Building of the Day: 145 8th Ave
(Photo: Property Shark) The BOTD is a no-frills look at interesting structures of all types and from all neighborhoods. There will be old, new, important, forgotten, public, private, good and bad. Whatever strikes our fancy. We hope you enjoy. Address: 145 8th Ave, corner of Garfield Pl. Name: Temple Beth Elohim Neighborhood: Park Slope Year…
(Photo: Property Shark)
The BOTD is a no-frills look at interesting structures of all types and from all neighborhoods. There will be old, new, important, forgotten, public, private, good and bad. Whatever strikes our fancy. We hope you enjoy.
Address: 145 8th Ave, corner of Garfield Pl.
Name: Temple Beth Elohim
Neighborhood: Park Slope
Year Built: 1908-1910
Architectural Style: Beaux-Arts Classical Revival
Architects: Simon Eisendrath & B. Horowitz
Landmarked: Yes
Why chosen: This is a magnificent building, for a number of reasons. Architecturally, it is perfectly situated on this corner, at the beginning of one of Park Slope’s impressive blocks leading to Prospect Park. The entrance, on the diagonal, neither on 8th Ave nor Garfield, is welcoming, and just impressive enough, situated between 2 columns, with a beautiful stained glass window framed between those columns. From the street, you get the sense of the massing behind the entryway, in the way the architects made the 8th Ave and the Garfield Place sides of the building virtually identical, with the dome barely visible above the center of the synagogue. The classicism of the building is not mirrored anywhere around, in the residential architecture, but it works, standing out, but in a scale that is not overpowering. Eisendrath and Horowitz were expert temple designers. They would go on to design the very impressive Shaare Zedek Synagogue on the corner of Park Place and Kingston Avenue, in Crown Heights, now a church. That temple was built in 1923, and is also in a very classical Grec-Roman mold. I have a theory that the wealthy congregations who built both of these synagogues wanted buildings that would not alienate their gentile neighbors, who were very suspicious of their faith in the first place. These buildings are familiar to any well educated person of the time, sturdy and elegant, and very beautiful. They add to the large pantheon of Brooklyn’s incredibly well designed and beautiful sacred spaces.
Was inside on a house tour years ago – beautiful.
Remember hearing aout the ceiling collapse – so sorry the congregation can’t use it again yet.
We joined this synagogue because of the architecture. Great piece, but you neglect to mention that Senator Chuck Schumer is a member (although I’ve never actually seen him at high holiday services).
awesome building. i have to start, eh, looking up when im walking around and maybe ill notice these buildings i often pass in person one day!
*rob*
By Kensington Lite on January 27, 2011 4:26 PM
Montrose, keep up the good work with this series. I’ve learned a lot by reading.
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Here, here. Best part of the blog by a country mile.
I had friends who lived near this building and I always enjoyed passing it. A great choice for BOTD. I would like to see the interior.
Here is one nice Catholic boy who loves this building and is impressed every time I pass by.
Montrose, keep up the good work with this series. I’ve learned a lot by reading.
I’ve seen pictures of the interior and it is impressive. I understand that the congregation is unable to use the space do to some issue with a piece of the ceiling falling. They do use the community building across the street which is a very impressive building in its own right.
I think this building was meant to impress. It was designed in the latest architectural taste of the day, with the best materials, and it is grandly scaled. That corner entrance is a real statement. The curved and triangular pediments are used in a very dramatic and original manner as well.
This is a religious building that proclaims the sophistication and wealth of its members.