Illuminating Synagogues
Providing the right light for holy buildings is a topic we have been tackling for about fifteen years now. Through our collaboration with the Frankfurt-based architect Alfred Jacoby we were awarded a commission to design the lighting for the synagogues in Aachen, Chemnitz, Darmstadt, Heidelberg, and Kassel, not to mention a synagogue room in Cologne.
The essential idea behind the brief was to come up with the right design for those cult objects which related to light: the Menorah, the seven-branched candle-holder which is supposed to be reminiscent of the lost candelabrum from the temple of Jerusalem, the Kaddish candle in memory of the dead, the chandelier and the Eternal Light.
We first had to gain a precise understanding of the specific interior of the synagogue and its cult objects in order to come up with new contemporary forms for the illumination. In this regard, we always endeavored to forge a clear relationship between the lighting and the respective architecture, taking into account the different spatial conditions. Consequently for some buildings we created festive chandeliers while for others we stuck to a simple Menorah and Eternal Light.
In all our designs we chose the circular form for chandeliers, divided into six segments. Into the later versions we also always integrated the shape of the Star of David. With its interpenetrating straight lines this graphic symbol offers a wealth of interpretative possibilities and variations in three-dimensional design. In one case, simple tubes make up the shape of the star, in another it is elliptical glass segments or the entire body of the luminaire quotes the form. The design explicitly makes it clear that this special form of chandelier can only hang in a synagogue.
With the Menorah – the second important object that must not be absent in any synagogue – starting initially with a somewhat traditional design for a seven-branched candleholder we gradually shifted to a more abstract design for this powerful symbol. And the result is a simple but sublime form, specifically in the Kassel Synagogue. Here, just a few translucent straight lines form the image of the Menorah behind a dark blue square of glass. At Chemnitz we varied this principle of graphic representation. There a luminous body forms the background for a silhouette of the Menorah. Varying a theme in this way is what makes such assignments especially appealing and challenging, and we approached the task with much enthusiasm and joy.
Indeed, finding the appropriate solution for the Eternal Light also entailed touching on the everlasting – something, no doubt, to which many designers aspire in their work.
We consistently used new LEDs instead of lamps: these last up to 100,000 hours. In formal terms we distanced ourselves from the traditional form of a lit candle when devising the Eternal Light and instead often opted for the form of an illuminated red cylinder set in a tranquil surface. Finding the right design for the Kaddish Light or Light of Death inevitably confronts the designer with the finality of human existence. A memorial plaque with name tags is placed at the entrance of the synagogue in memory of those who have died and on the respective days they died the particular name is illuminated with a light. Here again we drew on that powerful strong symbol of Judaism, the star of David, and in most instances combined this with light – by backlighting or illuminating the form; it usually constitutes the “head” of a plaque to which the respective name tags of those who have died are attached.
The confidence the architects in the Jacoby office had in our work meant that we were able to create the designs exactly as we wished. The respective Jewish communities also gave us a free hand so that as a rule we did not need to compromise at all when devising strongly symbolic dedicated luminaires.
