The building is a laconic light gray rectangular volume. The main task of the architects was to create a structure, the architectural image of which would be distinguished by emphasized modernity and at the same time actively used the symbolism of Judaism. And although synagogues are traditionally rectangular in shape, the seARCH building is unmistakably new.
Synagogues are always built in such a way that their facade faces Jerusalem, where the Temple stood: for European synagogues, this means orienting to the east, and the Amsterdam building was no exception. Its main facade is exactly the eastern one, and the main axis around which the entire internal layout develops is east-west. This axis is fixed with the help of two giant stained-glass windows in the form of a seven-branched candlestick, and this is not just a decorative element: the “petals” of the menorah denote the tier balconies on which members of the community sit during the service. Thus, in the role of the "inextinguishable lamp", which in every synagogue is located above the ark - a cabinet with Torah scrolls, there is a giant window that fills the building with light.
The plane of the facade, not occupied by the stained-glass window, as well as the side facades are decorated with perforations, with numerous holes added to the stars of David. As conceived by the architects, the walls of the synagogue resemble thin, almost transparent layers of matzo.
A. M.
