Commissioned to evaluate the viability of a music performance venue within the iconic dome of Park Synagogue, originally designed by Erich Mendelsohn, the study confronted a central paradox: one of the most spatially transcendent rooms in the region is acoustically inhospitable to music.

The sanctuary’s hemispherical geometry, celebrated for its symbolic and formal power, produces focal reflections, flutter echoes, and severe sound concentration. Rather than dismiss the ambition outright, the team pursued an exhaustive series of analytical and design pathways, including suspended acoustic clouds, Reflective panel systems, seating arrangements, and isolated performance enclosures inserted within the dome.

Each strategy was evaluated for acoustic performance, reversibility, cost, and impact on the architectural integrity of Mendelsohn’s landmark. The work balanced preservation ethics with performance demands, asking whether a sacred volume could accommodate a new civic program without compromising its identity. Ultimately reframing feasibility not as a yes-or-no proposition, but as a question of values: how much intervention is acceptable in order to transform an icon into an instrument and what kind of performance the dome could responsibly host.

Park Synagogue

#Design (5 files)

#Detail (3 files)

#In Play (8 files)