Architecture Commons^™

Breaching The Divide: An Inquiry Into Border Passage, Russell Scheer

Architecture Senior Theses

This project is an inquiry into the existing threshold that currently separates Israelis from Palestinians in the West Bank. Through the dismantling of the Israeli border checkpoint and reinterpretation of its parts, this project reimagines the sequence of passing through the threshold. By framing the mundane activities of border passage through dramatic scenes, this architecture can reveal themes religion, resources, and surveillance. This architecture also intends to highlight the imbalance of the current conflict and those involved in it, by creating an architecture equally absurd.

The Continuing Exodus: The Synagogue And Jewish Urban Migration, Samuel D. Gruber

Religion - All Scholarship

Catalog essay in Silent Witnesses: Migration Stories Through Synagogues Transformed, Rebuilt or Abandoned (Farmington Hills, MI, 2012) that deals with Jewish settlement and migration in American cities (especially New York, Boston and Cleveland) and the religious and community buildings erected and left behind in the process.

Polish Influence On American Synagogue Architecture, Samuel D. Gruber

Religion - All Scholarship

Hundreds of thousands of Jews from Poland came to America after 1880. Many built synagogues with details recalling synagogues in their homeland. Immigrant artisans brought motifs and methods of Poland. Many of these synagogues were small, so the relationship to Polish art was on the inside in the painted and carved decoration. Established architects also had access to Polish synagogues as sources. With publication of the Jewish Encyclopedia (1901-06) images of Polish synagogues, such as the Warsaw’s Tlomackie Street Synagogue, became part of many Jewish libraries. More Polish influence came in the 1950s. Most architects were building modern synagogues, …

Medieval Synagogues In The Mediterranean Region, Samuel D. Gruber

Religion - All Scholarship

Throughout the Middle Ages, the synagogue developed as the central identifying institution and physical building for Jews, replacing the still yearned for but increasingly distant Jerusalem Temple as the focus of Jewish identity. Equally important, the synagogue became the symbol par excellance of the Jews and their community for the Christian (or Muslim) majority populations in the countries where Jews were settled. For Christians, the synagogue was a Jewish church, but much more so, it came to symbolize in opposition all that the church represented.

Though relatively little known today, medieval synagogues were not symbolic abstractions to the men and …

The Synagogues Of Piedmont, Samuel D. Gruber

Religion - All Scholarship

History and architecture of the synagogues of Piedmont, Italy.

World Baha'i Institute In New York, Nima Yadollahpour

Architecture Thesis Prep

"The goal of this project is to understand and comprehend the philosophy of the Baha'i faith and its literature. From this knowledge, I hope to investigate the issue of transforming a specific Baha'i text into an architectural form. At this point, my job is not only to be an architect but also a translator. To be able to create an architectural language which is a derivative of the philosophy and the writings of the Baha'i Faith."

Monumenti Storici Ebraici In Europa: Nuove Tendenze, Samuel Gruber

Religion - All Scholarship

This article discusses the trends and accomplishments in the documentation and restoration of historic Jewish monuments in Europe form 1990 through 2000 with special emphasis on the restoration/preservation of the Tempel Synagogue in Krakow, Poland and the Etz Hayyim Synagogue in Hania (Crete), Greece.

Silenced Sacred Spaces: Selected Photographs Of Syrian Synagogues By Robert Lyons, Samuel Gruber, Samuel D. Gruber

Religion - All Scholarship

Discusses the history and architecture of the synagogues of Syria documented by photographer Robert Lyons in a survey sponsored by the Jewish Heritage Council of the World Monuments Fund.

Architecture In The Text: A Re-Proposition Of Solomon’S Temple, Christopher Pizzi

Architecture Senior Theses

This Thesis investigates the idea of Architecture in text, and the role which a text can play in making architecture. This Thesis will analyze a text and question how it can be used to reveal architectural form and meaning as well as generate program. This Thesis is about the reading, translation, and rewriting of texts. The texts are the written text, the text of the ruin, and the text of the city. The subject of textual analysis is the Bible, specifically those passages which reveal or describe the Jewish Temple. The Temple is referred to often in the Bible, …

Survey Of Historic Jewish Monuments In Poland, Revised Edition, Samuel D. Gruber, Phyllis Myers

School of Architecture - All Scholarship

1995 report to the United States Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad on historic Jewish sites in Poland. Includes information on the history of Judaism in Poland, as well as the history and current conditions of synagogues and cemeteries.

Survey Of Historic Jewish Monuments In The Czech Republic, Samuel D. Gruber, Phyllis Myers

School of Architecture - All Scholarship

1994 report to the United States Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad on historic Jewish monuments in the Czech Republic. Includes information on the history of Judaism in Poland, as well as information on the history and conditions of synagogues, cemeteries, ghettoes, jewish quarters, and other sites related to Jewish heritage. There are also notes on Czech preservation laws and destroyed synagogues.

The Future Of Jewish Monuments, Samuel Gruber, Samuel D. Gruber

Religion - All Scholarship

Exhibition essay from first exhibition focused on the documentation, protection and preservation of Jewish monuments and historic sites. The exhibition opened in conjunction with the international conference "The Future of Jewish Monuments," organized by the Jewish Heritage Council of the World Monuments Fund. The exhibition focused on the needs of historic sites in Eastern Europe, North Africa, the united States and elsewhere, and made the case for international support.