Standing out against the west face of Mount Franklin and positioned to prevent future incursions behind it that might obstruct its profile, the white, cowl-like light cone of Temple Mount Sinai rises to the sky. The long, low building of plain stucco walls containing the temple’s functions is barely visible upon approaching the site from downhill. The folded-plate, triangular shape of the light cone illuminating the Zork Memorial Sanctuary is both primal and profound as an architectural image. In its landscape of strategically placed cypress trees and rubble-stone retaining walls, the building hints at an ancient presence. Beverly Hills–based Eisenshtat designed the interior fittings, including the ark and a lectern inspired by the Tree of Life symbol. Eisenshtat and Carroll and Daeuble collaborated on the Haymon Krupp Memorial Chapel added in 1965, which is used for religious services as well as weddings and funerals. The steel and concrete building’s ceiling is curved like the lines of a tent to memorialize the years of Israelite exile in the desert. The stained glass is by Jean-Jacques Duval of the Duval Glass Company of New York. Eckbo, Dean, Austin and Williams of Los Angeles were the landscape architects.
You are here
Temple Mount Sinai
1962, 1965, Sidney Eisenshtat and Associates, with Carroll and Daeuble and Associates; Eckbo, Dean, Austin and Williams, landscape architects. 4408 N. Stanton St.
If SAH Archipedia has been useful to you, please consider supporting it.
SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. But the Society of Architectural Historians, which created SAH Archipedia with University of Virginia Press, needs your support to maintain the high-caliber research, writing, photography, cartography, editing, design, and programming that make SAH Archipedia a trusted online resource available to all who value the history of place, heritage tourism, and learning.