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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/37479/full/37479/s.f.-synagogue-is-a-watermelon-of-a-winner/ <br /><br /> <b>S.F. synagogue is a ‘watermelon’ of a winner</b> <br /> Thursday, March 12, 2009 | by amanda pazornik <br /><br /><p>The “big cheese” just won a big award. <br /><br />Perhaps I should clarify that statement. <br /><br />Back in August, the newly designed sanctuary at Congregation Beth Sholom, a Conservative synagogue in San Francisco’s Richmond District, was likened to a wedge of cheddar, a slice of yellow squash and a half-pipe that any skateboarder would dream of shredding.<br /><br />And those were some of the nicer comparisons.<br /><br />There were comments-a-plenty when San Francisco Chronicle writer John King featured Beth Sholom’s unconventional architecture in his “Place” column last summer.</p> <p>Mixed in with the positive remarks were some nasty ones, most notably a “modern monstrosity,” a “design horror” and a “bit of a county jail mixed with the Guggenheim.”  <br /><br />Well, every naysayer who left (or thought about leaving) comments on SFGate.com would certainly have a bone to pick with a jury of prominent architects who recently named Beth Sholom the best new building in San Francisco. <br /><br /><img alt="building_beth_sholom_360" height="230" src="/images/uploads/blog_art/building_beth_sholom_360.jpg" title="building_beth_sholom_360" width="360" /></p> <p>According to King, the structure designed by Stanley Saitowitz with a “bowl-like sanctuary of golden concrete atop zinc-clad offices” is one of three recipients of an Honor award in architecture from the San Francisco chapter of the American Institute of Architects.</p> <p>Other winners included the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland and the Final(ly) House, a structure slid against a Sausalito Ridge that boasts a grass roof, King notes.</p> <p>It's easy to see why the panel of architects presented Beth Sholom with such an accolade. The sanctuary features stadium seating for 650, and a state-of-the-art LED yahrzeit wall and ner tamid. There's also a futuristic staircase, the calming rock garden beneath it and exterior curves that halt plenty of passers-by.</p> <p>Pretty remarkable considering just months ago, people were referring to the synagogue, which sits at the southwest corner of Clement Street and 14th Avenue, as a “toilet bowl.” <br /><br />“That reference offends me, but it shows human creativity,” Rabbi Micah Hyman told me in August. “Don’t think I didn’t think about getting a skateboard out – that half-pipe is amazing. Great buildings should cause a reaction. It’s good stuff.</p> <p>What's your take on Beth Sholom's award-winning building? Share your comments below!</p> <p><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/10/DDNN16ALG0.DTL">Click here to read King's column<br /></a></p>

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