the whole, it was done much better than its counterpart in Logan.

Manti Temple Terrestrial Room

The Salt Lake Temple was the last one to have its interior floor plan left in doubt. Because it was started so much earlier than the Logan and Manti Temples, the original plan was for it to follow the design of the temples in Kirtland, Nauvoo, and St. George--two large assembly rooms, with the baptistry and endowment rooms wedged into the basement. Truman O. Angell's son, Angell Jr., suggested to John Taylor that the temple's plans be modified to match those of Logan and Manti. Angell Sr. disagreed. John Taylor never made the decision; ultimately, it was Wilford Woodruff that decided to follow the modified plans.

Salt Lake Temple Grand Staircase

Still, and perhaps because of the late change, the Salt Lake Temple's progression isn't as deliberate as that of Logan and Manti. Instead of the many stairs that come between each endowment room (to the point that the Logan Temple had no clear second floor), the Salt Lake Temple has a only one or two stairs (now ramps) between rooms, with a large staircase after the Garden Room. This allows the temple to still keep two clear floors, while maintaining progression.

Salt Lake Temple Terrestrial Room

The design of this temple still works quite well, mimicking the increased ornateness of Logan and Manti, adding a mural to the world room (which Manti neglected, as it was not added until the 1940s), and having the most detailed celestial room to that date. The celestial room cuts off the floor above, allowing it to be the tallest room of the floor. Stained glass was used in the terrestrial and celestial rooms, as well as the sealing rooms off of the celestial room itself. It was built as a landmark temple, and it continues to be so today.

Salt Lake Temple Celestial Room

Once the Salt Lake Temple was completed, another temple wouldn't be built for 25 years. If a temple had been built in this time period, it's very likely that it would have heavily mimicked the style of the temples in Logan, Manti, and Salt Lake. As it is, the temples that would come in the 1920s took a good deal of their plans from these pioneer temples, but used them in a new, original way that would provide other forms of symbolism.

Preservation Update: Mesa Temple Renovation Details

I apologize for the missing weeks of blog posts--I was out of town and didn't get around to writing a new post before I left. However, while I was gone, I was thrilled to see the recent Mormon Newsroom article about the upcoming Mesa Arizona Temple. It's great to breakdown the changes that will be coming.

The biggest question--which isn't confirmed yet--is whether this renovation will restore progression to the Endowment ceremony of the temple. The temple's progression was removed in its renovation in the 1970s. As a result, the creation, garden, and world rooms became rooms 1, 2, and 3. In a later renovation, a fourth, completely new stationary room was added. The terrestrial room became the veil room.

Mesa Temple Floor Plan (For details see the post on the Mesa Temple)

One promising sign: the Mormon Newsroom named the photos of the rooms by their original names (creation, garden, world, etc.). Another: there is no projected image of stationary room 4, just the original 3 progression rooms. This gives me hope that the progression will be restored.

Digital Image of Post-renovation Creation Room (Image Source: Mormon Newsroom) 

Should the progression not be restored, we still have the assurance that murals in the temple will be restored. In fact, the article says that "new murals will be added in some locations to complement the originals." What does this mean?

Digital Image of Post-renovation Garden Room (Image Source: Mormon Newsroom)

When the temple was renovated in the 1970s, workers were told that the murals would not be used again, so they tore them off in the easiest way--usually, in pieces. In the 1990s, the small pieces of the mural that were saved were restored and placed in each stationary room--a piece of the creation and garden murals, and two pieces of the world mural, one for each room.

Based on the images, it certainly looks like the portions of the murals that were lost in each room will be re-created--or at least, re-done in a manner that complements the originals. This is exactly what I'd like to see. The murals aren't being entirely redone--a blank space is left at the front for the movie projection--but this is great news. I hope the murals are done to recreate the originals as best as we can.

Original World Room, Mesa Temple

A comparison of the rooms as they originally were and as they look post-renovation is promising. You'll notice the world room's mural definitely matches the original. I suppose in a perfect world, they would have done the murals at the front of the room and had a screen come down, as is done in the Idaho Falls Temple--but this is so encouraging, I can't complain.

Digital Image of Post-renovation Terrestrial Room (Image Source: Mormon Newsroom)

This is a renovation that looks extremely promising. Hopefully, its principles will be applied to a forthcoming renovation of the St. George Temple, and possibly Logan (to some extent). It's going to be a long wait!