Tag: United States

Saratoga Springs Utah

Saratoga Springs Utah Temple video

Posted on by Brian Olson in Video

This is one of those times where a decent amount of information was available for the currently under construction Temple. My video probably still has many errors, and things are likely to change during construction, but for now, this is as accurate as can be.

I took this model a step farther than I usually do, and I added most of Utah Valley. This is because the Temple, which faces west, will have an amazing backdrop in the form of the mountains on the other side of the valley.

Nauvoo Project

Posted on by Brian Olson in Research, Work In Progress

Another project under works. I am hopeful that I will be able, in the near future, to find decent reference material for as many as the homes as possible . Additionally, I am hoping that more details on teh original temple might come to light.

In the mean time, here are some development images from my new Nauvoo City model, currently in progress.

Nauvoo, City of Joseph

A view from the river. The homes in the foreground are the Jonathan and Rebecca Wright home, left, and the Aaron and Polly Johnsohn home, right. Behind that, the low white building is the Blacksmith shop, with the Post Office, John Taylor Home, and the printing office, with the Cultural hall off to the right edge of the image.
An overview of the city. I had just fixed many errors with the road layout, but had not yet fixed the placement of the buildings. So, while the roads are right, the building placement was not yet. The trees are temporary placements, with more corrections to come.
A view of the city from the top of the temple tower.
The temple itself.

The outside is not the only portion of the temple and grounds within this particular model. I am also working on the inside of the original Nauvoo Temple as well. Some artistic liberties have been taken to make the images more appealing. However, anytime information about the layout and design of the rooms in the interior was available, it was strictly adhered to.

The Temple

The Baptistry

In my baptistry model, the font is correct, including (based off a William Weeks drawing) the stones making the font. The oxen are correct. The slope of the floor is correct, as well are the large buttresses between the side doors.

The wainscotting, the lamps, and all the furniture are added for look. (Including the side doors, which may have been curtains.)

The Lower Assembly Hall

The Lower Assembly Hall of the temple was finished and dedicated for use prior to the Saints left Nauvoo. Long term plans of the temple called for the side sections to be partitioned off, first with Curtains. and eventually with walls. This would have left the Assembly hall to be just the center section with doors on the sides.

I still have the initials that were on the pulpits to add. Other than that, this is fairly close to done.

Upper Assembly Hall

The Upper Assembly Hall was meant to look just like the one below. Unlike the lower hall, the upper hall did not get the chance to be completed before the Saints left. How far along it was is not know. In my model, I have added framing for the mezzanine, which was at least partly finished. (A second set of stairs was added to this mezzanine for attic acces

The Attic

Most of this is accurate. For artistic purposes, I have added thew Wainscotting, the lamps, and the side buttresses. The paintings, however, are ones known to have been in the Attic of the original temple. The beams are as they would have been in the original, as are the skylights. I do not know if the ceiling was flat, or sloped as I have placed it here.

The Rest of the interior

The rest of the interior is featured in my model here. You can see that I have added the original tower framing, again from William Weeks’s drawings. I have also included the tower stairs, the bell, and the clock mechanism, or a reasonable facsimile of a mechanism from the time.

I look forward to hopefully making the model larger and more accurate.


A Visual History of the Provo City Center Temple

Posted on by Brian Olson in Research

Enjoy!

This image is comprised of 8 separate renders from 8 separate models. Each model identifies a different state of the Provo City Center Temple.

Top Row

At the top is the Original Provo Tabernacle, to the right, and the new Provo Tabernacle, circa 1887.

Second Row

First is the New Tabernacle shortly after the spire was removed. The spire had been placed upon the roof, and the weight of it cause the roof to sag.

The box pedestal from the center spire was removed in the 1950’s the second image depicts the temple around 1997, with NuSkin corporate headquarters and parking garage in the background.

On the right is the Shell of the old tabernacle after the groundbreaking for the temple. Surrounding the shell are the steel buttresses that were placed to prevent the shell from collapsing completely. To the right of the shell is the excavated foundation of the original tabernacle.

Third Row

Third row depicts, first, the shell of the tabernacle around April of 2013. The shell has shotcrete stabilizing the interior, on the micro piles that were placed deep into the ground to act firs as a support structure for the shell while excavating the basement, and second as additional foundation support for the new basement once completed.

In the middle is the shell of the temple around October of 2013. The concrete slab for the second floor has been poured and initial support beams for the roof and spire are showing. The 2 story basement directly under the shell has been completed and the shell is resting firmly upon it. A portion of the underground temple basement can be seen to the right of the temple.

The third image shows the temple around January of 2014. The metal sub-roof has been placed upon the temple and the center spire. 2 of the corner tower tops have been placed, and the roof over the North basement has been poured.

Fourth Row

Last is the finished temple, depicted in the late spring at Sunset.