Architectural Design
- Inspiration for the Design, by Graham Gund
- Design of the Young Israel of Brookline Synagogue, by Norman Kram and Elizabeth Mac Alpine
- ‘Let there be light’ is watchword in design of synagogue, by Robert Campbell
The Inspiration for the Design
by Graham Gund, FAIA
I remember hearing about the fire in January 1994. Only two months later Norm Kram contacted me to apprise us of Young Israel of Brookline’s history and plans for the future. My first impression was that instead of immobilizing and disheartening the congregation, the tragedy had brought everyone together, reinforcing their commitment to the future of the Young Israel community in Brookline.
I became very enthusiastic about being the architects for the new synagogue. We have always believed that spaces within our buildings have spiritual qualities, but the Young Israel Synagogue would be our first house of worship.
The rebuilding of the Beth Haknesset began for us with a visit from David Kahan to tell us we had the commission. And, indicative of the small but significant personal touches which would become the foundation for this project, David brought with him a mezuzah which he asked us to hold in safety until which time it could be placed beside a door in the new synagogue. I thought this was a memorable way to start a new project.
As we began to work with members of the congregation on the conceptual design, I realized it was important for me to learn more about Judaism and how it had been interpreted in synagogues. I wanted to know first hand some of the traditions and rituals Jaya Kader Zebede understood so well. And, although Jaya was a good teacher, I felt I needed to go to Israel. I left in early August and stayed for a week. I was looking for historical and recent context in synagogue architecture and was very impressed with the restored synagogues in the old city. While in Jerusalem I saw many synagogues and was also able to research buildings in both the Jerusalem Museum and the Israeli Museum. At the Hebrew University Center for Jewish Art and at the Jewish Museum at Hechal Shlomo I felt able to immerse myself in the Jewish experience and begin, perhaps, to have some understanding of its traditions.
Traveling to Jerusalem marked a turning point in the design of the Young Israel Synagogue for me. I came home with an incredible sense of the history and duration of the Jewish religion. I also gained a sense of general life in Jerusalem and acquired great respect for the remarkable spirit of the people there, something which rarely comes across in articles or television reports.
I wanted to incorporate some of the architectural qualities of Jerusalem buildings in the Brookline synagogue. I especially liked the image of the Second Temple and wanted to use it as a reference for the exterior. The idea that after the destruction of the Beth Hamikdash in Jerusalem, its holiness was passed on to all the shuls in the world seemed important. Shirley Feuerstein brought us a poster with an artist’s interpretation of the Temple with its large columns. The columns at Young Israel evoke the Beth Hamikdash. Bending the front of the buildings also seemed like a way to echo the layering of walls which happens often in Jerusalem.
When we moved to the interiors of the building, we thought to reinforce the temporary nature of all synagogues. In contrast with the sense of strength and permanence we were trying to convey on the outside, we tried to invoke the more temporary structures which have also been a Jewish tradition starting with the Tabernacle in the desert. For example, we folded the ceiling in the sanctuary to give it a tent-like form.
I was also quite taken with the quality of light on the buildings in Israel. We tried to recreate that by designing a building with many more than four sides. We felt the interior should elicit a sense of awe and majesty, while conveying intimacy and warmth. Primarily, it should be a good place for prayer. Late in the process I came across information on architectural art glass. I felt strongly that this glass would help instill the spiritual quality in the interior spaces which we all were working toward. I think the resulting refracted light is very successful.
We all wanted a building which conveys a sense of strength and presence. The new synagogue represents optimism for the future of the Young Israel movement and respect for thousands of years of religious traditions.
I have been so impressed with the dedication of everyone we have worked with from the congregation. It has been easy to get swept up in the sense of commitment you all have conveyed. It has been a rich, rewarding and personal experience for me and I thank you.
Design of the Young Israel of Brookline Synagogue
by Norman Kram and Elizabeth Mac Alpine, Graham Gund Architects
The new Young Israel of Brookline synagogue building was designed by the internationally acclaimed firm, Graham Gund Architects, of Cambridge, Massachusetts. They were chosen by the synagogue’s Design and Construction Committee after a far-ranging and rigorous architect selection process. All aspects of the design were supervised by Graham Gund, FAIA, principal of the firm, who was assisted by his partner, Peter Madsen, FAIA, his senior associate, John Prokos, AIA, project designer Jaya Kader Zebede, project manager Laura Weiss, and Liam Deevy. Design work began in the summer of 1994 and was completed in the summer of 1995.
The Young Israel decided to rebuild on its site at 62 Green Street after an electrical fire completely destroyed its facilities in January, 1994. A compilation of the congregation’s program needs set the stage for the design: The building was to be used actively throughout the day, beginning with morning prayer and ending with evening study sessions in the Beit Midrash and classrooms. The new building needed to house a Beit Knesset (Main Sanctuary) of approximately the same size as the old building, seating over 500 people, with a strong desire expressed for a warmer, more intimate setting for prayer, and with an appropriate separation of men and women giving the women maximum visual and auditory access to the services. A Beit Midrash (Chapel) was to be provided for daily services and to serve as a study hall and library. The new Beit Midrash was to be larger than the Beit Midrash in the old building and was to provide a section for women to pray. The Social Hall was also to be larger than in the old facility, sized to seat as many as 250 people with provision for a dance floor. Column-free space and tall ceilings were preferred. Adequate kitchen facilities were to be provided for the congregation’s cooking needs and in support of catering services. At least four rooms were to be provided for youth groups and classes, along with adequate office space for the Rabbi and administrative staff. A coat room, a separate stroller parking area, adequate bathroom and storage space, and mechanical and electrical rooms were required. The sum total of the synagogue’s space needs were between 25% to possibly 50% or more of the area of the old building, which contained approximately 16,000 square feet of space.
The architects were constrained in the design process by the congregation’s tight budget, a desire and need to provide accessibility to all spaces in the building, and a very limited building site of less than three-quarters of an acre. Further, there was a strong desire expressed by the congregation to orient the Beit Knesset and Beit Midrash so that they both faced East, the traditional direction for prayer in this part of the world. The architect also expressed an interest in raising the entire building above grade to introduce as much natural light as possible to all areas of the building, even though the previous facility had a significant portion of the building (including the Social Hall, kitchen, and classrooms) below grade.
The resulting design is a building of approximately 22,000 square feet, with a total project budget including design, construction, furniture, furnishings, and equipment of approximately $4 million. $1.5 million of this budget was provided in net insurance proceeds after the fire and the balance raised through the generosity of members and friends of the congregation.
Gund’s design of the synagogue is centered around a theme of timeless imagery, tradition, and holiness. Synagogue design has not historically been bound by any architectural design parameters, so associations are often made to both local and historical building traditions. In the case of the design for this synagogue, the exterior Ark tower, with its massive portal and twin columns evoking the traditional Yachin and Boaz columns of the Beit HaMikdash, makes a reference to the stately presence of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. The tent-like ceilings in the Main Sanctuary and the planned Sukkah structure evoke the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and symbolize the temporary nature of Jewish houses of prayer in the Diaspora. The distinctive shape of the building, with the major elements of the Main Sanctuary and Chapel skewed to the prevailing street grid, results from the orientation of the Ark walls in both spaces slightly south of East towards Jerusalem. The placement of these two significant elements near Green Street and in close proximity to the building entry lends importance to the functions of these spaces, as is appropriate for the holy spaces within the building. The irregular footprint of the building, coupled with the light brick and cast stone facades reminiscent of Jerusalem stone, evoke the streets of the Old City of Jerusalem. Gund has spoken of a ‘layering of history’ that he tried to capture in the design of the building. The building’s traditional yet progressive character makes a statement about Modern Orthodoxy and alludes to the congregation’s bright future.
Interestingly, many of the ideas incorporated by Graham Gund in the design of the building were influenced by his intensive one week visit to Israel, and particularly Jerusalem, shortly after getting the commission to design this building. His design was also informed by visits to many synagogues throughout the world in the course of his travels over the years.
While the original synagogue building was raised up on a plinth six feet above street grade, the site was regraded and the new building sits slightly above the sidewalk grade at Green Street. All spaces in the new building are above grade, with no basement space provided. All of the main functional areas of the building, including the Main Sanctuary, Chapel, and Social Hall are on a single level with access off a large lobby area. Access to the second floor, which includes the majority of the women’s seating area of the Main Sanctuary, a multi-function room, classrooms, and offices, is by a sky-lit, wood-paneled grand stairway, and by elevator, which is also programmed for continuous and automatic operation on Shabbat and Yom Tov.
The approach to the new building is through a gently-sloping courtyard paved with herring-boned patterned brick from the Green Street sidewalk to the front entry doors. Provisions in the design for an entry pavilion arbor and iron fencing and granite curbing may be realized when additional funding becomes available. Over the main entry, the Rabbi’s office is articulated as an arched passageway, evoking a bridge between worlds. The cast stone arch bears the inscription, ‘Ze Hasha’ar L’HASHEM Tzadikim Ya’vo’u Vo’ (‘This is the gate of HASHEM; the righteous shall enter through it’). The large Mezuzah case at the front entry is one of a series of castings by the Israeli artist, Israel Meshi, with the original casting gracing the main entrance of the new Jerusalem City Hall building.
In completing the design, the architects worked closely with the congregation in a collaborative effort to meet the various constraints and requirements set forth in the program. Numerous layouts for the Main Sanctuary were investigated, with a resulting consensus design that provides for the majority of women’s seating in a low balcony or gallery section. The balance of the seating is on a raised platform on the ground floor with sculpted ceilings overhead. This seating is separated from the men’s section by a unique Mechitzah constructed of millwork elements and sandblasted Hebrew letters carved out of acrylic panels, with text from the first three verses of ‘Eishet Chayil’. This Mechitzah design, conceived and executed by Presentations Gallery of New York City, is meant to pay homage to the Mechitzah design in the old building, in which the wooden ‘Eishet Chayil’ letters were a predominant and fondly-recalled design element of the Main Sanctuary.
Traditional elements are present throughout the 5,600 square foot Main Sanctuary, including a central Bimah and a strong sense of direction towards the Aron Kodesh (Ark) on the eastern wall. A monumental Aron Kodesh, designed by Gund and fabricated and installed by the millwork subcontractor, Herrick & White, of Cumberland, Rhode Island, is the focal point of the Sanctuary, with the traditional verse of ‘Shiviti Hashem Lenegdi Tamid’ (‘I have set HASHEM before me always’) at its crown. A tapestry-like Parochet with geometrical patterns and the verse ‘Veha’eir Eineinu Betoratecha Vedabek Libeinu Bemitzvotecha’ (‘Enlighten our eyes in Your Torah, attach our hearts to Your commandments’) fashioned by the Israeli artisan, Adina Gatt of Nahariya, covers the doors to the compartment housing the Sifrei Torah (Torah scrolls).
A distinctively-designed Ner Tamid (eternal light) designed and installed by Jeremy Langford of Langford Art Glass of Bnei Brak, Israel, hangs over the Ark. Chandeliers and sconces, fabricated in Israel by our synagogue member, David Hauser, of Technolite, Ltd., Hadera, Israel, are reminiscent of the multiple lamps found in many old synagogues. An operable skylight is provided over the Ark platform to afford the possibilities of an open-air chuppah (wedding canopy) in the Main Sanctuary. A slight depression in the floor in front of the Amud recalls the verse ‘Mima’amakim Kra’aticha HASHEM’ (‘From the depths I called out to you HASHEM’). Yet to be installed is a sculptural work to be mounted from the ceiling hovering over the Bima, an artistic representation of the Anan Hakavod (Cloud of Glory). This artistic piece, meant to replace a similar architectural motif in the old shul, has been generously commissioned by Graham Gund as a special gift to the congregation. All of the above elements are incorporated into a distinctive geometry and are enhanced with new design elements which further communal integration.
The balcony, for example, appears as a continuation of the first floor and not as a completely separate realm. All of the women’s seating in the Main Sanctuary, including the furthest seat in the upper corners of the balcony, are closer to the Aron Kodesh than any of the seats in the women’s section were in the old shul. Pews specially designed for this project to match the architectural motif of the space have been imported from Kibbutz Lavi in Israel. These pews have been designed to look and function like continuous benches while providing the space and flexibility of individual seats, and where possible, individual shtenders (book rests) and book storage compartments have been provided. Twelve decorative windows (corresponding to the number of the tribes of Israel) provide a large amount of natural light. These custom windows include ceramic frit coatings designed to filter out sun glare and to minimize distractions from passing traffic, and feature glass medallion ‘diamonds’ that provide limited areas of clear, see-through glass while also creating prisms of diffracted sunlight that appear to ‘dance’ through the Sanctuary as the sun changes position in the sky.
The Beit Midrash (Chapel) of approximately 800 square feet, with its Aron Kodesh and book-lined walls and cabinets, is meant to provide a place of integration: prayer and learning come together as small groups of congregants gather for prayer at sunrise and sunset daily, with shiurim and study groups taking place here throughout the day and evening. The Parochet design incorporates the traditional verse ‘Da Lifnei Mi Atah Omed’ (‘Know before Whom you are standing’). A memorial wall with Yahrzeit plaques is planned for the rear wall of the Bet Medrash.
The Social Hall of approximately 4,000 square feet is located in the rear of the building and provides for a large catering facility with direct access to a terrace with a planned trellis for use as a Sukkah structure. The terrace is suitable for outdoor receptions or kiddush, or for an outdoor chuppah. The Social Hall space will also be used for auxiliary High Holiday services.
The Main Lobby, with extensive millwork details, including Hebrew inscriptions over the doors to the main rooms and ceremonial washing sink area, is a central focus of the building. During the day, this lobby is bathed with natural light from a large skylight in the roof penetrating the building through a large sculpted opening in the second floor. A panoramic window overlooking the Social Hall from the second floor lobby provides further means for natural light to reach into the interior spaces of the building, while also offering a glimpse of activity in the Social Hall and providing a bird’s eye view for video and still photography of social events. The flooring in the lobby, as well as the wall tile at the washing sink areas and the cornerstone at the main entry to the building, are all Jerusalem stone of various sizes and finishes imported from Israel specifically for this project. A building dedicatory wall, recognizing the contributions of benefactors and donors to this building project, is planned as a future element of this lobby.
Given our unfortunate experience with the destruction of our old building, special attention has been paid to life safety systems and security and access systems. The building is fully-sprinklered and state-of-the-art fire alarm and security systems have been installed. A modern kitchen, fully-equipped for both meat and dairy service, has been provided, along with a loading and parking area for caterer’s trucks and other service providers in the rear of the building. A Keilim Mikveh for the ritual immersion of vessels has been provided on the ground floor as a service to the community.
The site is fully landscaped with new trees, bushes, vines, ground cover, and grass planted all around the building. Privacy fencing has been erected between our site and the neighboring parcels in the rear and sides of the building.
The final design provides for virtually all of our program needs and hopefully this new building will more-than-adequately service our congregation for years to come. Our architects have been devoted to our project and were engaged in a demanding collaborative effort with our design committee throughout the design and construction of the project. Ultimately, the resulting building is a product of this collaborative effort and a testament to the design genius and discerning eye of Graham Gund, who has personally guided every element of this project, in this, the design of his first House of Worship. It has been our pleasure and special privilege to work with him and his colleagues to bring this project to fruition.
Tradition has it that all of the synagogues in the Diaspora will be transplanted to Jerusalem with the coming of the Messiah. Perhaps with this in mind, the design of our synagogue should indeed reflect a sympathetic harmony to both its present and future sites. It is our belief and hope that the Mashiach will come speedily in our day, and it is our prayer that when he comes, our congregation and synagogue will ‘fit in’ and feel like we were always meant to be in Yerushalayim.
‘Let there be light’ is watchword in design of synagogue
by Robert Campbell, Boston Globe correspondent
Daylight in Boston is typically harsh in contrast, cool in color. Daylight in the cities around the Mediterranean Sea is very different: golden, often tinged with pink.
At the new Young Israel Synagogue on Green Street in Brookline, the largest Orthodox synagogue in New England, you can experience that difference simply by walking in. Somehow the architect, Graham Gund of Cambridge, has created Mediterranean light – Jerusalem light, he’d argue – in an extraordinary interior. The new synagogue replaces the one destroyed by fire in 1994.
The miracle occurs in the main sanctuary. The magic is in the windows. Working with a firm called Architectural Glass Art of Louisville, Ky., Gund created a milk-white glass that suffuses the interior with a seraphic glow. At the same time, the glass lets you see outdoors to the trees and sky, but it bleaches these familiar elements into the semblance of a pale Japanese silk screen.
Tiny prisms of clear glass, which are set into the white glass, project little rainbows into the sanctuary. The rainbows move across the pews and walls as the sun moves. The effect isn’t theatrical, isn’t showy. It’s just a quietly joyous celebration of the biblical “Let there be light.”
The 550-seat sanctuary is big, but it feels intimate. The ceiling is folded, like the cloth roof of a tent, thus gently hinting of an informal assembly in the desert. Materials and finishes all help the windows do their job of warming and modulating the light. The carpet is the red-brown color of earthenware tile. The pews are warm-toned American maple, although the raw maple was shipped to a kibbutz in Israel for the actual manufacture, in a desire to make as many connections as possible to Jerusalem. Skylights pour sunlight down. One skylight can be opened to allow weddings to take place directly beneath the blue sky.
If it isn’t too cross-cultural to say so, Young Israel’s sanctuary possesses a Shaker simplicity and craftsmanship. It evokes an appropriate grandeur and mystery without fuss or ostentation. It’s something rare: a completely successful interior accomplished with simple means and a modest budget. The temple’s other spaces work well too, including a chapel, a big recreation hall, and especially a handsome entry lobby paved in Jerusalem stone, a common material in Israel. Here the stone helps, once again, to warm and soften the light that bounces off it. Gund, who made a special trip to Israel when he was chosen as the architect, visited many synagogues there. His temple shows it.
You get a strong sense of community from the architecture of the synagogue. That sense expresses a social reality. As Orthodox Jews, the members can’t drive on the Sabbath, so they tend to reside within walking distance of their synagogue. Being so close, they can easily use the building all week long. And they do, for many kinds of meetings, classes, and celebrations. The result is the kind of close-knit world of friends so often lacking in today’s American life, in the more dispersed car-culture most of us live in. And the temple doesn’t have to scar the neighborhood with a big parking lot.
Seen from outdoors, Young Israel is less great. On the plus side, Gund succeeds in giving his temple a civic presence without upstaging the modest houses of the neighborhood. He does that by breaking his large building into several linked pieces, then twisting one of them – the main sanctuary – slightly away from the street to aim it directly toward Jerusalem. Maybe the twisting, along with an arch over the main entrance, also creates, as Gund hopes it does, a memory of the informal bending of old buildings on narrow streets in historic cities – although that’s a stagy concept at best.
The problem is that Gund has modeled his main facade on someone’s imaginary reconstruction of a long-vanished landmark, the so-called Second Temple in Jerusalem. It’s an arbitrary choice, and it creates an unintended metaphor. If you haven’t seen a picture of the Second Temple, you’re more likely to think Gund’s facade is copied from a radio console of the 1940s. With its table-top cornice and speakerlike wall, it has the scale of furniture, not architecture. There’s little here, out at the street, of the command and conviction of Young Israel’s interior.
But that interior is what matters. Once you’ve passed the portal, Young Israel Synagogue is a very, very impressive success.
This story ran on page C01 of the Boston Globe on August 2, 1997.
