Background
Percival Goodman was born on January 13, 1904 in New York City. Son of Barnet and Augusta (Goodman) Goodman.
Percival Goodman was born on January 13, 1904 in New York City. Son of Barnet and Augusta (Goodman) Goodman.
Born in New York, he studied there and in France, and later became a professor of architecture at Columbia University.
Aside from being a talented architect, he was also a city planner and a designer of furniture for mass production.
Coming to the building of synagogues out of a belief in Jewish kinship, rather than faith, he sought to express the human element of the congregation rather than the overwhelming aspect of divinity in his designs. Thus his buildings are modest and intimate. Their emphasis on lightness and portability attempts to evoke the nomadic element of the Jewish people, while their size and style and the use of such materials as wood, weaving, mosaic, and stained glass, generate a feeling of warmth.
Unlike many of his contemporaries, for whom art was only a tool of architecture, he believed that art must be permitted an independent role in the svnagogue. He maintained that the artist can express aspects of tradition that the building alone cannot convey. Setting a trend for modern synagogue architecture, he tended to dedicate specific space to artistic objects, rather than integrating objects of art into his architecture. In this respect he was also a catalyst for the development of the field of synagogue art.
Fellow American Institute of Architects.
Married Naomi Ascher, September 28, 1944. Children– Rachel, Joel.