Nomination - Table of Contents   ..................  Temple Beth Zion -Table of Contents

Nomination - Temple Beth Zion
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form

By Francis R. Kowsky

Temple Beth Zion - OFFICIAL HOME PAGE

Summary

Temple Beth Zion is significant as an outstanding example of mid-twentieth century Neo-Expressionist religious architecture designed by renowned Modern architect Max Abramovitz, of the firm Harrison & Abramovitz. Located on Delaware Avenue, in Buffalo, Erie County, Temple Beth Zion was built between 1964 and 1967.

The synagogue is a unified attached complex of component spaces, including a sculptural oval- shaped synagogue, a long rectilinear religious school building, a smaller rectangular sisterhood chapel, and a spacious auditorium.

As an outstanding example of a Neo-Expressionist synagogue, Temple Beth Zion is eligible under criterion C in the area of Architecture. Neo-Expressionist architecture emerged after World War II in response to rationalism of the International Style, emphasizing the emotional content expressed by means of curvilinear forms, eccentric shapes, and plastic materials. The primary worship space at Temple Beth Zion is an excellent example of the type, with its sculptural exterior form which holds a vast, open interior space that evokes a sense of quietude and awe.       

Temple Beth Zion is also significant as a masterpiece of modern religious architecture designed by prominent New York architect Max Abramovitz (1908-2004), whose professional career consisted primarily of commissions for commercial and institutional buildings, including the United Nations headquarters (1953) and Lincoln Center’s Philharmonic Hall (1962). The congregation chose Abramovitz after conducting extensive interviews with many nationally known architects.

Although the architect designed only a few synagogues during his long career, religious architecture was a subject of great personal interest to him and this is his most accomplished work in the genre. Jewish himself, Abramovitz had written a major article about the history of synagogue design. "There is a growing trend away from the styles of yesterday," Abramovitz wrote in a 1952 essay entitled "Synagogue." (Max Abramovitz, “Synagogue,” in Forms and Functions of Twentieth Century Architecture. Hamlin (ed), New York: Columbia University Press, 1952), vol. 3, 384; 389.)

"Along with the knowledge of science and technology, there has come to the people of today a new confidence in their own strength and power. Today we can create an architecture to fit our age and need not ape the past."

He went on to state that “today’s structural methods offer many ways of covering large central areas. A few small temples, such as Tifereth Israel at Dallas and Beth-El at Tyler, both in Texas, have shown that dignity and simplicity can be produced without resorting to stylistic throw-backs to fit into the architectural locale of the congregation; yet the arrival of a truly noteworthy, distinctive architecture— one representative of the synagogue or temple—is still distant."

Here in Buffalo he had the opportunity to translate his concepts of spiritual space and symbolic expression into bricks and mortar.

The building is also outstanding among a number of major synagogues that were built in the United States during the postwar period, including Erich Mendelsohn’s Park Synagogue (1950) in Cleveland, OH, Percival Goodman’s B’nai Israel Synagogue (1952) in Milburn, NJ, and Sidney Eisenshtat’s Temple Emmanuel 1953) in Los Angeles, CA.

The principal historian of American Jewish religious architecture, Samuel Gruber, regards Abramovitz’s Temple Beth Zion, as "an expressive masterpiece, one of the few fully uplifting emotional responses to architectural modernism in the United States." (Samuel D. Gruber, American Synagogues, A Century of Architecture and Jewish Community (New York: Rizzoli, 2003), 151.)        

Temple Beth Zion is additionally significant under criterion C in the area of Art for its exceptional art glass windows and interior embellishments designed by renowned American artist Ben Shahn. Temple Beth Zion possesses the only example of stained glass windows designed by this important American painter. Shahn worked closely with the architect and a structural engineer to achieve their shared design goals. The large-scale glass window walls flood the interior with tranquil blue colors, shimmering off the grey concrete walls, giving the effect almost of water, emphasizing the emotional effect of the Neo-Expressionist movement. This collaboration between a major American architect and major American painter underscores the image of the building as an expressive, immersive work of art.

The period of significance for Temple Beth Zion begins with the initial construction of the building beginning in 1964 and closes with its completion in 1967. This era encompasses all major architectural and artistic work on the building, including the creation of the Ben Shahn stained glass windows.


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