Louis I. Kahn's Jewish Architecture: Mikveh Israel and the Midcentury American Synagogue

In 1961, famed architect Louis I. Kahn (1901–1974) received a commission to design a new synagogue. His client was one of the oldest Sephardic Orthodox congregations in the United States: Philadelphia’s Mikveh Israel. Due to the loss of financial backing, Kahn’s plans were never realized. Nevertheless, the haunting and imaginative schemes for Mikveh Israel remain among Kahn’s most revered designs.

Susan G. Solomon uses Kahn’s designs for Mikveh Israel as a lens through which to examine th…