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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

holy ground, Salt Lake Temple, Mormon studies, landscape

College

Humanities

Department

Comparative Arts and Letters

Abstract

Lying in the geographic heart of the Mormon faith, the Salt Lake Temple has become a popular icon for the Mormon Church throughout the world and has been the subject of numerous architectural and theological analyses. Architectural analyses often trace historical and stylistic precedents or explain the symbolism of the exterior in relation to Mormon doctrine. Yet the gardens of Temple Square, encompassing twenty-six acres of a site selected by God through the prophet Brigham Young, consecrated as holy ground by President Wilford Woodruff, and cherished by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, have been neglected in architectural analyses of the Temple and its attendant buildings. I submit that just as the temple architecture reveals and conceals doctrinal truth, the gardens of Temple Square similarly employ symbolism and sacred space to teach the Plan of Salvation. My honors thesis critically investigates how the use of sacred space and symbolism in the temple landscape contributes to Mormon theology.

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