The Bahá'í Vocational Institute for Rural Women, a non-profit education project based in Indore, India, was one of 74 individuals and institutions presented with the United Nations Environment Programme 'Global 500' award in Rio de Janeiro. [BINS272:5; BW92–3:125; VV110]
• For picture see BW92–3:183.

A member of the British Bahá'í community, Lois Hainsworth, received the award of Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) at Buckingham Palace.
• The announcement of the award for services to three organizations that promote the rights of women was made in the United Kingdom's New Year's Honours List. The citation refers to Mrs. Hainsworth's services to the Women's National Commission, the Bahá'í Office for the Advancement of Women, and UNIFEM UK. [BWNS273]

Beth, a teacher by training, has taught English in Arizona, China, Japan, and Sakhalin Island, then pioneered to Nunavut where she, among many other things, started a painting project, "The Arctic Youth Art initiative," which has reached youth in many Inuit settlements and led to her winning this award.

The première of Mercy's Blessing, a film by May Taherzadeh in Lilongwe, Malawi. To date it has won 12 film awards and has been distributed for use in 115 countries. [Official Web Site]
• See the trailer.
• The film can be purchased on Vimeo.
• See her Ted Talk entitled The Power of Film to Inspire Social Change and her foundation Inspire Courage for Change.

The public dedication of the Mother Temple of South America in Santiago, Chile. The opening ceremonies were attended by over 5,000 people from 110 countries. Live video coverage of the public opening ceremony was provided on the Bahá'í World News Service website for approximately 90 minutes and the video recording has been made available at that website.
• The Mashriqul-Adhkár (Dawning-Point of God's Remembrance) is located outside of Santiago in Peñalolen, a commune whose name means "reunion of brothers" in the local language. [BWNS1128].
• The temple was built in the foothills of the Andes, between mountains and city. The 2,415 square-metre edice (26,000-square-feet) is essentially one large room with nine doors made of bronze. The interior is surrounded by a dome that is made up of nine elements – called petals. These begin wide at the bottom of the building and then narrow upward to meet in a spiral at the top, separated by crescent-shaped windows and a round window at the top. The outer surfaces of these petals are made of 32-millimetre-thick panels of cast glass, which have a ruddy, milky quality to them; the inner surfaces are made of smooth Portuguese marble. Both layers are translucent.
• Each of the nine wings of the building has two surfaces – one of cast glass and one of stone both of which rest on the steel structure. Each of those two surfaces has more than 1,000 separate components in more than 150 different shapes categorized as droops, slumps, bullnoses, shoulders, elbows, or spines. Each piece, which had to be crafted in three dimensions, was shaped using digital models. [BWNS1126]
• Canadian architect, Siamak Hariri, began work on the $20-million project in 2003. [BWNS1127] The landscape architect was Juan Grimm, one of the most well-known landscapers of Latin America.
• The Universal House of Justice was represented by Counsellor Antonella Demonte from the International Teaching Centre.
• Message from the Universal House of Justice.
• Pictures
• Day 1
• Day 2
• Day 3

  Specifics
  

  Location: Santiago, Chile
  Foundation Stone:
  Construction Period: 2013 – October 2016
  Site Dedication:13-16 October 2016
  Architect: Siamak Hariri
  Landscape Architect: Juan Grimm
  Seating:
  Dimensions:2,415 square-metre (26,000 square-feet)
  Cost: approximately $30m
  Dependencies:
  References: BWNS800, BWNS921, BWNS940, BWNS959, BWNS982, BWNS1123, BWNS1125, BWNS1055, BWNS1199
  • Since its dedication in October 2016, the Temple has been a recipient of an International Architecture Award as well as awards for structural artistry from the Institution of Structural Engineers, for innovation in architecture from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, for innovation from the American Institute of Architects, for design excellence from the Ontario Association of Architects, for "Best in Americas, Civil Buildings," from World Architecture News, and for Architectural and Cultural design from American Architecture Prize. [BWNS1262]
  • The Temple design won the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) International Prize. This renowned prize is awarded every two years and was created to celebrate socially transformative, respectful, uplifting and inclusive architecture. [FloorNature site.]
  • This site states that since the opening some 1.4 million people have visited. Some weekend have had up to 36,000 visitors.
  • This site has some spectacular photographs.
  • The announcement that Hariri Pontarini Architects had won the prize on the 25th of October, 2019.
  • Some spectacular pictures, some of which were taken during the construction.
  • See a short video made by Hariri Pontarini Architects.