entrance sufficient formal emphasis to enable it to be immediately recognisable from the road, and for this purpose a columnated porch seemed the most suitable architectural symbol, and had the advantage of long sanction by use. If brick, the porch would have been too inconspicuous, yet in stone it gives the impression of having been stuck on as an afterthought — as, in fact, it was. The only way to tie the entrance doorway to the building would have been by means of a stone string or band running across the façade and picking up the cornice or balustrade of the porch, and this would have meant a substantial alteration to the whole design. Before turning to the plans and interior, there is one more feature of the elevations which requires comment — namely, the fence, which is, or should be, an integral part of the design. This appears to be far too rustic in character and out of keeping with the distinctly urban style of the synagogue. A cast-iron gate with a low brick wall, or iron railings, would surely have been preferable here.
The plans seem admirable in every respect. The new transept and the platform for the Alemar harmonise well with the original building. At the rear, on the ground floor, are robing and choir rooms, and two staircases leading up to the choir and galleries, which are provided with two more exits at the other end. Adjoining the large vestibule there have been built a new secretary’s office and a strong room, and by these additions the elevations also have been improved.
Inside the auditorium, one’s attention is first claimed by black columns which are such a prominent feature of the design. They represent a compromise and it is not very difficult to reconstruct the arguments by which, in all probability, the architect justified them in his own mind. These columns have
both faults and virtues. Had they been white, it can scarcely be disputed that the Order, as it appears on gallery level, would have expressed its natural beauty far more clearly than it does now, for column and entablature are but one composition, and it is a grievous injury to the Order if these two elements are so emphatically separated in material, colour and tone. On the other hand, the Order also demands that the bases of the columns should be displayed, for these features should not resemble trees towering above an undergrowth of shrubbery, but self-conscious wholes whose vertical dimension has an æsthetic relationship with that of the entablature which surmounts them. Therefore, white columns on the ground floor level would here have been indefensible, because from most points of view the seats would have obscured their lower portions. By choosing black for the columns the architect has rendered them comparatively inconspicuous, but in so doing he has sacrificed the Gallery Order to that on the ground floor. But it must be admitted that the all-black columns are less harmful to the design than all-white ones would have been, although both gallery and ceiling now appear to be resting almost on nothing. The synagogue is well lit and ventilated, and the architects are to be congratulated upon a design which, in spite of a few blemishes, has a great measure of dignity and repose.
The Newport Corporation, Isle of Wight, have decided to appeal to the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings for the preservation of God’s Providence House. The building is not only beautiful, but of value as illustrating the history of English domestic architecture and the development of the technical crafts.
GOLDERS GREEN SYNAGOGUE, DUNSTAN ROAD, N. W. 11: VESTIBULE.
Messrs. Joseph, Architects.