Edward O. Anderson

Edward Oliver Anderson (16 May 1891 – 9 August 1977) was an architect for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was the architect for the Los Angeles California Temple, Bern Switzerland Temple and London England Temple. He was connected also with the mid-20th century remodelings of the Salt Lake Temple, the Manti Utah Temple and the St. George Utah Temple.

From about 1930 to 1937 Anderson was part of the firm of Anderson and Young with Lorenzo Snow "Bing" Young. Their first major project was Kingsbury Hall at the University of Utah. [ [http://www.lib.utah.edu/spc/mss/ms497/ms497.html Lorenzo Snow Young Papers ] ]

From 1943 to 1949 Anderson was the general church architect. [ [http://travel.utah.gov/about_us/councilhallhistory.htm Council Hall History ] ] After this time he mainly focused on the design of temples.

Anderson studied at the University of Utah. He also contributed to the design of civic buildings in Utah, being involved with the renovation of the Council Hall in Salt Lake City.

In the early 1950s Anderson was asked by David O. McKay to design a smaller temple that could be used in areas with fewer Latter-day Saints than those where temple then existed. Shortly after Anderson began work on his design, plans were announced to build the Swiss Temple. As part of this project Anderson designed and supervised the construction of a one-twelfth scale model of a room where a film of the temple ordinances could be presented to overcome the fact that there would be patrons at the Swiss Temple speaking at least ten languages. [ [http://www.lds.org/portal/site/LDSOrg/menuitem.b12f9d18fae655bb69095bd3e44916a0/?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=866a57b60090c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1 LDS.org - Ensign Article - Houses of the Lord ] ]

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