This temple is in Ahmedabad , India where temperatures are 40° C for 8 months a year. In response facilities that include meditation rooms, prayer halls, a library, a museum and a restaurant as requirements of the trust that wants to build it and all located under a large grass covered roof. Through centuries temples are constituted of similar design elements. The most important of these is the “Shikhara” which is a conical high roof above the main deity .
The main volume is expressed by fragmenting the traditional ‘shikhara’ shape into a series of planes that allows the large structure lightness in perception. The large space is comprised of numerous dematerialized two dimensional planes derived from the basic shape of the shikhara. The temple’s basic plan & configuration is derived from traditional temples alluding to the past with the deity facing east as is mandatory.
The main temple space is designed to cater to over 5000 devotees daily .While the temple facilities are flanked by earth berms to keep them naturally cool, the main temple hall is cross ventilated through the spaces between the planes, by traditional “jali” screens that increase the flow of air whilst casting interesting shadow patterns within the space. The facilities are naturally lit through the progressive central linear courtyards.The entire temple is naturally lit & ventilated with reduced heat gain.
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