House of the Book, Brandeis-Bardin Institute, Brandeis, California

One of America’s leading synagogue architects, Sidney Eisenshtat played a key role in reinventing synagogue design in the mid-twentieth century. His first notable commissions were in Los Angeles, where he was based for his entire career at Temple Emanuel (1951) and Sinai Temple (1960). He was known for his use of thin shell concrete, natural light, and soaring forms. The House of the Book, a chapel and conference hall on the Brandeis-Bardin campus of the American Jewish University, is an example of his modernist sensibilities. Considered futuristic when it was built, it has been used more than once as the set of science fiction movies.