This project started with research into Buddhist philosophy and teachings, and their potential role in the Fargo/Moorhead community. Buddhism recognises suffering as a reality of life and that suffering is a product of personal desires. Through meditation and conscious living, suffering can be overcome thus enlightenment is realized. Addressing this philosophy with architecture for a modern community resulted in a collection of buildings arranged to create courtyards and gardens. 

Seeking a way to translate Buddhism to architecture, a friend turned me to Christopher Alexander's, A Pattern Language. This book establishes architecture as a language composed of smaller parts like an alphabet, grammar or words. Each architectural pattern is independent yet can be applied across many other patterns. In search of inspirations, I found pattern 179: Alcoves. “To give a group a chance to be together, as a group, a room must give them the chance to be alone, in one’s and two’s in the same place.” I found this idea of separation from a larger group as a means of staying connected exactly what I was searching for in establishing Buddhism in Fargo. The temple I designed seeks to provide the peace and solace of an alcove while remaining an active member of the community.