מאסטר קלאס בשימור ואדריכלות 04: מבני דת
Historic religious buildings located at the heart of modern cities present a unique challenge for architects, planners, and communities. They serve as focal points of memory, emotion, and cultural identity, while also raising complex questions of preservation — not only of material fabric and construction techniques, but also of program, use, and meaning within the public realm.
The fourth session in the series focused on the Great Synagogue of Tel Aviv. Designed in the 1920s by architect Yehuda Magidovitch in an eclectic style, the building underwent a radical transformation in 1969 under the direction of architect Arieh Elhanani, who added a massive concrete column colonnade in the spirit of the period. This intervention altered the building’s appearance and gradually turned it into an isolated object, disconnected from its surrounding urban fabric. Today, as part of an urban conservation project, the decision has been made to remove the concrete columns and reveal the original façades once again.
Through the case study of the Great Synagogue, we examined how different layers of time within a single building can be reconciled, and what it means to prioritize one chapter in an architectural history over another. We explored the relationship between the building, the street, and the city, and how the reopening of the surrounding plaza reconnects the synagogue with urban cultural and community life — reshaping the relationship between the sacred and the everyday. Alongside this, we examined the challenge of preserving the synagogue as an active place of worship while transforming it into an open, accessible civic landmark.