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It is going up on Mission between 3rd and 4th Streets nearYerba Buena Gardens.
The CJM’s new facility has undergone several major transformations in the last few weeks. The signature blue steel ‘skin’ is now installed on about 45% of the exterior, and currently, the construction team in the process of cutting 36 skylights out of the roof of the Special Events Gallery, which overlooks Yerba Buena Lane.
When the building is completed these skylights will cast an ever changing pattern of light throughout the Gallery where visitors will be able to enjoy sound installations, musical performances, and special events.
Designed by renowned architectDaniel Libeskind, the new CJM building is an adaptive reuse of the historic Jesse Street Power Substation, which helped restore energy to San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake.
The new 63,000-square-foot facility will enable the CJM to expand its mission of engaging audiences and artists in exploring contemporary perspectives on Jewish culture, history, art, and ideas through innovative exhibitions and educational programs.
Read more about the new CJM building and it's renowned architect, Daniel Libeskind here.
2 comments:
Anonymous said...
The CJM building is based on the Hebrew word L’Chai’m which means To Life. The two Hebrew letters of Chai (with all their symbolic, mathematical and emblematic structure) are literally the life source and the form of the Museum. In the Jewish tradition, letters are not mere signs but are substantial participants in the story they create. Thus the spatiality of Chai - a fundamental emblem of Jewish life - will be experienced as a full dynamic movement responding to the many levels of interpretation this word possesses.
The entire building is a penetration of Chai /life into the Talmudic page structure where the margins and commentaries are as important as what is commented upon. No place in the finished Museum is unconnected to the whole, forming an organic structure of space and function. The entire Museum is a matrix calling forth interpretation by the visitor.
The building brings together the activities of the Jewish Museum, the fullness of the senses and emotions by weaving the themes of exhibition, education and knowledge for both Jews and non-Jews alike. It is the celebration of Jewish imagination and unity within the context of an evolving and developing history.
The new building is based on the unprecedented spaces created by the Chai: the Chet which provides an overall continuity for the core exhibition and the Yud, located on the pedestrian connector which gives a new identity to the power station. Together these letters and their meaning constitute a special emblem for the ongoing development of the Yerba Buena area.
The Jewish experience presented in this discourse of forms will engage both the Jewish and non-Jewish public with the image of a newly emerging Jewish-American identity. It will deal with the issues of imagination, creativity, vitality and access. The spaces and their programs will delve into the depths of Jewish spirit and celebrate the discovery and relevance of Jewish culture for all.
Visitors enter through the old, grandiose entrance of the power station. The entire ground level lobby with its restaurant, cafe and shop, reveals a dramatic view of the power station skylights and the Chai, the southern wing where the museum visit begins. An illuminated stair rises from the lobby through the southern edge of the Chet, crosses the central point of the Yud, and emerges into the northern wing of the Chet. The multi-purpose theatre, temporary exhibitions, educational services and administration spaces are integrated throughout the scheme.
Just as the fundamental concept of the new Contemporary Jewish Museum of San Francisco is L’Chai’m - To Life, so does the building seek to contribute a powerful new structure, traversing the substation, to the exciting Yerba Buena development. The discovery of the richness of Jewish culture will become an enduring magnet offering the public the opportunity to share a universal heritage.
I'm really impressed with this design. That whole Yerba Buena area is becoming a work of art in itself. The Yerba Buena Garden buildings, the MOMA, majestic old St. Pat's Church and now this stunning design - WOW!
2 comments:
The CJM building is based on the Hebrew word L’Chai’m which means To Life. The two Hebrew letters of Chai (with all their symbolic, mathematical and emblematic structure) are literally the life source and the form of the Museum. In the Jewish tradition, letters are not mere signs but are substantial participants in the story they create. Thus the spatiality of Chai - a fundamental emblem of Jewish life - will be experienced as a full dynamic movement responding to the many levels of interpretation this word possesses.
The entire building is a penetration of Chai /life into the Talmudic page structure where the margins and commentaries are as important as what is commented upon. No place in the finished Museum is unconnected to the whole, forming an organic structure of space and function. The entire Museum is a matrix calling forth interpretation by the visitor.
The building brings together the activities of the Jewish Museum, the fullness of the senses and emotions by weaving the themes of exhibition, education and knowledge for both Jews and non-Jews alike. It is the celebration of Jewish imagination and unity within the context of an evolving and developing history.
The new building is based on the unprecedented spaces created by the Chai: the Chet which provides an overall continuity for the core exhibition and the Yud, located on the pedestrian connector which gives a new identity to the power station. Together these letters and their meaning constitute a special emblem for the ongoing development of the Yerba Buena area.
The Jewish experience presented in this discourse of forms will engage both the Jewish and non-Jewish public with the image of a newly emerging Jewish-American identity. It will deal with the issues of imagination, creativity, vitality and access. The spaces and their programs will delve into the depths of Jewish spirit and celebrate the discovery and relevance of Jewish culture for all.
Visitors enter through the old, grandiose entrance of the power station. The entire ground level lobby with its restaurant, cafe and shop, reveals a dramatic view of the power station skylights and the Chai, the southern wing where the museum visit begins. An illuminated stair rises from the lobby through the southern edge of the Chet, crosses the central point of the Yud, and emerges into the northern wing of the Chet. The multi-purpose theatre, temporary exhibitions, educational services and administration spaces are integrated throughout the scheme.
Just as the fundamental concept of the new Contemporary Jewish Museum of San Francisco is L’Chai’m - To Life, so does the building seek to contribute a powerful new structure, traversing the substation, to the exciting Yerba Buena development. The discovery of the richness of Jewish culture will become an enduring magnet offering the public the opportunity to share a universal heritage.
Daniel Libeskind
(daniel-libeskind dot com)
I'm really impressed with this design. That whole Yerba Buena area is becoming a work of art in itself. The Yerba Buena Garden buildings, the MOMA, majestic old St. Pat's Church and now this stunning design - WOW!
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