University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 1996 The Subversive Utopia: Louis Kahn and the Question of the National Jewish Style in Jerusalem Yasir Mohammed Sakr University of Pennsylvania Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Architecture Commons Recommended Citation Sakr, Yasir Mohammed, "The Subversive Utopia: Louis Kahn and the Question of the National Jewish Style in Jerusalem" (1996). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 2675. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2675 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2675 For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Subversive Utopia: Louis Kahn and the Question of the National Jewish Style in Jerusalem Abstract This dissertation examines the critical role of modern architects in shaping and transforming national Israeli symbols with special regard to Jerusalem. According to customary views, Zionist symbols image the secular state of Israel as an emancipation of the Jewish nation from the oppressive Diaspora past. The first part of this study analyzes pre-1967 designs, by architects including Baehrwald, Geddes, Mendelsohn, "Bauhaus" practitioners, and Rau that attempted to construct a Jewish style relating these national symbols. Images of the Diaspora in their designs are shown to conceal areas of tension with official Zionist memory. Louis Kahn's later design of the Khurvah synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem creatively exploited this tension to redefine the national style. As a case study, Kahn's design distinctly shows that the shaping of national symbols and memory is a process contested not only by competing state institutions, but by marginal elements, in this case individual architects. This challenges the predominant view that national symbols are forged, consolidated, and disseminated by cohesive state institutions, collective power-structures, and ruling elites. The present study scrutinizes and pieces together discrepant archival documents, drawings, and accounts of what were commonly regarded as unrelated intentions, interpretations, events, policies, and projects in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, to reveal a crucial unrecognized aspect of Kahn's Khurvah design. I specifically analyze the interplay of Kahn's double metaphor with the competing traditional and national symbols of Jerusalem, such as the old Khurvah, the western Wall, and most importantly, the mythical Temple and the Dome of the Rock. The analysis reconstructs the continued drastic impact of the transformation of Kahn's idiosyncratic metaphor into an authoritative symbol, even more into a subversive utopia, on shaping Jerusalem and national memory. The impact of Kahn's paradoxical metaphor is traced through analysis of subsequent archaeological excavation, planning and designs for the Jewish Quarter and its structures, including the western Wall plaza, the Cardo, and the Khurvah synagogue proposed by Safdie, Lasdun, Bugod and others. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Architecture First Advisor Joseph Rykwert Subject Categories Architecture This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2675 THE SUBVERSIVE UTOPIA: LOUIS KAHN AND THE QUESTION OF THE NATIONAL JEWISH STYLE IN JERUSALEM YASIR SAKR A DISSERTATION in Architecture Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 1996 Supervisoripervisor or Dissertation J / 7 - r .... Graduate Group Chairperson Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. COPYRIGHT YASIR SAKR 1996 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT THE SUBVERSIVE UTOPIA: LOUIS KAHN AND THE QUESTION OF THE NATIONAL JEWISH STYLE IN JERUSALEM. YASIR SAKR JOSEPH RYKWERT This dissertation examines the critical role of modern architects in shaping and transforming national Israeli symbols with special regard to Jerusalem. According to customary views, Zionist symbols image the secular state of Israel as an emancipation of the Jewish nation from the oppressive Diaspora past. The first part of this study analyzes pre-1967 designs, by architects including Baehrwald, Geddes, Mendelsohn, "Bauhaus" practitioners, and Rau that attempted to construct a Jewish style relating these national symbols. Images of the Diaspora in their designs are shown to conceal areas of tension with official Zionist memory. Louis Kahn's later design of the Khurvah synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem creatively exploited this tension to redefine the national style. As a case study, Kahn's design distinctly shows that the shaping of national symbols and memory is a process contested not only by competing state institutions, but by marginal elements, in this case individual architects. This challenges the predominant view that national symbols are forged, consolidated, and disseminated by cohesive state institutions, collective power-structures, and ruling elites. The present study scrutinizes and pieces together discrepant archival documents, drawings, and accounts of what were commonly regarded as unrelated intentions, interpretations, events, policies, and projects in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, to reveal a crucial unrecognized aspect of Kahn’s Khurvah design. I specifically analyze iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. the interplay of Kahn's double metaphor with the competing traditional and national symbols of Jerusalem, such as the old Khurvah, the western Wall, and most importantly, the mythical Temple and the Dome of the Rock. The analysis reconstructs the continued drastic impact of the transformation of Kahn’s idiosyncratic metaphor into an authoritative symbol, even more into a subversive utopia, on shaping Jerusalem and national memory. The impact of Kahn’s paradoxical metaphor is traced through analysis of subsequent archaeological excavation, planning and designs for the Jewish Quarter and its structures, including the western Wall plaza, the Cardo, and the Khurvah synagogue proposed by Safdie, Lasdun, Bugod and others. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Acknowledgments I would first like to thank my dissertation committee members. Professor Joseph Rykwert, my advisor, was for six years a true Socratic midwife, inspiring me with his uncompromisingly high academic standards and preeminent knowledge, while allowing my pursuits a considerable margin of independence. Our discussions usually took place outside the institution, over coffee, lunch, or dinner. There, our intellectual relationship deepened as our personal relationship evolved into friendship. Professor Paul Ricoeur, my spiritual mentor, simply overwhelmed me with his great compassion and humility, which are equalled only by his scholarship. I was touched by his hospitality and solicitude and honored to share his quest for understanding. Professor Kenneth Frampton was always perceptive of the true implications of my research, unfailingly forthcoming and supportive. His intellectual enthusiasm imparted a crucial early motivation to my doctoral studies. Professor Marco Frascari also provided important encouragement and moral support. As a chairman of the Ph.D. program in Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, he facilitated my doctoral research in many ways. I would like to thank the informal readers of either my thesis or other preliminary research, whose comments were integral to its eventual development, especially Yael Zerubavel, Samuel Klausner, David Leatherbrow, and Kamal Abu-Deeb. I extend my gratitude to various individuals who facilitated my field research in Jerusalem in 1994 including Peter Bugod, David Kroyanker, Fahmy al-Ansari and the wonderful staff of v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. the American Institute of Archaeological research (W. F. Albright), particularly Munira and Edna who made me feel at home there. I would like to acknowledge the institutions which provided grant support for my dissertation research and general Doctoral studies, including the U.S.I.A Junior research fellowship (1996), the FLASS fellowship in Hebrew and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Pennsylvania (1992- 95), niT, and Iqra' Foundation. My deep appreciation goes to my loyal friends in Philadelphia and elsewhere without whose physical, intellectual, or moral support I could not have completed my dissertation. They include Fuad Malkawi, Mary Martin, Toby Martinez, and especially the selfless Fassil Zewedou and Khalid Blankenship. Stan Anderson continued to act as a trusted teacher and friend especially at times of difficulty. Mike Halpern has in my heart and mind the special place of a brother. It is a pleasure to acknowledge the distinctive support provided also by my other brothers overseas, Khalid Asfour, Khalid Nusseibah, and especially Omar Imady. My deepest gratitude goes to my family including my father, brothers, sisters, and parents-in-law. My children Aiya and Abdur-Rahman brought to my life a brimming sense of joy, innocence, and energy. They simply restored the child spirit in me. My mother, Suad