Twentieth-Century Modernist Synagogues of North America
Temple Beth Sholom – Elkin Park, Pennsylvania
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Temple Beth Sholom was built in 1959 in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania and was designed by renowned American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The Temple was commissioned by the congregation’s rabbi, Rabbi Mortimer J. Cohen, in 1953, most likely choosing Wright for his previous contributions to the canon of twentieth-century modern religious architecture, Unity Temple and the Annie Pfeiffer Chapel. Cohen’s congregation comprised a group of young wealthy Jewish families who had recently moved en masse to the suburbs of Philadelphia, wishing to distinguish themselves from their immigrant parents, other immigrant groups, and nearby urban communities. The members of the congregation were up-to-date on contemporary trends in architecture and design, and knew what was fashionable and cutting-edge. Wright’s designs were some of the most innovative examples of modern design of religious spaces, a level of innovation that had not previously been afforded to Jewish spaces of worship in North America. Furthermore, 1950s America was a time when religious communities broadened their reach to include customs and activities that had previously been relegated to secular or domestic life. As a result, new kinds of worship buildings were needed that could accommodate auxiliary spaces for educational, community-building, and ceremonial purposes. Temple Beth Sholom, in representing what was at the forefront of modern design at the time and accommodating the needs of a new population of wealthy Jewish families, represents the inclusion of Judaism into the canon of modern architecture of the twentieth century.
FORMAL QUALITIES
Rabbi Cohen wished to evoke one of the most important landmarks in the Jewish religion in the architecture of his synagogue, Mount Sinai, encouraging Wright to take inspiration from nature in his design. The Jewish influence was steeped into the planning of the building from the outset. Indeed, the final product does evoke the holy landscape of Mount Sinai – a light-filled pyramidal structure atop a grassy hill. The interior of the building is guarded from the outside world by windowless walls and concrete, but once inside, the congregant is welcomed by bright light, colored slightly by the glass and plastic layers of the roof. The planning of the synagogue is idiosyncratic, changing traditional aspects of Ashkenazi temple organization: the bimah and Aron Kodesh are located at the front of the prayer hall, below an enormous colored-glass chandelier. The floor comprises tilted planes that occasionally shift, demarcating the holy space of the synagogue from the rest of the world outside its doors. Overall, the most important aspect of the synagogue’s design is the interior’s focus on reflecting light: the light-colored carpet on the floor reflects the light from the side walls and above, shining it onto the rabbi using it as a stage. The carpet itself was also meant to evoke desert sand – both a classically Wrightian evocation of natural elements and a nod to the desert climate of Mount Sinai. Wright used relatively new materials in his design of the synagogue, including “steel, concrete, cast and stamped aluminum, wire-glass panels, corrugated plastic sheets, large-expanses of wall-to-wall carpet, and air-conditioning,” supporting the building’s classification as a true work of modern architecture.
REASON FOR INCLUSION
Temple Beth Sholom truly represents its congregation’s goal of creating an American Synagogue – it is monumental in scale and design; full of light (and projects light into the night sky); comprising newly available materials; and modern, allowing it to stand alone as an important work by a significant architect, rather than just as a work of Jewish architecture. Furthermore, the synagogue represents changing traditions in Jewish synagogal design, with an emphasis on looking forward to the future of Judaism, rather than solely relying upon past conventions. In an art historical survey course, this structure could be easily connected to Wright’s other designs, specifically the Guggenheim Museum, which was built around the same time (and some interior design elements are very similar as well).
SOURCES
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Friedman, Alice T. “Mount Sinai in the Suburbs: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Temple Beth Sholom in Context.” In American Glamour and the Evolution of Modern Architecture, 187-224. Yale University Press, 2010.
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Many thanks to Alice T. Friedman for her informative discussion about Temple Beth Sholom, and for inspiring me to study architectural history.