Zeev Rechter

Zeev Rechter (1899–1960) (Hebrew: זאב רכטר‎) was a pioneering architect of Mandate Palestine and Israel, who designed many of Israel's iconic buildings. He is considered one of the three founding fathers of Israeli architecture, along with Dov Karmi and Arieh Sharon. Among his works, Rechter designed Binyanei HaUma (International Convention Center in Jerusalem), the Tel Aviv courthouse and the Mann Auditorium (together with Karmi). He introduced the use of stilt columns known as piloti in residential housing in Israel.[1]

Mann Auditorium, Tel Aviv, Zeev Rechter and Dov Karmi, 1951

Biography

Zeev Rechter was born in Ukraine. He immigrated to Palestine at the age of 20. His first job was measuring the land that became Allenby Street. In 1924, he designed Beit Hakadim (the "Urn House"), on the corner of Nahalat Binyamin and Rambam streets, named for the large vases on its cornices. In 1926 he went to Rome to study architecture, but a shortage of money forced him and his family to return to Palestine. In 1927 he designed a residence for the poet Esther Raab on Hagalil Street (today Mapu street) in a fledgling modernist style inspired by his impressions from Italy. The house was later demolished.[2] In 1929 he went to Paris (École des Ponts et Chaussées) to further his studies. It was then that he became an enthusiastic disciple of Le Corbusier. Upon his return, he settled in Tel Aviv and founded the Hug group of architects together with Arieh Sharon and Josef Neufeld, who had also returned from studies and work in Europe.[3]

Though he died in 1960, the Beersheeba Municipal Conservatory was erected in 1975 following designs by Ze'ev Rechter and Moshe Zarhy

Family

Rechter was married to Paula Singer, with whom he had three children: Yaakov, who also became an architect, and two daughters Aviva and Tuti.[4]

  • Engel House, Tel Aviv (1934)
  • Binianey HaUma, Jerusalem (1950)
  • Mann Auditorium (1951)
  • Beersheeba Municipal Conservatory (1975)

References
  1. A room with a view of Israel of old, Haaretz
  2. Nitza Metzger-Szmuk, Des Maisons sur Le Sable - Tel Aviv - Mouvement Moderne et Esprit Bauhaus, Éditions de l'éclat, Paris, 2004.
  3. Sliding up the Rechter scale, Haaretz
  4. Sliding up the Rechter scale, Haaretz
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