Architect Nili Portugali MaimonIdes Central Synagogue Israel

8/9/2019 Architect Nili Portugali MaimonIdes Central Synagogue Israel

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The idea behind the design of the central Sephardic

synagogue was to attempt to revive traditional design

patterns based on both Maimonides halachic rulings(the laws he set down in his bookHayad Hahazaka)

and Talmudic literature as it was passed on to me by

the beadles of the synagogues in Safad, capital of the

Galilee, home and birthplace of Judaisms mystical

stream of the Kabbala, and infuse into them a new

meaning, in line with the program for this synagogue,

and in accordance with the immediate landscape.

THE MAIMONIDES CENTRAL SEPHARADI

SYNAGOGUE

Hadera, Israel

Competition Entry - First

Prize

I endeavored to captivate in this building the timeless

spiritual exaltation that we experience in places of

worship of every religion, in any culture we know, afeeling that worshippers underwent in synagogues

where Maimonides prayed, such as the Iben Denan

Synagogue in Fez, Morocco, the Ben-Ezra Synagogue

in Cairo, Egypt, or the Abuhab Sephardic Synagogue

in Safad, Israel. That deep feeling that opens your

heart when entering places of worship, stems from the

structural properties of the building itself.


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Cut-away axono-

metric of building.


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The courtyard at the front of the building forms a

transition area, separating that which is holy from the

secular. Access to the courtyard is via a wide staircase,

located in between two existing eucalyptus trees to

exalt the house of the Lord. The gates at the entrance

to the courtyard are the Gates of Prayer. At the

courtyards center of gravity is a water fountain; water

being the symbol of life in all religions.

At the main entrance door to the building there is a

stair leading down into the synagogue, as it says,

From the depths I call to thee, Oh Lord.

Wide staircase

located between

two existing

trees, leading to

the Gates of

Prayer.

Main entrance

door


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Perspective

drawing of the

entrance court-

yard separating

the holy from the

secular.

Main entrance

elevation

Entrace Court-

yard, Haari

Ashkenazic syna-

gogue, Safad.


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The synagogue seats 450 worshippers, 300 men in the

main hall and 150 in the womens section. The wall of

the Holy Ark(which holds the Torah scrolls) faces

Jerusalem. In the center of the hall there are four

pillars, corresponding to the number of theMatriarchs, structurally dividing the hall into 9

sections, corresponding to the nine months of

pregnancy.

The Sephardic synagogue had its roots in the Eastern

culture of the Islamic lands and thus was influenced

by the structure of the mosque. The seats (as in

mosques) are arranged around the walls,

perpendicular to and at an equal distance from the axis

that links the Holy Ark and the bimah (dais), where

the reader of the Torah portion stands.

The bimah stands on 8 pillars, equal to the 8 days of

Hanukah. Over the bimah there is a dome with 12

windows, representing the Twelve Tribes. The

building is constructed of white plaster incorporated

with regionally quarried sandstone used for the frames

of the doors and windows, the arches of the arcade and

the floor tiles of the courtyard.

Cut-away detail

of the dome.

Traditional pat-

terns of seats

along the walls,

bimah with 8

pillars and dome

with 12

windows.

Abuhab Syna-

gogue, Safad.

Construction

detail:Two windows,

forming one win-

dow alcove.


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Perspective

drawing of the

interior.

The Holy Ark

has three doors,

each opened

once a year.


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Nili Portugali is a practicing architect working in

Israel for more than 30 years teaching at the Faculty of Architecture

and Town Planning, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa(until 2006 at the Bezalel Academy of Art & Design, Architectural

Department, Jerusalem).Her work has focused on both practice andtheory, and is tightly connected to the holistic-phenomenological

school of thought.

She is a graduate of the Architectural Association School of

Architecture (A.A), London (Diploma 1973). She studied architecture

and Buddhism at the University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A (1979-

81), and worked and participated in research with Prof. Christopher

Alexander at the Center for Environmental Structure, BerkeleyCalifornia.

Portugali has won prizes in competitions; she is invited to

lectures in international conferences and participates in various

exhibitions in Israel and abroad. She has published many articles on

architecture and her work is documented in professional magazines, in

the press and on television. She was Member of Special Committee

for the authorization of schools of Architecture in Israel at the Council

for Higher Education.

She has just published her new book which was selected among the

24 books of the year 2007 by the Roya Institute of British Architects

International Book Award

The Act of Creation and the Spirit of a PlaceA Holistic- Phenomenological Approach to Architecture

/Axel Menges Stuttgart-London 2006

For More details on Nili Portugalis work & Bookplease see: www.niliportugali.com

Architect Nili Portugali MaimonIdes Central Synagogue Israel

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