© Roland Halbe
Situated at the heart of Munich, the Jewish Centre is surrounded by a series of public open spaces, paths and passageways, which serve to integrate the ensemble into the surrounding urban fabric. The synagogue, the most important of the three structures that go to make up this complex, opens on to a public square to the east. On its other faces, a balancing counterweight is formed by the Jewish Museum and the community centre. The closed, stone-clad base of the synagogue, which makes reference to the enduring nature of the Temple of Solomon, forms a protective enclosure for the prayer space. Rising above this is a finely articulated steel lantern structure. Enclosed in a casing of bronze mesh, the translucent multilayer skin is a remiscence of the first Israelite shrine, the tabernacle tent, which could be dismantled and transported from place to place.