Beth Sholom Synagogue in Elkins Park, outside Philadelphia. Photo by Emily Cooperman
One of Frank Lloyd Wright’s final projects, the Beth Sholom Synagogue in Elkins Park, PA, will open a new visitors center this fall. Designed by Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, the 1,800-square-foot center will make the temple accessible to the public while minimizing the disruption of religious services.
Designed by Wright in 1954 in a quiet suburb located five miles outside Philadelphia, Beth Sholom has a soaring steel roof meant to evoke hands joined in prayer. The synagogue was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2007 and attracts thousands of architecture buffs each year.
“Our goal is to provide an exciting, informative, and provocative visitor center while respecting the historically sensitive architecture,” says James Kolker, principal architect on the project.
Beth Sholom’s visitor center will exhibit historic photographs, Wright’s ink drawings, and correspondence between him and client Rabbi Mortimer J. Cohen, who instructed Wright to create a truly modern “American Synagogue, a “Mt. Sinai of light …wrought in modern materials.” A 400-square-foot gift shop will sell Frank Lloyd Wright-designed housewares, stationery and jewelry.
Wright never saw the glass, steel and concrete temple; it was completed shortly after his death in 1959. Rich in Jewish symbolism, the building’s roof is translucent during the day and glows like a lantern at night. Of more than 1,000 projects in his 70-year career, Beth Sholom is the only synagogue Wright designed. Information: www.bethsholomcongregation.org
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