Beth Sholom Synagogue stands not only as the only Frank Lloyd Wright-designed synagogue and his only non-Christian ecclesiastical design, but it is also hailed as one of his most significant commissions. Built between 1954 and 1959, the synagogue's design represents a physical manifestation of the religious tenets espoused in Judaism. The building boasts a unique pyramidal tower with a base of reinforced concrete, steel and glass. The unique hexagonal shape consists of three sides, with two sides converging at a fixed point opposite the main façade. Arks placed near the building's eastern axis face in the direction of Jerusalem, a building convention echoed in many other conservative Jewish synagogues built in the mid-twentieth century. The synagogue is also significant for the collaboration between Wright and the synagogue's rabbi, Mortimer J. Cohen, an unprecedented event in Wright's career. Beth Sholom was recognized by the American Institute of Architects and the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1959 as one of a handful of Wright-designed buildings that are of exceptional importance to American culture.

 

Exterior view of Tenement Building at 97 Orchard Street Photo courtesy of Lower East Side Tenement Museum

Built between 1863-1864, the tenement building at 97 Orchard Street is representative of the first surge in tenement construction in New York City propelled by the need to accommodate the large influx of immigrants that were settling in the Lower East Side during this period. The late nineteenth century saw a precipitous increase in Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe, many of whom settled in the Lower East Side. The building at 97 Orchard Street housed numerous ethnic groups including Germans, Irish, Greek and Spanish, however, the ethnic make-up of the tenement building between 1890 and well into the 1920s consisted entirely of Eastern European Jews. With its upper four floors remaining virtually untouched for sixty years, the building readily conveys to the present-day observer the harsh and confining living conditions experienced by many immigrants in New York City during the latter part of the nineteenth century, and Eastern European Jews in particular. During its period of highest use, as many as 10,000 people may have inhabited the tenement building at 97 Orchard Street.