The Wright Synagogue
Beth Sholom Congregation
Texto en español La Sinagoga de Wright. (mbgb) | Hugo A. Kliczkowski Juritz
«This translation from Spanish (the original text) to English is not professional. I used Google Translate, so there may be linguistic errors, which I ask you to overlook. I have often been asked to share my texts in English, so I decided to make an attempt. I appreciate your patience, and if you see anything that can be improved and would like to let me know, I would be grateful. Here are the lines I have written in the meantime, with all their imperfections». Hugo Kliczkowski Juritz
Elkins Prk. PA. 1954
Our Aunt Fory (younger sister of Alicia, our mother), was part of the Jewish community in Philadelphia, and she promised us that we could get in.
Of course (as usual), our trip was not easy, we punctured a tire, we had to change the rental car, we got lost, etc, as we had no GPS, we stopped a cab, and gave him the address where we wanted to go, Guillermo got in the cab, and I had to follow them behind, it was easy, while going 40 km, more complicated at 70 km / h and when the cab driver thought he was in the 500 miles of Indianapolis, it was an ordeal.
These things should be disclosed, as they are among the hardships of architects when they go to see works in places they do not know.
For all this we arrived late, and out of the hours of religious services.
It is an excellent way to know the result of a project, to be able to see it working, but …. It was designed by F. Ll. Wright (1867 – 1959) between 1953 and 1959, a tripod, perhaps a candelabrum.
Rabbi Mortimer J. Cohen (1894 – 1972), Wright’s interlocutor, wanted it to recall Mount Sinai, the place where the people of Israel received the word of God.
Inside it has no beams or buttresses.
During the day, there is more light (sunlight) outside than inside the synagogue, and its silhouette is cut out, but at night it is transformed, the light inside makes it possible for Wright’s magic to be in a state of ecstasy. Background, Figure, Interior, exterior, volume, space, transparency, transparency, permeability…. all at the same time, with no other order than that allowed by its own nature.
If we were to remove the synagogue from that place, something would be missing, something very important.
With its steeply sloping walls of translucent corrugated wire glass, it projects toward the sky like a “luminous Mount Sinai,” as Wright describes it.
The main sanctuary is large enough to accommodate about 1020 people.
The second sanctuary, which can seat over 250 people, is on the first floor of the synagogue.
Rabbi Mortimer Cohen had requested that the main sanctuary be on the second floor so that it would be illuminated by natural light during the day. The ceiling measures 33 m (110 ft) from floor to ceiling, giving the impression of reaching up into the sky. In 2009, the congregation opened a visitor center.
Critics have called the design the «most expressive» design drafted in Wright’s career for any place of worship. In 1960, the American Institute of Architects listed it as one of 17 American Buildings exemplifying Wright’s contribution to architecture in the United States.
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