Architect: Louis Kahn.
Location: Jerusalem, Israel.
Year: 1968-1973.
Photographs: various.
In an ambitious project to replace the old Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, though not of course on the Temple Mound, Louis Kahn was hired to construct a synagogue. He was profoundly impacted by his work, which inspired sentiments of wonder and mystical or spiritual force in him. The sixteen huge pylons that make up the synagogue—four on each side and four columns at the corners—were built between 1967 and 1968. The series of four cylindrical apertures on the axis that pierce the ceiling planes is the element that stands out the most. Kahn used intricate techniques to modulate the light in the synagogue, utilising ruin forms as an outside shell to shield the interior sanctuary from heat and sunlight, apertures in the roof to bring in natural light, and a square opening in the middle of the structure.
In the early 1960s, Kahn created a material vocabulary that included Jerusalem stone, travertine, and concrete. He used travertine for the Salk Institute plaza, the foyer and steps at the Exeter Library, the flooring, walls, and features in the Kimbell Art Museum, and practically all of his buildings constructed after 1959 used concrete for both the construction and finish. He decided to utilise Jerusalem stone for the outer shell of the Hurva Synagogue and concrete for the interior, giving the structure two colours: gold and silver. Also, he employed the hollow columns once more as a service area rather than as a source of light and integrated the concept of overlaying the outer shell (ruins) with an excellent skylight solution. Louis Kahn’s last plan for the Hurva Synagogue used skylights as the main light source, inspired by the light of the Pantheon.
He also created the idea of a mechanical shaft and used hollow columns that were comparable to those from his early practice days. He was concerned about the lighting in the room because artificial light is monotonous and stagnant. In order to create a circulation space between balconies on the second floor of the Hurva Synagogue, Kahn used hollow columns; nevertheless, he did not include any holes to let in natural light. In the US Embassy in Luanda in 1959, he first employed the idea of ruin in relation to light. He developed his new thesis on the significance of ruins in 1964 after asking himself what ruin meant in the life of a building: for Kahn, this meant freedom from practical functionality and therefore the ability to express its essence. The entire structure is in this sense a “ruin.”
