Group 4 Temple Square Walkabout

Temple Square is in the center block in Salt Lake City. To get to Temple Square, we took Trax. The first thing that we noticed when we got to Temple Square was that it was walled off Temple Square is not a public place, it is private land owned by the LDS church. It is portrayed as public but the LDS Church could kick someone off the land. When there are protesters at Temple Square, the protesters are forced to be outside the square in true public land.

When Land is not public, the people inside lose rights and liberties that they would have if they were in a public place.

There are gates on each side off the block. The wall created a separation of the square from the rest of the surrounding city. On the outside of the wall there were homeless and beggars. As soon as we walked into the square the scene changed dramatically. It was very clean and orderly inside. There was a calm, serene feel to it.

There were a wide variety of people inside. There were many tourist taking pictures of the beautiful gardens and architecture. Many of the tourists were from outside the US. Most of the foreigners were Asians. There was also many from Northern Europe.

The workers and tour guides inside the square were Sister Missionaries of the LDS church. Sister Missionaries are women who are serving a church mission for the LDS church for two years. There were Missionaries from everywhere in the world. They would wear a flag below their nametag of their home country. There were also locals who were of the LDS faith going to worship inside the temple. The visitors were very respectful with the space. People would stay on the paths and stay off the grass. For each person there, the square had a different meaning. For members of the LDS church it had religious significance.

The temple is holy to members of the LDS faith. For tourist, it was seen as a landmark of the city. It brings in 3 to 5 million tourist per year. For missionaries it is a holy place and it is also their workplace.

While inside the square, there was a strong feel of respect and modesty. The people inside were cleanly dressed. It was not formal dress but most were in nicer clothes. Most of the people visiting seemed to be from a middle class background. For the tourist, they had to have money to travel so it is safe to assume they come from a wealthier background. There was also a very conservative feel to the area. There was no one radically dressed. Everyone spoke with respect and there were no vulgarities. People interacted in different ways. Most people stuck to the groups they came in. Families talked amongst themselves. There were interactions from the missionaries to the tourist. The missionaries led tours and answered questions. Everyone inside was polite and friendly, especially the missionaries.

There is lots of Urban Embellishment inside the square. The Square was filled with

gardens. There were fountains and pools throughout the area. The entire area was meant to be clean and orderly. We were shocked

when we saw a dead mouse inside one of the fountains. The area had dozens of sculptures. Most of the sculptures were of famous LDS church members. There were very few depictions of woman. When there were women in art or sculpture they were depicted as a wife or mother. This showed the separation of social classes in the square between males and females.

In the book Image of the City, the author, Kevin Lynch establishes 5 elements of the city. They are paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks. Temple square had all of these elements.

The paths were the concrete walkways through the square. They led you to what was wanted to be seen. Temple Square is considered a district of Salt Lake City. It is identified as the religious section of the city for the LDS faith. The edges of Temple Square were the wall that surrounded the square. It creates a boundary of the district. This creates a sharp contrast of the city and the square. Temple Square is also a node. It is what Salt Lake is known for and is the focal point of our city. The Temple is a landmark. It is always portrayed in the Skyline of Salt Lake City.

Our walkabout to Temple Square was very informational. Many of us knew a lot about the square prior to the visit but we had never looked at this in depth. We learned many things that we didn’t know about Temple Square.