In 1901, French-Canadian architect Louis Bourgeois confided to a friend that his mission in life was to build a temple dedicated to truth.

Several years later, Mr. Bourgeois found his opportunity – and the truth he had been searching for – in the Baha'i Faith. He was drawn to the religion because of its belief in the unity of all religions and its view of the arts as an instrument for elevating our souls.


Louis BourgeoisTwo years after joining the Faith, Mr. Bourgeois, who was born in 1856, learned that a Baha'i temple would be built in Wilmette, Ill. To give Abdu’l-Baha an idea of the design direction he would take, Mr. Bourgeois eagerly sent Him the plan he had previously submitted for the eight-sided Peace Palace and Library in The Hague. Abdu'l-Baha reportedly looked at the design and said, “The Baha'i Temple will have nine sides.”

Chosen from a pool of 15 entries, Mr. Bourgeois’ design no doubt involved the most effort. Thinking it would take three months to complete the architectural drawings, he found himself struggling for more than eight years, often working 16 hours a day.

To create a full-scale drawing of the temple’s intricate ornamentation, “Mr. Bourgeois stretched out on the floor a great sheet of paper and with his pencil tied to the end of a long stick he drew in great sweeps, in a manner never to be forgotten, the interlacing ornament of the dome,” wrote John Earley, who later would translate the drawings into concrete panels.

So dedicated was Mr. Bourgeois to designing the temple that at his own expense he constructed a studio and living quarters across the street from the site. His health began to fail before he completed his great work, and he died at age 74 on Aug. 20, 1930.

Memorial services were held in Foundation Hall (the lower level of the temple) and in other Baha'i communities throughout North America. His studio home is used today as the council chamber for meetings of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States.

Related items:

Read the article, "John Earley and the Baha'i Temple," published in Structure Magazine, July 2006.

Read an article from the May 24, 1943 TIME magazine, "Nine-Sided Nonesuch," which was published shortly after the completion of the external ornamentation of the temple in January 1943.