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Friday April 20, 2007

It’s official: Emanu-El is a San Francisco gem

by joe eskenazi
staff writer

Perched atop a hill at Gough and Geary streets sits St. Mary’s Cathedral — which looks enough like an agitator in a giant washing machine that the church has picked up the nickname Our Lady of Maytag.

And then there’s the Transamerica Pyramid, which has little to recommend it beyond being massive and pyramid-like.

Those were two of the less-than-universally beloved buildings selected for the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects recently released list of San Francisco’s top 25 buildings.

Another choice might be less controversial: Congregation Emanu-El’s majestic, 82-year-old home on Lake Street near the Presidio. The mustard-colored, Spanish-style dome, coupled with the temple’s gargantuan pair of circular, stained-glass windows (“Fire” and “Water”) achieve a subtle balancing act: Emanu-El is grand yet welcoming.

The 1925 structure is “for us, a sacred trust, and inherent in that is a dedication to maintain, enhance and fill it with life,” said Emanu-El’s Rabbi Peretz Wolf-Prusan.

“Every day I cross the courtyard, I thank my forebears, especially the Jews who survived the earthquake and rebuilt so beautifully.”

Emanu-El’s prior home, a distinctive synagogue featuring massive twin towers, was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and fire. Its charred, gutted towers are prominently featured in Dresden-like, post-quake photos.

The list of 25 structures was divided into five categories: religious, residential, commercial, historic and civic. Like the AIA’s list of “America’s 150 Favorite Structures,” released two months ago, the local compilation is a guaranteed conversation-starter.

Emanu-El was the only synagogue on the list. In addition to St. Mary’s, the other houses of worship to make the cut were Swedenborgian Church on Lyon Street, First Unitarian Church on Franklin Street and, of course, Grace Cathedral atop Nob Hill.

For more information, visit www.aiasf.org.

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