Yaakov Rechter
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Yaakov Rechter (Hebrew: יעקב רכטר; 14 June 1924 – 26 February 2001) was an Israeli architect and an Israel Prize recipient. Rechter was influenced by the works of Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, known as Le Corbusier, and one of several Israeli architects who designed cubist buildings in Tel Aviv with flat roofs, taking their inspiration from architecture in North Africa.
Biography
Yaakov Rechter was born on 14 June 1924 in Tel Aviv. His parents were Paula Singer and the architect Ze'ev Rechter who arrived to Israel onboard the Ruslan along with other cultural pioneers such as painter Yitzhak Frenkel and historian Joseph Klausner. He grew up in his father's house which was used as a culture center in Tel Aviv. He studied architecture at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa. In 1952 he joined his father's office of architects. Rechter was married twice, to Sara Shafir, then to actress Hana Maron. He is the father of five children: musician and composer Yoni Rechter, philosopher Ophra Rechter, illustrator Michal Loit, actress Dafna Rechter, and architect Amnon Rechter, with whom he worked, forming Rechter Architects.
He designed the Mivtachim sanitarium in Zichron Ya’akov, a brutalist architectural work that was dubbed a "masterpiece" by ArchDaily.Rechter sought to float the rooms in a serpantine manner alongside the hill's crown. The sanitarium was commisioned by the histadrut, Israel's major labour organization. According to ArchDaily, Rechter's architecture sought to incorporate socialist ideals. After the sanitarium was shut down in the early 2000s it was renovated by Yaakov's son Amnon Rechter in 2010 and converted into a hotel.
Rechter is considered by ArchDaily as belonging to the 'second generation' of Israeli architecture. In contrast to the sleek white stucco of the international style of his father and his fellow architects, in his early career Yaakov Rechter designed with a brutalist pallet, exposing the raw concrete surface of his projects. He used concrete heavily, not only because it was cheap at the time but also because in his opinon “[it] is certainly not local, but it’s authentic in every sense.”
Rechter was portrayed by Jon Voight in the 2026 movie Monument.
Notable buildings
Public buildings
- Heichal HaTarbut, officially: the Charles Bronfman Auditorium, Tel Aviv, 1957
- Helena Rubinstein Pavilion for Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv, 1952-1959 (renovated in 2023 as the Eyal Ofer Pavilion by third-generation Rechter architect, Amnon)
- Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, 1975
- Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center, 1994
- Atarim Square, Tel Aviv, 1975
- National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Tel Aviv, 1976
- Central Library, Mount Scopus Campus, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1981
- Carmel Hospital, Haifa
- Cameri Theater, Tel Aviv
- Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot, 1953
Hotels
- Mivtachim Sanitarium, Zikhron Ya'akov, 1966
- Hasharon, Herzliya Pituach, 1961
- Tel Aviv Hilton, 1965
- Herods Tel Aviv Hotel, 1972
- Jerusalem Hilton (now VERT Jerusalem), Jerusalem, 1974
- Sheraton Tel Aviv Hotel, 1977
- Carlton Tel Aviv, 1980
- King Solomon Sheraton Hotel (now King Solomon Hotel), Jerusalem, 1981
- Laromme Hotel (now Inbal Jerusalem Hotel), Jerusalem 1982
- Holiday Inn, Ashkelon, 1998
Awards
- Rokach Prize - given for "Gan Jacob", 1965.
- Israel Prize of Architecture - given for Rechter's design for the Mivtachim Sanitarium in Zikhron Ya'akov, 1972.
- The Arie El-Hanani Prize, Integration of Art and Architecture - given for the combination of art in construction, 1983.
See also
External links
Media related to Yaacov Rechter at Wikimedia Commons