Louis Abramson
Louis Allen Abramson was an American architect who practiced mostly in New York City, specializing in hospitals, nursing homes, and restaurants. He is best known for designing the Daughters of Jacob Geriatric Center in the Bronx. Early in his career, he designed several Jewish Centers, a new type of building which filled the religious, cultural, educational, and often fitness needs of the community in a single structure. Later commissions included several restaurants for the Horn & Hardart, Longchamps, and Brass Rail chains, a nightclub, and a large office building.
Abramson had little formal schooling in architecture; he took courses at Cooper Union, the Mechanics Institute, and Columbia University but did not complete a degree. Most of his training was on-the-job in junior positions at well-known New York City architecture firms, after which he started his own firm. He employed a variety of styles, including Neo-Renaissance, Moorish Revival, Neo-Classical, Tudor, Art Deco, and Art Moderne. Several of his buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Education and early career
Louis Allen Abramson was born in New York City on August 1, 1887. He and his wife Pearl had two daughters, Anita Claire and Judith, but little else is known about his personal life. Abramson did not have a traditional architecture education; he attended Cooper Union and then the Mechanics Institute but did not graduate from either. His introduction to architecture came when he took a job as an office boy and later a draftsman for John H. Duncan, a New York City architect. After leaving Duncan's employ, Abramson moved to Seattle but only stayed there for a few years. Upon his return to New York, he took extension courses at Columbia University and was hired to work in Louis Gerard's office as a draftsman where he learned to appreciate the Beaux-Arts style. Between and he worked in the practice of John Galen Howard and also that of Louis E. Jallade. Jallade specialized in buildings for the Young Men's Christian Association, which influenced Abramson's 1913 design of a building for the Young Woman's Hebrew Association.Abramson started his own firm in 1912 and was issued an architectural license in 1914. In 1915, he had an office at 220 Fifth Avenue and later moved to 25 West 45th Street, both in Manhattan. Early in his career, Abramson developed an appreciation of the work of McKim, Mead & White, being especially fond of the University Club and Penn Station. When interviewed in 1980, Abramson said that each time he went by the University Club, he would spend some time looking at it and "figuratively bow". He also expressed sadness over Penn Station's destruction, saying that he admired Grand Central Terminal, but considered Penn Station to be perfect and "felt meek in presence." He was particularly impressed with the spacing of the bronze letters on the Seventh Avenue side of the building, which inspired him to study architectural lettering. In the same interview, Abramson also said that although he admired the work of Cass Gilbert, especially "his modernity... his breakaway from the classical school," and Stanford White influenced his early work, his later designs were done to his own tastes and inclinations.
In 1935, Abramson was appointed by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia to be one of 50 architects eligible to bid on municipal projects which would cost more than $100,000. The selection criteria included using firms from all the boroughs as well as providing opportunities for some of the newer firms in the city. The selection jury had initially contacted approximately 2,000 firms, of which about 500 expressed interest in being chosen.
Home of the Daughters of Jacob
In 1916, Abramson designed the Home of the Daughters of Jacob, an institution serving elderly Orthodox Jews, on 167th Street between Findlay and Teller Avenues in the Bronx. The building is wheel-shaped, with eight wings arranged radially around a central core. The land consists of 36 lots which were previously part of American founding father Gouverneur Morris's estate; at the time of purchase by the Daughters of Jacob, it was still occupied by Morris's 1812 house, which was demolished to make room for the new building.The central core contained administrative offices and was topped by a tower, which at the time of its construction was the highest point in the Bronx. The eight wings were residences for more than 1,000 elderly men and women. This new building replaced the existing home run by the Daughters of Jacob at 301 East Broadway, about to the south, on Manhattan's Lower East Side, which could house only 200 people. The plans for the new building included a synagogue with seating for 1,000 people, a 600-seat dining room, as well as a hospital, library, and a Turkish bath, with construction costs for the four-story building estimated to be $300,000. A fifth story added to the building in 1938 provided further hospital space for operating rooms along with X-ray, cardiological, physiotherapy, and dental facilities at a cost of $180,000.
By 1973, the building was deemed no longer fit for its original purpose, owing to new health codes. Abramson, then 84 years old, was part of the design team that modernized the building, connecting it by pedestrian bridges to new buildings on the opposite sides of Findlay and Teller Avenues. Abramson told The New York Times that the philosophy of how to house the elderly had changed over the years; previously it was felt that providing meals and a bed in a ward was acceptable, but modern practice was to offer greater privacy, individual dignity, and opportunities to remain active.
Jewish centers
Abramson designed several Jewish Centers, including the first one in Manhattan. Sometimes called a "shul with a pool", this style of building evolved to serve both the religious and secular needs of American congregations. In addition to a sanctuary, there would be classrooms and social halls. Larger examples might include a gymnasium and a swimming pool. Jewish historian David Kaufman used "Shul With a Pool" as the title of his 1999 book, in which he called Abramson "a leading architect of the synagogue-center building boom," noting that he also worked on the fundraising, running a campaign for the Young Women's Hebrew Association in 1912 that raised $200,000.According to Jewish historian Jacob J. Schacter, the Jewish Center was an invention of wealthy Jews living in New York's fashionable Upper West Side and Yorkville neighborhoods in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. New York Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan envisioned transforming the synagogue "from solely a place of prayer to also a place of recreation: from a congregation to a Jewish center... a place for Bible and basketball, Gemara and games, learning and luncheons, prayer and ping-pong."
Abramson's influence can be seen in the Ocean Parkway Jewish Center, designed by Samuel Malkind and Martyn Weinsten. One aspect of Abramson's work was using traditional Judaic symbols in the ornamentation of neo-Classical design. Malkind had worked as the head draftsman in Abramson's office early in his career, and followed Abramson's lead in this respect.
86th Street Jewish Center
Abramson designed the Jewish Center at 131 West 86th Street in Manhattan. Built in 1917–1920, this 10-story brick and stone building is part of the Upper West Side / Central Park West Historic District and has been variously described as being in the Neo-Renaissance style or Italian Renaissance styles. As the center included an Orthodox synagogue, the seating areas for men and women were to be separated from each other. The arrangement commonly used at the time had women seated in an upstairs gallery; in this case, the men and women were on the same level, separated by a partition known as a mehitza. As well as a large synagogue, the building was to include a second smaller one, an auditorium, clubrooms, handball and squash courts, a swimming pool on the sixth floor, and space for a possible Turkish bath to be installed later.In February 1917, the building was described as being planned to be 8 stories tall, on a lot which had been purchased the previous April. At that time, the structure was estimated to cost $350,000 after purchase of the land. The cornerstone was laid on August 5. By February 1918, when the building was almost finished up to the fourth floor, construction costs were said to have been $150,000, and the lot as being. Planned future work included the addition of the gymnasium, pool, baths, sleeping accommodations, as well as a banquet hall and associated kitchens and pantries. A temporary certificate of occupancy was issued on March 1, 1918, noting that the remaining construction was to be completed within five years. The first services were held on March 22–23, 1918, and the building was officially dedicated on March 24. The expansion to 10 stories was announced in July 1919, with six additional stories to be added at a cost of approximately $175,000.
Brooklyn Jewish Center
The Brooklyn Jewish Center at 667 Eastern Parkway between New York and Brooklyn Avenues was built in 1922, designed by Abramson in collaboration with Margon & Glasser. Francis Morrone, an architectural historian, describes it as being a long building, suitable to the site:Morrone compares the design to the nearby Bishop McDonnell Memorial High School, which he says similarly fits into the Eastern Parkway environment. The building, which included a synagogue, gymnasium, catering facilities, classrooms, and a swimming pool, was built on 11 lots.
Young Israel of Flatbush
Built in 1923, Abramson's Young Israel of Flatbush building at 1012 Avenue I in Brooklyn incorporated both Jewish and Moorish elements, using a Moorish revival style. Architectural historian Anthony Robbins referred to this style of architecture, which originated in mid-19th century Europe, as "Semitic". According to Robbins, the style reflected a belief that the Moorish influences expressed Judaism's eastern cultural origins better than previous styles based on churches. This style was also used for contemporary Jewish buildings in Brooklyn by Shampan & Shampan in their 1920 Temple Beth-El of Borough Park at 4802 15th Avenue, and by Tobias Goldstone in his 1928 Kol Israel at 603 St. Johns Place.The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. Moorish details in Abramson's design included slender minarets, arches in both ogival and horseshoe styles, and polychromatic tile and brick. The Avenue I façade uses purple, red, and brown brick laid in irregular geometric patterns. In addition to these Moorish details are more traditional Jewish motifs including the Magen David and Hebrew inscriptions.
An entrance vestibule and the synagogue office are on the first floor. The second floor includes a public space and classrooms. The main sanctuary on the third floor is two stories tall with large polychromatic leaded glass windows including both geometric patterns and the names of the twelve tribes from Jewish tradition to provide light. The basement was built as a gymnasium and in later years doubled as an auditorium.