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I ! carpenters to journal, focusing on the Lotus highest accuracy Temple. The issue has been out of and sealing the print whereas many of our business joints with silicone contacts have been requesting for it. has been a vel}' We are happy to reprint the issue with satisfying marginal changes, especially of experience. All photographs of the beautiful lawns these factors and thronging people which were not helped EGG to there when the temple was ultimately inaugurated. succeed in constructing a I am pleased to offer this revised world class issue of ECC Concord to the monument which discerning reader. I take this is acting as a opportunity to congratulate and thank magnet for those all those who made this monument interested in possible - the clients, the architect, aesthetics, the consultants and scores of EGG construction, staff and workmen. We are proud of common tourists this monumental achievement in n 1980 EGG was entrusted with and spiritual seekers. In the decade quality construction. a challenging assignment of gone by since its opening, the Baha'i I converting a vision into a House of Worship, popularly called ~ concrete reality. Architect Fariburz Lotus Temple, holds the viewers in A. Ramakrishna, Sahba had dreamed up a design of awe. It has been called the Taj Mahal Vice President (Operations) Baha'i House of Worship in Delhi for of the 20th centul}'. the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is in India. Dr. Flint Neil & ECC Concord, the quarterly journal Partners of u.K. provided the of the Gonstruction Group of L& T, structural design for this vel}' had brought out a special issue of the complicated construction - similar to the Sydney Opera House. It was to be constructed in reinforced concrete in the form of a/otus. There was not a single straight line in the building design - evel}'thing was in doubly curved shells, making evel}' measurement a complicated procedure. EGG faced the challenge head on. The project provided EGG-ites the best that was possible in concrete technology, form work design, quality control and methods of construction to suit the intricate shape of thin shells involved. Precast concrete for the balustrades and natural stone used were of highest professional standards. Fixing of the white marble over stainless steel lugs using local Model of Baha'i House of Worship. 2 temple which was worked our with the help of a computer. The problem was further Simplified by working out levels and distances which a carpenter or a reinforcement fitter could easily comprehend and then arrive at the surfaces and boundaries. Formwork The design, erection and dismantling of the formwork for the petals posed the most challenging task. Not only Delhi's Baha'i House of Worship ranks among contemporary struc­ was the formwork difficult to align, so tures of the world and would be recalled in the company of Sydney as to produce accurately the complex, doubly curved faces and Opera House and the Taj Mahal. their intersections but also the closeness of petals, one fold behind he unusual structure which has central hall. Since the lotus is open at the next, caused serious problems of taken shape on the hill at the top, a glass and steel roof at the work space for fixing formwork, TKalkaji in New Delhi is the level of radial beams provides reinforcement and concreting. The Baha'i House of Worship. The Baha'i protection from rain and facilitates exposed surfaces were to have faith is said to embody in itself the entry of natural light into the architectural patterns formed based nine major faiths of the world and in auditorium. Below the entrance on certain geometrical parameters order to symbolise this, each leaves and outer leaves rise nine which were extremely difficult to component of the temple is repeated massive arches in a ring through reproduce at site. To resolve this, nine times. The temple gives an each one of which is a row of steps method statements were prepared in impression of a half open lotus flower, leading into the main hall. painstaking detail for each of the afloat, surrounded by its leaves. The inner leaves enclose the interior operations and many of them were The temple complex consists of the dome, a canopy made of criss developed on full size mockups and main House of Worship, the ancillary crossing ribs and shells of intricate models. For every shell, the inner block which houses the reception pattern. When viewed from inside, formwork was fully fixed from centre, the library and the each layer of shells and ribs, as they bottom to top and aligned accurately. administrative building. The temple rise, disappears behind the next inner Once this was done and the proper comprises a basement to layer. Some of the ribs converge reinforcement placed in position, accommodate the electrical and radially and meet at a cet:ltral hub. the outer formwork was fixed and plumbing services and a lotus shaped The radial beams emanating from the aligned progressively, as and when superstructure"to house the assembly inner leaves, described earlier, meet the level of concrete rose during area. All round the lotus are at the centre of the building and rest concreting. Also, to avoid marks of walkways with beautiful, curved on this hub. A neoprene pad is cold joints on the exposed concrete balustrades, bridges and stairs which provided between the radial beams surface, the casting of petals was surround the nine pools representing and the top of the interior dome to carried out in continuous pour, the floating leaves of the lotus. Apart allow lateral movement caused by the sometimes for a height of 22 m and from serving an obvious aesthetic effect of the temperature changes lasting more than 48 hours. To function, the pools also help in the and wind. facilitate such placement of ventilation process of the building. concrete and simultaneous com­ Geometry paction, the outer formwork had The lotus, as seen from outside, has to be placed one row of panels at a three sets of leaves or petals, all of The beautiful concept of the lotus had time, and as the level of concrete which are made out of thin concrete to be converted into definable rose, the next row of panels were shells. The outer-most set of nine geometrical shapes like spheres, fixed. These panels were therefore to petals, called the entrance leaves, cylinders, toroids and cones. The be fixed in position and aligned open outwards and form the nine size, shape, thickness and other accurately in the shortest possible entrances all around the outer details of the structure were defined time. annular hall. The next set of nine by equations of the above petals, called the outer leaves, point geometrical surfaces and these Support System inwards. The entrance and outer equations had to be finally converted leaves together cover the outer hall. into a set of aimensions in terms of The support system for the outer The third set of nine petals, called the length, breadth, height and thickness formwork had not only to cater to inner leaves, appear to be partly easily understood by a site engineer such a provision but also had to be closed. Only the tips open out, or a carpentry, foreman. This difficulty sufficiently rigid to resist the somewhat like a partly open bud. This was overcome by having a system of pressure of concrete, and to carry portion, which rises above the rest, coordinates along x,y and z axes for the platforms for the workmen and forms the main structure housing the every 40 degree segment of the other constructional loads. 3 Exposed Surface rusting of reinforcement on the white quantity of white cement was colour of concrete. Since galvanised therefore imported from Korea. In conventional buildings, a final layer reinforcement for concrete is seldom Specially graded dolomite of surface finish in the form of plaster, used in this country, several tests aggregates were procured from the painting or other types of treatment is were carried out to ensure that the Alwar Mines near Delhi and white normally provided to give a uniform mechanical properties of silica sand from Jaipur. The and smooth surface. This finishing reinforcement did not get adversely maximum temperature of concrete, layer hides or makes up all affected due to galvanising. Sand at the time of placing was limited to constructi,on joints, unevenness, blasting was carried out to reduce 30 deg. C. During the summer offsets, projections and other pickling time with a view to avoid months, when the ambient tempera" blemishes which appear on the hydrogen embrittlement. The bottom ture was as high as 45 deg. C the concrete surface when the forms are formwork for one shell for each of the temperature of concrete was removed. Here no such covering leaves was first erected and aligned. controlled by adding measured layer was permitted and the exposed The edge lines and the surfaces of quantity of ice and by precooling of surface of all concrete has an this formwork were then used as a aggregates in air-cooled aggregate unblemished surface with only the mockup to decide the length and storage bins. To avoid cold joints designed textures and architectural shape of each bar in the shell. To due to stoppage of work during patterns. For the walls, columns and avoid the impression of cover blocks heavy rains and prevent rain water soffits of slabs in the basement, the on the exposed surface of shells the from entering the forms, the entire grey concrete surface shows an inner layer of reinforcement was held concreting area was covered by exquisite pattern of joints of planks in position by special steel spacers tarpaulins.

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