nativity scenes
louis i. kahns jewish architecture mikveh israel and the midcentury american synagogue
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 philadelphias mikveh israel . due to the loss of financial backing kahns plans were never realized . nevertheless the haunting and imaginative schemes for mikveh israel remain among kahns most revered designs . br susan g. solomon uses kahns 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 .