Hindu Temple of Minnesota

Program: A 42,000-square-foot temple housing 21 individual mini-temples and an auditorium, dining rooms, classrooms, a library, a yoga studio, and an outdoor terrace.

Design Concept and Solution: To serve the 30,000-plus Hindus who live in and around Minneapolis, Leo A Daly sought to create a temple that evokes the architecture and culture of India's many regions while fostering spiritual reflection and providing ample event space. In keeping with Vedic guidelines, the architects oriented the entrance to face east. Visitors enter on a processional path that passes over the secular wing of the building. A ceremonial gateway topped with hand-carved stucco figurines marks the transition into the sacred space of the temple, which is set on the highest point of the site. Precast concrete panels on the building's exterior suggest the grand scale and heft of India's ancient stone temples. A structural steel frame creates wide spaces inside, allowing for an uninterrupted expanse of 21 miniature square temples. Each is devoted to a different god and is set off by its own ceiling and floor pattern, hand-carved columns, and skylight.

Reference:

Architectural Record. Pictures posted at Architectural Record

http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/bts/archives/worship/10_Hindu_Temple/default.asp