1918-2008
abba elhanani 1918-2008
?Planned by architect Abba Elhanani?, says the official website of the President?s Office, ?the President?s Residence was completed in 1971. It consists of reception halls, offices and the President?s apartment, while all the windows face onto the gardens. The design employs simple lines with geometric angles and subtly curved forms. As befits the residence of the President of the State, the building is constructed entirely of local materials: pink-hued Eilat granite, golden Jerusalem stone, and the exposed concrete common in Israeli architecture in the 1960s and 70s?.
Abba Elhanani uniquely combined rational thought and love of art into a special creative mixture, often adding artists and colleagues to his work with no fear they would ?steal the show? .If there is any building to express his architectural approach, it is the President?s Residence: local, up-to-date, abundant with works of art, and controversial.
One of the important projects Elhanani planned in his sixty years of creation was Hamedina Circle in Tel Aviv. This well-known controversial project has, for some reason, been associated solely with Brazilian architect Oscar Neymeyer, who actually joined the project only after the planners - Elhanani, Lotan and Shlushe - had designed its first draft for the competition held in 1951. The graded buildings composing the circumferential ring are embedded with extraordinary architectural thought, creating passive self-shading and urban arcades free of columns. The inner ring presented in the entry was never built, and the bare neglected circle is judged to be a ?white elephant?, inviting every real-estate tycoon to bite into it at whim.
Abba Elhanani?s constant search for local content was also expressed through his reference to topography as a point of departure for planning. This is well manifested in the Tirat-Hacarmel Psychiatric Hospital he planned in the early 70s following a competition. The complex is made of one and two story buildings, spread out as terraces at the foot of the Carmel hills, thus providing the patients with a pleasant and relaxing feeling in the pastoral surroundings. In this project, too, the gentle curved roofs are of bare concrete in the spirit of the time, while the walls are stone-clad to match the surrounding.
As an enthusiastic publicist Elhanani did not suffice to sit in front of his drawing board, but rather tried in every way to preach, teach and influence his professional milieu. During his career he was Head of the Architects and Engineers Association, and chaired the Council for Culture and Art. Elhanani came to Israel from Poland at the age of 15, and his old-world language, imbued with idealistic pathos, was not always easy to understand. This was noticeable in the quarterly T?vai which he had founded and edited for twenty years, as well as in the two books he wrote: one, based on his lectures broadcast at the Open University on Galei Zahal, ?On Architecture as Art and Science? (1982); and the second - ?The Struggle for the Independence of Israeli Architecture in the 20th Century? (1998). Both books serve as an important source of discussion for the development of Israeli architecture since the first settling outside the walls of Jerusalem, in the 18th century.
An active architect, Elhanani enthusiastically participated in competitions, and won no less than 29 of them, the most notable being: Hamedina Circle in Tel-Aviv (1951, with I. Lotan, A. Shlushe, and Oscar Nemeyer); Nordiyah Neighborhood, Tel Aviv (1952, with I. Lotan and A. Shlushe); Memorial for the Pilots, Ha?atzma?ut Park, Tel-Aviv (with B. Tamuz); Reali High School in Rishon-Letzion (1952, with I. Lotan); Philip Moriyeh House in Eilat (1954, with his wife Hannah); the President?s Residence in Jerusalem (1964); Painters and Sculptors House, Tel-Aviv (1963, with O. Kanner); residential neighborhood in Ramat-Gan (1965); the Atarot detention house, Jerusalem (1973).
Despite the great variability, Elhanani?s works display constant stylistic features, among which are: intentional accentuation of the construction, either for self-shading or mere embellishment; creation of inner courtyards; and an on-going relation between content and form.
In the early 1960s he planned the Community Center in Kfar Shmuel, and at the same time, a villa in Caesarea - both clearly related to the Philip Moriyeh House in Eilat, in terms of the building materials and the clean geometric concept.
In the early 1970s he planned the Manoogian Armenian Theological Seminary, opposite the Armenian Patriarch in the Old City of Jerusalem, and almost at the same time - the Amaliyah religious seminar in Givat Mordechai, Jerusalem.
The science department of the latter was in fact the last building Elhanani, while on his deathbed, completed with the aid of architect Smadar Keinan. The stone houses of the comprehensive school are laid out as terraces on the slope overlooking Hamatzleva Valley. Abba Elhanani (Elhanovitz) studied at the Gymnasia Herzliya, and completed his MSc architectural studies at the Technion in 1941. Together with his wife, architect Hannah Elhanani, whom he had met during his studies, they opened their office in 1948. The office, on Shlomo Hamelech St., Tel-Aviv, was frequented by leading artists and architects. His friends tell what a fascinating conversationalist he was, and how - in spite of his declared Israeliness - he maintained his European politeness, a presentable appearance, and respect for the other.
In the Yom Kippur War Elhanani lost his son Ehud, who had intended to study architecture and work with his father. Elhanani never got over the loss of his beloved son. Disappointed with the establishment and its leaders, he withdrew and disappeared from the public eye.
The article was written with the help his daughter Idit Elhanani.
?Planned by architect Abba Elhanani?, says the official website of the President?s Office, ?the President?s Residence was completed in 1971. It consists of reception halls, offices and the President?s apartment, while all the windows face onto the gardens. The design employs simple lines with geometric angles and subtly curved forms. As befits the residence of the President of the State, the building is constructed entirely of local materials: pink-hued Eilat granite, golden Jerusalem stone, and the exposed concrete common in Israeli architecture in the 1960s and 70s?.
Abba Elhanani uniquely combined rational thought and love of art into a special creative mixture, often adding artists and colleagues to his work with no fear they would ?steal the show? .If there is any building to express his architectural approach, it is the President?s Residence: local, up-to-date, abundant with works of art, and controversial.
One of the important projects Elhanani planned in his sixty years of creation was Hamedina Circle in Tel Aviv. This well-known controversial project has, for some reason, been associated solely with Brazilian architect Oscar Neymeyer, who actually joined the project only after the planners - Elhanani, Lotan and Shlushe - had designed its first draft for the competition held in 1951. The graded buildings composing the circumferential ring are embedded with extraordinary architectural thought, creating passive self-shading and urban arcades free of columns. The inner ring presented in the entry was never built, and the bare neglected circle is judged to be a ?white elephant?, inviting every real-estate tycoon to bite into it at whim.
Abba Elhanani?s constant search for local content was also expressed through his reference to topography as a point of departure for planning. This is well manifested in the Tirat-Hacarmel Psychiatric Hospital he planned in the early 70s following a competition. The complex is made of one and two story buildings, spread out as terraces at the foot of the Carmel hills, thus providing the patients with a pleasant and relaxing feeling in the pastoral surroundings. In this project, too, the gentle curved roofs are of bare concrete in the spirit of the time, while the walls are stone-clad to match the surrounding.
As an enthusiastic publicist Elhanani did not suffice to sit in front of his drawing board, but rather tried in every way to preach, teach and influence his professional milieu. During his career he was Head of the Architects and Engineers Association, and chaired the Council for Culture and Art. Elhanani came to Israel from Poland at the age of 15, and his old-world language, imbued with idealistic pathos, was not always easy to understand. This was noticeable in the quarterly T?vai which he had founded and edited for twenty years, as well as in the two books he wrote: one, based on his lectures broadcast at the Open University on Galei Zahal, ?On Architecture as Art and Science? (1982); and the second - ?The Struggle for the Independence of Israeli Architecture in the 20th Century? (1998). Both books serve as an important source of discussion for the development of Israeli architecture since the first settling outside the walls of Jerusalem, in the 18th century.
An active architect, Elhanani enthusiastically participated in competitions, and won no less than 29 of them, the most notable being: Hamedina Circle in Tel-Aviv (1951, with I. Lotan, A. Shlushe, and Oscar Nemeyer); Nordiyah Neighborhood, Tel Aviv (1952, with I. Lotan and A. Shlushe); Memorial for the Pilots, Ha?atzma?ut Park, Tel-Aviv (with B. Tamuz); Reali High School in Rishon-Letzion (1952, with I. Lotan); Philip Moriyeh House in Eilat (1954, with his wife Hannah); the President?s Residence in Jerusalem (1964); Painters and Sculptors House, Tel-Aviv (1963, with O. Kanner); residential neighborhood in Ramat-Gan (1965); the Atarot detention house, Jerusalem (1973).
Despite the great variability, Elhanani?s works display constant stylistic features, among which are: intentional accentuation of the construction, either for self-shading or mere embellishment; creation of inner courtyards; and an on-going relation between content and form.
In the early 1960s he planned the Community Center in Kfar Shmuel, and at the same time, a villa in Caesarea - both clearly related to the Philip Moriyeh House in Eilat, in terms of the building materials and the clean geometric concept.
In the early 1970s he planned the Manoogian Armenian Theological Seminary, opposite the Armenian Patriarch in the Old City of Jerusalem, and almost at the same time - the Amaliyah religious seminar in Givat Mordechai, Jerusalem.
The science department of the latter was in fact the last building Elhanani, while on his deathbed, completed with the aid of architect Smadar Keinan. The stone houses of the comprehensive school are laid out as terraces on the slope overlooking Hamatzleva Valley. Abba Elhanani (Elhanovitz) studied at the Gymnasia Herzliya, and completed his MSc architectural studies at the Technion in 1941. Together with his wife, architect Hannah Elhanani, whom he had met during his studies, they opened their office in 1948. The office, on Shlomo Hamelech St., Tel-Aviv, was frequented by leading artists and architects. His friends tell what a fascinating conversationalist he was, and how - in spite of his declared Israeliness - he maintained his European politeness, a presentable appearance, and respect for the other.
In the Yom Kippur War Elhanani lost his son Ehud, who had intended to study architecture and work with his father. Elhanani never got over the loss of his beloved son. Disappointed with the establishment and its leaders, he withdrew and disappeared from the public eye.
The article was written with the help his daughter Idit Elhanani.
בניית אתרי אינטרנט