Architecture – The Jewish Center on St. Jakobs Platz
On St. Jakobs Platz, in the immediate vicinity of the city’s central square – Marienplatz and the market – the »Viktualienmarkt« – is a unique architectural ensemble which makes a decisive contribution to the vitality and multiplicity of Munich’s urban community: The »Jewish Center«, comprising the main synagogue, inaugurated in 2006, the »Gemeindezentrum der Israelitischen Kultusgemeinde München und Oberbayern« – the Jewish Community Center – and the Jewish Museum Munich, opened in 2007, administered by the City of Munich.
The competition design, with its three independent, cuboidal buildings, submitted by the team of architects, Wandel, Hoefer, Lorch, ultimately convinced the jury. The skillful creation of one architectural entity, despite being made up of three separate buildings, was made possible through the use of travertine, quarried in the Swabian Jura, which visually links the complex. The impression of uniformity is underlined through the successful articulation created between the individual design elements and enlivened by visual axes and openings between the three buildings which are accessible to the general public.