From the Past to the Future. The New (Old) Urban Concepts through Louis I. Kahn

Soon after the Six-Day War, the Jewish Community started to work on the reconstruction of their Quarter on the Old City. One of their first goals was to rebuild the Hurva Synagogue, an important Jewish structure destroyed two decades ago during the Arab-Israeli War. Louis Kahn, as one the most important Jewish architects in that time, was invited to propose a new synagogue, a new landmark for the Jewish Community. This was the first time that Kahn had to face with an important historical context, and not only due to its architectural heritage but also its symbolic connotations. He never revealed the references that influenced his design for the Hurva’s Synagogue, if there were some specific ones, but his project shows some Roman influences and especially some lessons learnt during his stage at the American Academy in Rome. For example, Kahn applied in Jerusalem some urban techniques used to shape Rome during the Baroque period, but also some gestures and forms typical from the Mediterranean Classical cities and buildings. Therefore, this paper will attempt to unfold Kahn's interpretation of some old (Classical) urban implications on the design of his new Hurva Synagogue and its surroundings.