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Friday, Dec. 6, 1968
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CARL ALPERT
Architects Vs Architects
render the building function-
HAIFA—In few professions is
the rivalry and professional com
petition greater than in architec
ture—or so it would seem to one
who follows the numerous dis
putes and the devastating crit
icisms which mark public discus
sion in this]
area in Israel.
One of
architectural dis
putes which
came a natioi
cause oele b
centered around
the construction'
of the Knesset]
building. A com
mittee of judges]
selected the des- Alpert
ign submitted by one architect
and awarded him first prize.
When it came time to put up the
building, however, almost the en
tire architectural profession in
the country rose up in protest
against that design. The result
was a protracted series of ne
gotiations seeking to introduce
major modifications, most of
which were adopted over the ob
jections of the original designer.
The Hadassah Hospital in Jer
usalem, pride and joy of the
ladies who contributed the funds
for it, was long a bete noir of
Israel's architects—some of whom
resented the fact that an out
sider had been brought in to do
the job. One Israeli referred to
it as a program of imposed Amer
ican arrogance. A leading arch
itect wrote a review in a daily
newspaper in which he tore the
building to shreds, concluding:
“Despite the talented architeqt,
despite the fantastic budget, des
pite the architectural brilliances
here and there, we have before
us one of the greatest and most
expensive failures which we have
witnessed since the creation of
the State.”
Not long thereafter the writer
of that article was chosen from
among 47 other competing arch
itects to design the new Execu
tive Mansion for Israel’s presi
dent. Now he became the tar
get. What is this proposed struc
ture, it was asked—a Temple? A
garage? A fortress? On the one
hand it was characterized as
being too massive, like a prison;
on the other hand it was too mod
est, not impressive enough for
Israel’s White House.
Meanwhile, hidden behind its
walls, the building is now ap-
Amold Zweig
Dies in Berlin
BONN (JTA) —Arnold Zweig,
a German Jewish author who
found refuge in Palestine in 1933
and returned to East Germany
in 1948 died in East Berlin at the
age of 81. Mr. Zweig, who served
in the German Army during
World War I, was best known
for his war novels which re
flected his own experiences in
the trenches of France.
An ardent Socialist, Zweig’s
return to East Germany was
hailed by the Communists who
elected him a member of the
“People’s Chamber” — the East
Berlin Parliament, president of
the “Cultural League,” — and
honorary president of East Ger
many’s Academy of Science.
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proaching completion and Israel’s
citizens will soon have opportun
ity to judge for themselves.
Reconstruction plans for the
Old City of Jerusalem call for
rebuilding of the old Hurva Syn
agogue which has been one of
the landmarks of the Jewish
Quarter. The intention, however,
is not to reconstruct the old, but
to put up a new building entire
ly, and again a distinguished
American architect has been call
ed in. His proposal has elicited
the now-expected type of res
ponse. “Gigantic tombstone
mausoleum” is how one London
architect describes the American’s
plans, but he goes even further:
“If it represents Judaism, then
maybe its monolithic appearance
characterizes the rigidity and
tyranny of a religion that is as
dogmatic and ruthless as that of
ancient Egypt and Babylon, us
forbidding, battered walls ....
reek of pagan mysticism, and
give the impression of religious
might crushing the spirit of puny
man.”
Meanwhile the Technion, which
trains all of Israel’s architects,
had troubles of its own. Given
basic specifications, their archi
tect designed a new Mechanical
Engineering building on the
campus, but the Institute main
tained that it was not suited to
their needs. There ensued an ugly
dispute between functionalism and
aesthetics in which, at one stage,
the architect planner is said to
have entered the building and de
liberately destroyed an installa
tion which the Technion thought
necessary but which he, as the
designer, felt violated his con
ception of the building as a whole.
The case wound up in the courts,
which upheld the right of the
occupant to make interior changes
The surprising thing is that
despite the criticism and the riv
alries and the alleged multiplica
tion of eyesores, Israel is becom
ing a land of modem, impressive,
beautiful buildings—a credit to
its architects.
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