A Sense of Jewish Empowerment or a Lesson in Universal Values? New Directions in the Design of Holocaust Museums in the USA

Abstract

This article studies the architectural design of two recently opened Holocaust museums, the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust (LAMOTH) and the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, and reveals them as corresponding to different approaches toward Holocaust commemoration. The highly symbolic design of architect Stanley Tigerman's Illinois Holocaust Museum is representative of a ‘Jewish-American model’ that links Holocaust commemoration to the reinforcement and empowerment of Jewish identity, while architect Hagy Belzberg's abstract design for the LAMOTH exemplifies a ‘universal model’ which teaches the events of the Holocaust in order to ensure a more moral future.