Synagogue square | Lviv

Lviv, Ukraine

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Synagogue square | Lviv

Lviv, Ukraine

Firm

michelangelo acciaro | architetti

Type

Cultural › Cultural Center Religious Memorial

YEAR

2010

SIZE

25,000 sqft - 100,000 sqft

BUDGET

$1M - 5M

The new Synagogue Square is a hybrid space of open edges and open centres; very few built signs frame the space. Implied rather than actual volumes are outlined in the disposition of spaces, in which the main public passages are also exterior meeting places. Exposed tension lines contribute to a linear architecture, whereas the interplay of light is controlled through shading created by the overlapping elements. There is no fixation on pre-conceived measures. All measures derive from the existing traces on the site. A huge glass front resurrects the facade of the Great City Synagogue along Brativ Rohatyntsiv street and results as an immense screen, on which photos of the synagogue itself or informational material will be projected during the evening hours. It is the entrance to the square and to a stair leading to a lookout point high above in the air, offering a view over the historic Jewish district and pointing to where the teaching building beit hamidrash and the golden rose synagogue once stood. The latter is wholly covered in glass, protecting the historic remains from the weather and revealing restoration-work-in-progress to all visitors: a precious stone. A ramp ascends beside the site of archeological excavation and rises to a platform above of it, bringing together restoration practice with information and educational purposes. The resulting architecture is a hybrid vision of future and past, combining them with each other.