The Architecture of Modern American Synagogues, 1950s–1960s

The Architecture of Modern American Synagogues, 1950s–1960s PDF Author: Anat Geva
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 1648431364
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 463

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Book Description
In the aftermath of World War II, the United States experienced a rapid expansion of church and synagogue construction as part of a larger “religious boom.” The synagogues built in that era illustrate how their designs pushed the envelope in aesthetics and construction. The design of the synagogues departed from traditional concepts, embraced modernism and innovations in building technology, and evolved beyond the formal/rational style of early 1950s modern architecture to more of an expressionistic design. The latter resulted in abstraction of architectural forms and details, and the inclusion of Jewish art in the new synagogues. The Architecture of Modern American Synagogues, 1950s–1960s introduces an architectural analysis of selected modern American synagogues and reveals how they express American Jewry’s resilience in continuing their physical and spiritual identity, while embracing modernism, American values, and landscape. In addition, the book contributes to the discourse on preserving the recent past (e.g., mid 20th century architecture). While most of the investigations on that topic deal with the “brick & mortar” challenges, this book introduces preservation issues as a function of changes in demographics, in faith rituals, in building codes, and in energy conservation. As an introduction or a reexamination, The Architecture of Modern American Synagogues, 1950s–1960s offers a fresh perspective on an important moment in American Jewish society and culture as reflected in their houses of worship and adds to the literature on modern American sacred architecture. The book may appeal to Jewish congregations, architects, preservationists, scholars, and students in fields of studies such as architectural design, sacred architecture, American modern architecture and building technology, Post WWII religious and Jewish studies, and preservation and conservation.

The Architecture of Modern American Synagogues, 1950s–1960s

The Architecture of Modern American Synagogues, 1950s–1960s PDF Author: Anat Geva
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 1648431364
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 463

Get Book Here

Book Description
In the aftermath of World War II, the United States experienced a rapid expansion of church and synagogue construction as part of a larger “religious boom.” The synagogues built in that era illustrate how their designs pushed the envelope in aesthetics and construction. The design of the synagogues departed from traditional concepts, embraced modernism and innovations in building technology, and evolved beyond the formal/rational style of early 1950s modern architecture to more of an expressionistic design. The latter resulted in abstraction of architectural forms and details, and the inclusion of Jewish art in the new synagogues. The Architecture of Modern American Synagogues, 1950s–1960s introduces an architectural analysis of selected modern American synagogues and reveals how they express American Jewry’s resilience in continuing their physical and spiritual identity, while embracing modernism, American values, and landscape. In addition, the book contributes to the discourse on preserving the recent past (e.g., mid 20th century architecture). While most of the investigations on that topic deal with the “brick & mortar” challenges, this book introduces preservation issues as a function of changes in demographics, in faith rituals, in building codes, and in energy conservation. As an introduction or a reexamination, The Architecture of Modern American Synagogues, 1950s–1960s offers a fresh perspective on an important moment in American Jewish society and culture as reflected in their houses of worship and adds to the literature on modern American sacred architecture. The book may appeal to Jewish congregations, architects, preservationists, scholars, and students in fields of studies such as architectural design, sacred architecture, American modern architecture and building technology, Post WWII religious and Jewish studies, and preservation and conservation.

Home, Heat, Money, God

Home, Heat, Money, God PDF Author: Kathryn E. O'Rourke
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 1477328920
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 401

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Book Description
"The idea for this book came about when architectural historian Kathryn O'Rourke and architect / photographer Ben Koush collaborated on a piece on postmodern architecture for Texas Architect. The two enjoyed working together--with O'Rourke writing and Koush providing visuals--and, together with UTP, developed the framework for a similarly rich, book-length treatment of modern architecture in Texas. Conceived to be accessible to a general readership, this project explores in photographs and words approximately fifty years of Texas modern architecture, from the 1930s to the 1980s. As O'Rourke writes, "In this period, modern architecture and Texas grew and changed at an astonishing pace. The state became a significant force in national and international affairs, chiefly as a consequence of the oil industry and the presence of politically powerful Texans in Washington, D.C. Major buildings, many designed by regionally and nationally-prominent architects, followed the money in the state as the influence and image of Texas grew. Relentless ambition, a forward-looking attitude, and a strong sense of place combined to make Texans particularly receptive to modern architecture's implication of newness, its future-oriented image, and its capacity to reinterpret historical forms in novel ways." While many books on Texas architecture focus on one building type (residential architecture, courthouses, and so on), this project adopts a broader lens. A dozen chapters presented under four thematic headings explore buildings through a variety of frameworks--there are the inescapable forces of heat and money, essential functions like caregiving and government, and groupings for leisure and multi-building sites such as museums and campuses. In each of these sections, the authors present a "constellation" of buildings, with one central example and several supporting ones. So, for instance, the "God" chapter presents O'Neil Ford's Little Chapel in the Woods in Denton as its main building, alongside the Antioch Baptist Church in San Antonio and the Congregation Rodef Shalom in Waco. This sort of geographical diversity, with big cities sitting alongside smaller and lesser studied places, runs through the volume as a whole"--

Water and Sacred Architecture

Water and Sacred Architecture PDF Author: Anat Geva
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000863719
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 438

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Book Description
This edited book examines architectural representations that tie water, as a physical and symbolic property, with the sacred. The discussion centers on two levels of this relationship: how water influenced the sacredness of buildings across history and different religions; and how sacred architecture expressed the spiritual meaning of water. The volume deliberately offers original material on various unique contextual and design aspects of water and sacred architecture, rather than an attempt to produce a historic chronological analysis on the topic or focusing on a specific geographical region. As such, this unique volume adds a new dimension to the study of sacred architecture. The book’s chapters are compiled by a stellar group of scholars and practitioners from the US, Canada, Europe, Asia, and Africa. It addresses major aspects of water in religious buildings, such as, rituals, pilgrimage, water as a cultural material and place-making, hydro systems, modern practices, environmental considerations, the contribution of water to transforming secular into sacred, and future digital/cyber context of water and sacredness. All chapters are based on original archival studies, historical documents, and field visits to the sites and buildings. These examinations show water as an expression of architectural design, its materiality, and its spiritual values. The book will be of interest to architects, historians, environmentalists, archaeologists, religious scholars, and preservationists.

American Synagogues

American Synagogues PDF Author: Samuel Gruber
Publisher: Rizzoli International Publications
ISBN:
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
American Synagogues is the first book to explore the exceptional architecture of modern American synagogues in the twentieth century, and this intriguing book relates the fascinating history of the Jewish people in America and how it is expressed in twentieth-century synagogue design. The book features all new photography of synagogues in many styles from a dozen states, many never before published in any form. The synagogues were designed by European masters, the best-known modern American architects, and by important contemporary architects including Frank Lloyd Wright, Philip Johnson, and Minoru Yamasaki.

Louis I. Kahn's Jewish Architecture

Louis I. Kahn's Jewish Architecture PDF Author: Susan G. Solomon
Publisher: Brandeis University Press
ISBN: 161168868X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 230

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Book Description
In 1961, famed architect Louis I. Kahn (1901-1974) received a commission to design a new synagogue. His client was one of the oldest Sephardic Orthodox congregations in the United States: Philadelphia's Mikveh Israel. Due to the loss of financial backing, Kahn's plans were never realized. Nevertheless, the haunting and imaginative schemes for Mikveh Israel remain among Kahn's most revered designs. Susan G. Solomon uses Kahn's designs for Mikveh Israel as a lens through which to examine the transformation of the American synagogue from 1955 to 1970. She shows how Kahn wrestled with issues that challenged postwar Jewish institutions and evaluates his creative attempts to bridge modernism and Judaism. She argues that Kahn provided a fresh paradigm for synagogues, one that offered innovations in planning, decoration, and the incorporation of light and nature into building design.

Jewish Religious Architecture

Jewish Religious Architecture PDF Author: Steven Fine
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004370099
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 398

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Book Description
Jewish Religious Architecture explores ways that Jews have expressed their tradition in brick and mortar and wood, in stone and word and spirit. This volume stretches from the biblical Tabernacle to Roman Jerusalem, synagogues spanning two millenia and on to contemporary Judaism. Social historians, cultural historians, art historians and philologists have come together here to present this extraordinary architectural tradition. The multidisciplinary approach employed in Jewish Religious Architecture reveals deep continuities over time, together with the distinctly local— sometimes in surprising ways.

The Synagogues of Kentucky

The Synagogues of Kentucky PDF Author: Lee Shai Weissbach
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 081318732X
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
Lee Shai Weissbach's innovative study sheds light on the functioning of smaller Jewish communities in a state representative of many in the Midwest and South. The synagogue buildings of Kentucky tell much about the experience of Kentucky Jewry. Synagogues, especially in smaller towns, have often served as the only setting available for a wide variety of communal activities. Weissbach outlines the history of every congregation established in Kentucky and every house of worship that has served Kentucky Jewry over the last 150 years, considering such issues as the financing of construction, the selection of architects, the way synagogue buildings reveal congregational attitudes, and the way local synagogue design reflects national trends. Eighty-two photographs show every one of Kentucky's synagogues, including buildings that are no longer standing or have been converted to other uses. This pictorial record documents the variety, distinctiveness, and significance of these buildings as a part of the Commonwealth's architectural, cultural, and religious landscape.

Temples for a Modern God

Temples for a Modern God PDF Author: Jay M. Price
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019992595X
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 285

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Book Description
After World War II, Americans constructed an unprecedented number of synagogues, churches, cathedrals, chapels, and other structures. The book is one of the first major studies of American religious architecture in the postwar period, and it reveals the diverse and complicated set of issues that emerged just as one of the nation's biggest building booms unfolded. Price argues that the resulting structures, as often mocked as loved, were physical embodiments of an important time in American religious history.

Material Culture in America

Material Culture in America PDF Author: Helen Sheumaker
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1576076482
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 588

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Book Description
The first encyclopedia to look at the study of material culture (objects, images, spaces technology, production, and consumption), and what it reveals about historical and contemporary life in the United States. Reaching back 400 years, Material Life in America: An Encyclopedia is the first reference showing what the study of material culture reveals about American society—revelations not accessible through traditional sources and methods. In nearly 200 entries, the encyclopedia traces the history of artifacts, concepts and ideas, industries, peoples and cultures, cultural productions, historical forces, periods and styles, religious and secular rituals and traditions, and much more. Everyone from researchers and curators to students and general readers will find example after example of how the objects and environments created or altered by humans reveal as much about American life as diaries, documents, and texts.

Pietro Belluschi

Pietro Belluschi PDF Author: Meredith L. Clausen
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262531672
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 508

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Book Description
Meredith Clausen reveals the enormous power that Belluschi wielded as an arbiter of taste and decision-maker in the 1950s and 1960s; his role in shaping the policy of the State Department in its overseas building program; and his role in securing major commissions for favored architects such as I.M. Pei. Equally important is Clausen's discussion of Belluschi's role in the development of regionalism in the Pacific Northwest and its impact on the definition of modernism as it was emerging in the United States.