Progress in synagogue design in the latest decade will make a most interesting section in the history of American architecture for its intensity of change, its evolutionary richness and its variety of solution and expression.
This evaluation was made at the national conference on synagogue architecture and art now being held at the Barbizon-Plaza Hotel under the auspices of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. Richard M. Bennett, a fellow of the American Institute of Architects, addressing the conference, added that “not all the work being done is good, but pointed out that the many of the synagogue buildings erected recently transcend architecture and are “a cultural, spiritual whole.”
Other architects who addressed the conference stressed that religious groups have always been patrons of the arts. They emphasized that Judaism has no coherent tradition of design, such as the Gothic, and is therefore making greater use of contemporary design in an effort to express itself in American terms.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
