#5 in the Frank L. Wright Series: Beth Sholom Congregation

1. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

2. Emil Bach House

3. The Imperial Hotel

4. Johnson Wax Headquarters

5. Beth Sholom Congregation

This is the whole building from the front

This is the whole building from the back

This is a detail of the roof decoration

This is a Jewish synagogue built in 1954-59.

It it a very striking building, designed in Mayan Revival Style, (like the Imperial Hotel), making look like a ancient temple. It is a large synagogue, holding at the most, 1,120 people! There are two different sanctuaries, the larger one, holding 1,020 people on the second level, ( to make people feel they are closer to heaven), and the second one, holding 100, on the first level. Most of the roof is fiberglass and plastic, letting in light into the building during the day, and glowing with interior lighting at night. 

It has a large fountain that people can wash there hands at before and after the service 25 ft. in front of the building. The building is owned by the Frank Lloyd Wright Historic Society, so the congregation can't change anything without their approval! As a result, the main sanctuary is very cold in the winter.

This is the only synagogue Frank Lloyd Wright ever designed, and one of his most expressive places of worship.