On the outskirts of Santiago, Chile, where suburban sprawl meets the foothills of the Andes, the Bahá’í Temple of South America rises like an exotic flower on the cusp of blooming, its nine translucent glass-and-marble sails bulging outward before spiraling over a single interior space to converge at a 30-metre-high apex. The material draws in dappled sunlight by day and radiates a soft interior glow by night.

The Bahá’í Faith is all about universality, so Hariri Pontarini Architects was careful not to refer to specific religious iconography in their work. The result, with its hearth-like radiance, unambiguously evokes spirituality – and even transcendence.

Projects: Bahá’í Temple of South America

Location: Santiago, Chile

Firm: Hariri Pontarini Architects, Canada

Team: Siamak Hariri, Justin Huang Ford and Doron Meinhard with Adriana Balen, Michael Boxer, Jaegap Chung, John Cook, Jimmy Farrington, Tiago Masrour, Jin-Yi McMillen, Donald Peters, George Simionopoulos, Mehrdad Tavakkolian and Tahirih Viveros