Exhibit, talk to feature synagogues of German architect

Exhibit,
talk to feature synagogues of German architect
…………………………………………………………………

BY B.J. ALMOND
Rice News Staff

Synagogues in
Germany that were designed by the son of Polish Holocaust
survivors will be featured in a free photo exhibit this
fall at the Margolis Gallery. The German architect, Alfred
Jacoby, will present two public lectures about his work
in September — one at Congregation Beth Israel’s
Margolis Gallery and one at Rice.

The photo exhibit,
titled “In a New Spirit: Synagogues of Germany,”
is on loan from the Mizel Museum of Judaica. It presents
the historical contexts of the new synagogues, pointing
out significant sites of World War II on which Jacoby has
built, including a place once occupied by a local Gestapo
headquarters and several sites that are former grounds of
synagogues destroyed during the Nazi era.

The building
of synagogues in Germany has traditionally been an expression
of emancipation for Jewish communities. Jacoby, considered
to be Germany’s leading designer of synagogues, said
he is building them “for Jews who are establishing
new communities in Germany.” The government of the
Federal Republic of Germany is subsidizing a large proportion
of the new synagogues.

Jacoby’s
parents settled in Germany after surviving the Polish Holocaust
after World War II. He studied in Cambridge, England, and
Zurich, Switzerland, and then opened his own firm in Frankfurt,
Germany. The recipient of the “Architects Under 40”
prize at the 1984 German Building Exhibition, Jacoby has
exhibited his work at the German Architecture Museum and
at the Venice Biennale. He has been a professor at the Bauhaus
in Dessau, Germany, since 1998.

The traveling
photo exhibit, which has been shown in Los Angeles, Washington,
D.C., Boston and Miami, showcases Jacoby’s exceptional
designs of elegance and spirituality. Its Houston debut
is being presented by Margolis Gallery, Rice University
School of Architecture, the Goethe Center for Central European
Studies at Rice and the Consulate General of the Federal
Republic of Germany.

The exhibit will
be on display from Sept. 6 through Nov. 30 at Margolis Gallery
at Congregation Beth Israel, 5600 Braeswood Blvd. The gallery
is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 10 a.m.
to 4 p.m. and 6 to 9:30 p.m. Friday; and 9 a.m. to noon
Sunday.

Jacoby will
discuss the architecture of the synagogues at 7 p.m. Sept.
5 at Farish Gallery in Anderson Hall at Rice. For more information
call (713) 348-5864.

An opening reception
will be held at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 6 at Margolis Gallery, followed
by a 7:30 p.m. lecture by Jacoby. For information call (713)
771-6221 or visit <www.beth-israel.org/committee/arts.asp>.