20 months after the ground breaking
ceremony, ksg is handing over the synagogue to the Jewish community of Ulm. The
large window with the Star of David pattern indicates the direction of
Jerusalem. Federal president Joachim Gauck will hold the opening speech on
December 2nd 2012.
kister scheithauer gross architects and
urban planners (ksg) have completed the community centre and synagogue for the
Jewish community of Ulm.
In 2009, the Israelite Religious Community
in Württemberg (IRGW) decided to build a new synagogue for its orthodox
community in Ulm and, together with the city of Ulm, initiated a competition.
The city placed the building site in the middle of the Weinhof, just a stone’s
throw from the former synagogue, which was destroyed during Kristallnacht.
“The team from Cologne succeeded in
enriching this highly sensitive location in the city of Ulm, without detracting
from its unique character,” said the city’s head of construction, Alexander
Wetzig, following the jury’s decision in January 2010.
In the completed build, the cuboid is
lower and shorter than initially planned during the competition. It is now 24
meters wide, 16 deep and at 17 meters high, much lower than the nearby
Schwörhaus.
“The synagogue and the Jewish community
centre are included in one single structure. The compact cuboid is free
standing in the square. This position is historical: in the Kristallnacht in
1938, the former synagogue, which was enclosed in a road side development, was
destroyed. After World War II, a secular building was constructed in the space.
The synagogue and the Jewish community lost its ancestral place in the centre
of Ulm. The construction of the current synagogue has opened a new site, in the
middle of the square. It is as though the synagogue has taken a step forward
from its former position, it has reclaimed its location. With no constructed
borders, it stands abrupt and solitary on the Weinhof,” explains Prof. Susanne
Gross regarding the urban building concept.
All the spaces of the community centre and
the synagogue are joined in the smooth structure: the foyer, synagogue, Mikvah
(ritual bath), meeting hall, school and administrative rooms as well as the
child day care centre with outdoor playing area, which is directly above the sacral
room.
The rooms are arranged orthogonally. Only
the synagogue follows the line of the only, free-standing support in the
building, in a diagonal direction. The direction facing south-east has an
overlying religious meaning behind it: its geographical direction is directly
towards Jerusalem, the spiritual and religious centre of Judaism.
The diagonal room layout creates a corner
window in the sacral room, which plays with a pattern of the Star of David as a
space framework. With 600 openings, the synagogue is illuminated from many
points, with the focal point being the liturgical centrepiece; the Torah
shrine. The perforations in the façade created with a high-pressure water jet,
illuminate the shrine inside and project the idea of the synagogue outwards.
The interior fittings of the synagogue are
partially based on ksg plans, such as the dodecagon holder, a symbol for the
twelve lines of the people of Israel. Rabbi Shneur Trebnik, together with the
IRGW representatives, selected the seating and ordered the construction of the
Torah shrine, including the bimah, a raised platform with a lectern, from which
the Torah is dictated. All three elements were constructed in Israel.
The prayer room offers space for 125
people, including 40 spaces in the women’s gallery. The building will be full
to capacity during the opening on Sunday, December 2nd 2012. In addition to the 300 invited
guests, Federal President Joachim Gauck, Federal Minister for Education Annette
Schavan and Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann as well as the Israeli Deputy
Prime Minister Silvan Shalom will also be attending.
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