Why has one building in Crown Heights, Brooklyn been painstakingly recreated all over the world, from São Paulo to Melbourne, Los Angeles to Milan? Because the building, 770 Eastern Parkway, is the headquarters of Chabad Lubavitch, the Hasidic sect known for its outreach to Jews around the globe. And 2 photographers, Andrea Robbins and Max Becher, have traveled the world documenting all 12-going-on-13 replicas.
The Gothic-style red brick building that used to house a medical clinic is such an icon that Chabad centers all over the world are often built to look exactly like the original, which was made famous by the 7th Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
So what does it look like when this Brooklyn-style building gets plopped down in the hills of South America, or on a busy European street? You have to see it to believe it—or just see 770, Robbins and Becher’s project featuring the buildings and their strangely incongruous surroundings.
What’s your favorite? The one in São Paulo is a top contender for ours.
