Emil B. Fetzer

In 1965, Fetzer was appointed as the architect of the LDS Church by David O. McKay.[1] He was the architect for LDS Church temples on five continents. His temples outside the U.S. include the Mexico City Mexico Temple, Sao Paulo Brazil Temple, Santiago Chile Temple, Freiberg Germany Temple, Sydney Australia Temple, and the Tokyo Japan Temple. In Oceania, he designed the Nuku'alofa Tonga Temple and was the initial architect on the Papeete Tahiti Temple.[2] He was also involved with the planning for the first Apia Samoa Temple.[3] He was influenced in his design of the Mexico City Mexico Temple by ancient Mayan temples.[4]

In the U.S., he designed the Atlanta Georgia Temple, Jordan River Utah Temple, Provo Utah Temple, Ogden Utah Temple, and Seattle Washington Temple. He was the general supervising architect for the Washington DC Temple.[5] Fetzer also designed the building that houses the Manhattan New York Temple, although the temple itself and spire were constructed 18 years after his retirement.

All of Fetzer's temples were designed with single spires (see Temple architecture (LDS Church)). Many of his temples (including the temples in Tonga, Samoa, Tahiti, Australia, and Chile) are similar in floor plan, but differ slightly for a locale-specific flair. The Ogden and Provo temples had nearly identical exteriors with large orange central spires that symbolized the pillar of fire by night set upon a large white building that represented the pillar of cloud by day, referring to the Israelites in their exodus from Egypt spoken of in Exodus 13:21–22. The spires of the Ogden and Provo temples were later painted white.

Other buildings he designed include the South Visitors Center on Temple Square.[6] Fetzer was also the general supervisor of the refurbishing of the Salt Lake Assembly Hall.[7]