Sterling Memorial Library, Judaic Studies Renovation

Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, 2009

This intimate yet important interior renovation project is located on the third floor of Yale University's main library designed by James Gamble Rogers (1930) in the Collegiate Gothic Style. Unlike the Library's ornate exterior, the existing Judaic Studies facility, is austere and needs improvement. Working with the original plaster walls and arched steel framed windows, DSA created a 21st century research and teaching facility with specific material references to Judaic lore. Digitally-designed patterns at the new metal radiator grilles were inlayed into the stained hardwood wainscoting signifying the Seven Species of Israel. The natural caned ceiling in the reading room and curator's office is reminiscent of the Sukkah, a Hebrew word for "booth" or "hut," symbolic of the Israelites' temporary dwelling during the legendary 40-day exodus from Egypt.