Description

Ink and color wash drawing on light yellow trace paper. The drawing is made up of five roughly square elements arranged in a plus-sign shape. Each element is labelled: “East Elevation,” “North Elevation”, “Plan, Small Sanctuary,” “South Elevation,” and “West Elevation.” The plan is in the center. Each part is made of many dense parallel lines drawn freehand. Each elevation features a prominent half-circle shape that spans a balcony and a large circular window. The East elevation (top) has a slightly larger circular window over a central Ark (altar) flanked by paired columns.

“Laurence Booth (MIT 1960) and Thomas Beeby were two of the architects grouped together as the ‘Chicago Seven.’ The group united in response to an exhibition that overpromoted the work of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and his followers in Chicago. The Chicago Seven rejected Mies’s oppressively monolithic modernism in favor of history, ornament, and color. The Zimmermans, also based in Chicago, collected widely from the rich architectural culture of that city, including the work of the Chicago Seven.” –“Drawing After Modernism” exhibition text

Thomas Beeby’s design is an addition to a 1964 temple by Minoru Yamasaki. Yamasaki’s original building seated 1,100 people and, although it was full on holidays, the congregation sought a smaller, more intimate space for weekly services. Whereas Yamasaki’s design was idiosyncratic and modernist, Beeby’s was rooted in historical references. He said he was inspired by Solomon’s temple and by the Renaissance synagogues of Spain and Portugal.

The main new worship space is depicted in this drawing. The large cubic space is lit from the sides by large windows. The central chandelier is the shape of a Star of David. Beeby employed drapes and carpets to help achieve the more intimate feel the congregation wanted, in contrast with the grand and cavernous Yamasaki original.

In 1983 Beby was quoted as saying "In 50 years, people will think our building is the original, and Yamasaki's, the addition."

Further reading:

- Charles K. Gandee, “Tradition rekindled,” Architectural Record 171, no. 7 (June 1983): 104–113.

- Nora Richter Greer, “Historicist Addition to a ‘60s Temple,” Architecture: The AIA Journal 73, no. 5 (May 1984): 208–211.

- Elizabeth Milnarik, "North Shore Congregation Israel," Society of Architectural Historians Archipedia (https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/IL-01-031-0062).

Additional Information

Provenance: Gift to Martin E. Zimmerman.

Type

inscription

Location

front, center

Method

ink

Text

North Shore Congregation Israel