Alfred Neumann (January 26, 1900–1968) was an Austrian-born

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i architect known for his modernist buildings. Eldar-sharon-bat-yam-municipality

Biography

Alfred Neumann was born in Vienna to Siegmund Neumann and Hermina Hickl. In 1910, Neumann's family moved to Brünn (today's

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

), for his father's job at a joinery workshop. Neumann attended the German Building Technical College. Following his graduation, Neumann served in the

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

Army during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After the war, he returned to his architecture studies, enrolling at the

German Technical University in Brno German Technical University in Brno (German: ''Deutsche Technische Hochschule Brünn'') was a technical university in Brno. It existed from 1849 to 1945 and instruction was in German. At the time, Brno was a multicultural city with both Czech and ...

. In 1922, Neumann returned to Vienna, where he attended Architecture College (Meisterschule für Architektur) of the Arts Academy in Vienna, studying under

Peter Behrens Peter Behrens (14 April 1868 – 27 February 1940) was a leading German architect, graphic and industrial designer, best known for his early pioneering AEG Turbine Hall in Berlin in 1909. He had a long career, designing objects, typefaces, and i ...

. For the following 6 years, he worked at a number of architecture offices in Paris and Berlin with contemporaries including

Auguste Perret Auguste Perret (12 February 1874 – 25 February 1954) was a French architect and a pioneer of the architectural use of reinforced concrete. His major works include the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the first Art Deco building in Paris; the C ...

. In 1928 and 1929, Neumann worked briefly in

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

French Algeria French Algeria (french: Alger to 1839, then afterwards; unofficially , ar, الجزائر المستعمرة), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of French colonisation of Algeria. French rule in the region began in 1830 with the ...

. In February 1945, Neumann was deported from his home in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

to the Nazi ghetto and concentration camp of

Theresienstadt Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the Schutzstaffel, SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (German occupation of Czechoslovakia, German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstad ...

in the

Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia; cs, Protektorát Čechy a Morava; its territory was called by the Nazis ("the rest of Czechia"). was a partially annexed territory of Nazi Germany established on 16 March 1939 following the German oc ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Neumann returned to Brno. In the following years, he worked at the Provincial Study and Planning Institute of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

where he contributed to a number of projects in the country. In 1949, Neumann

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

to Israel where his practice shifted towards the development of modular structures In 1962, Neumann married Naomi, a former student of his. Their daughter, Eva Marie Neumann, was born that year. Neumann died of lung cancer while teaching in Quebec as a visiting professor at the

Université Laval Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Montmo ...

Academic career

Neumann taught at the

Israel Institute of Technology Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and served as the dean from 1952 to 1966. 1956, he published a pamphlet that called for architecture that better responded to human needs by reinventing systems of proportion and measurement and the design of buildings through the use of smaller modular subdivisions. During his tenure at the Israel Institute of Technology, Neumann worked closely with architect

Zvi Hecker Zvi Hecker ( he, צבי הקר; born 31 May 1931) is a Polish-born Israeli architect. His work is known for its emphasis on geometry and asymmetry. Biography Zvi Hecker was born as Tadeusz Hecker in Kraków, Poland. He grew up in Poland and Sa ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neumann, Alfred Architects from Vienna Austrian Jews 1900 births 1968 deaths Jewish architects Israeli architects Université Laval faculty Czechoslovak emigrants to Mandatory Palestine

Biography

Academic career

See also

References