While the primary focus of my artistic expression over the years has been speculative spaceship design, I also have had a strong interest in futuristic architecture. As a youth I drew a number of images depicting future cities with a stereotypical use of sleek skyscrapers and domed structures. In my teenage years, I ran across the speculative architecture work of Italian architect Paolo Soleri. His concept for titanic buildings called arcologies caught my imagination and I sketched a few arcologiy designs of my own.

As a young man and new Baha'i in the 1980's, I began drawing conceptual temples inspired by the various Baha'i Houses of Worship built around the world. These religious structures are designed around a few simple guidelines; they are all nine-sided, have some sort of dome, and are placed in a garden setting. Eventually, they are supposed to be surrounded by buildings devoted to the educational, medical, and social service needs of the communities they are placed in. While my temple designs are not necessarily meant to be proposed designs for future Baha'i temples, I do hope they convey the same sense of belief in a positive future for humankind that existing Baha'i architecture symbolizes for me. It is my hope that such structures will be built in the centuries to come.

Serenity Temple 1 is my favorite conceptual temple design. It is based on a design for a Baha'i-inspired arcology I drew as a teenager. This House of Worship setting is meant to be a temperate climate such as the Midwestern United States andis larger than most Baha'i temples currently in existence.

Serenity Temple 3 is set in a tropical environment. The design for this temple structure is inspired in part by the Baha'i House of Worship in Frankfurt, Germany. Serenity Temple 3 is the center of a small floating village. The temple is surrounded by six identically shaped apartment buildings in three differing colors. The smaller white structure of similar design is a building serving administrative, medical, and educational functions. There are two small domed buildings as well; the one with a marble dome is a funerary monument and the one with a dark blue translucent dome is an outdoor theater.

Serenity City 1 is a mid-sized community located along a tropical coastline. The floating city consists of two rings of structures surrounding a central tiered structure with smaller buildings situated on top. This harbor community is connected to the coast via two causeways. Additional causeways connect all the structures to each other as well as providing some protection from the sea. The land seen in the background is dedicated to agricultural purposes. The nine outer cylindrical buildings are forty-story high arcologies housing most of the community's population. Each arcology has a large open interior space ringed by apartments. The sizable atriums inside are landscaped and each has its own markets, schools, medical facilities, and cultural centers. The nine inner dual-towers are thirty-story high apartment buildings. The central structure has industrial facilities in its lower tier, educational and scientific research facilities in its middle tier, and the major cultural center and governmental offices in its upper tier. A large inter-faith house of worship sits atop the upper tier. The temple is surrounded by nine subsidiary buildings devoted to religious study, pastoral care, and performances of a religious character. The primary inspiration for Serenity City 1 is the Baha'i World Center located in Haifa, Israel.

Serenity City 2 is a mid-sized community located on a temperate plain. The city consists of six rectangular and six triangular areas surrounding twelve smaller triangular areas, themselves enveloping an central hexagonal space. A mag-lev transit system defines the borders that connect all these areas to each other. The terrain immediately enclosing the city is devoted to agriculture. Pristine woodlands and mountains can be seen in the background beyond with the mag-lev transit system stretching out to connect this city to other ones. Each of the six large rectangular areas has its own apartment towers and a multi-function community center. Two of the large triangular areas are water reservoirs, two are solar panel arrays with industrial facilities underneath, one is a small spaceport, and one is a park. The structures occupying six of the twelve smaller triangular areas house markets, hospitals, educational and scientific research facilities, and governmental offices. The central nine-sided structure is an inter-faith house of worship surrounded by reflective pools.

Serenity City 3 is a small community located next to a lake or river in a temperate climate zone. The city is surrounded by a forest and consists of three arcology structures. The center structure is a nine-sided building with industrial facilities in its three-tier base as well as underground. The outer portion of most of the arcology is a tiered shell with each tier being two stories high. The upper tiers contain apartments and the lower tiers contain governmental offices, a hospital, education and research facilities, and a market. There gap separating the upper and lower shells has a landscaped promenade with nine apses where cultural events are held. Supporting the entire structure are eighteen thick angled ribs and nine nine-sided columns with landing pads for VTOL aircraft at their tops. The arcology is capped off with ring containing water tanks and HVAC equipment. Inside this fifty-story high building is a sizable atrium where a multi-faith house of worship sits atop a tall nine-sided platform.

Flanking the central arcology are two rectangular structures that mostly contain additional tiered apartments. Apses for cultural and educational events are located on landscaped promenades atop each of these twenty-five story buildings. Large and small columns similar to those on the central arcology support these large side structures. In the one story slab under the gap on each of the arcologies are markets and a small medical clinic. The entire three arcology complex is surrounded by gardens whose boundaries are defined by wide walkways.

Serenity City 3 is based on architural elements from Paolo Soleri's archology designs Babelnoah, Babel IIB and Babel IIC. The primary difference between my arcology design and most of his is that mine is on a smaller scale. The general layout for Serenity City 3 is inspired by the design of the Seat of the Universal House of Justice, a building located at the Baha'i World Center in Haifa, Israel.

DIGITAL RESOURCES

Modeling - TrueSpace 6.6
Rendering - TrueSpace 6.6
Warning Lights - Universe Image Creator
Miscellaneous - CorelDRAW, Corel Photo-Paint and Adobe Photoshop