Moshé Zwarts (27 August 1937,

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

, Israël – 4 December 2019,

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

) was a Dutch architect, founder of the architectural office

ZJA ZJA (previously known as Zwarts & Jansma Architecten) is a Dutch architectural studio located in Amsterdam and founded in 1990 by Rein Jansma (1959-2023) and Moshé Zwarts (1937-2019). To date, the studio has approximately 50 staff and the par ...

(formerly Zwarts & Jansma Architecten) and a former senior professor of Architectural Technology at the

Technical University of Delft Delft University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Delft), also known as TU Delft, is the oldest and largest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. As of 2022 it is ranked by QS World University Rankings among ...

and the

Technical University of Eindhoven The Eindhoven University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven), abbr. TU/e, is a public technical university in the Netherlands, located in the city of Eindhoven. In 2020–21, around 14,000 students were enrolled in its BSc a ...

. His portfolio encompasses many infrastructural projects including football stadiums.

Early life and education

Zwarts was born in 1937, in the household of Jewish-Dutch parents in Haifa, present day Israel. In 1939 the family moved to Amsterdam. The year was the start of the

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 ...

when his family was deported initially to the Dutch camp

Westerbork Camp Westerbork ( nl, Kamp Westerbork, german: Durchgangslager Westerbork, Drents: ''Börker Kamp; Kamp Westerbörk'' ), also known as Westerbork transit camp, was a Nazi transit camp in the province of Drenthe in the Northeastern Netherlands, ...

and then to

Bergen-Belsen Bergen-Belsen , or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, in 1943, parts of it became a concentrati ...

. After liberation by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

, they were able to return to Amsterdam. The reception of camp survivors was in the catacombs of the Central Station of Amsterdam. Although Zwarts was eight years old at the time, it made a stark impression on him as he would commemorate at the end of his life. At Zwarts’ request, the

Dutch Railways Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS; ; en, "Dutch Railways") is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands. It is a Dutch state-owned company founded in 1938. The Dutch rail network is one of the busiest in the European Union, and th ...

have placed a remembrance plaque inside the station acknowledging the failure of the Dutch government to properly receive survivors of German

concentration camps Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

. After finishing the HBS secondary school, he went to study architecture at the

, where he was inspired by Dutch architects

Cornelis van Eesteren Cornelis van Eesteren (4 July 1897, Alblasserdam - 21 February 1988, Amsterdam) was a prominent Dutch architect and urban planner. He worked for the Town Planning department of Amsterdam (1929–59) and was the chairman of the CIAM (1930–1947 ...

and

Jo van den Broek Johannes Hendrik ("Jo") van den Broek, (; 4 October 1898 - 6 September 1978) was a Dutch architect influential in the rebuilding of Rotterdam after World War II. Van den Broek was born in Rotterdam. He joined with Johannes Brinkman in 1936, a ...

. Van den Broek supervised Zwarts’ graduation in 1963, which encompassed a computer-generated design for a new

Schiphol Airport Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport ( nl, Luchthaven Schiphol, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province ...

. Being the first at the faculty to use computers for solving architectural problems, Zwarts’ was awarded a cum laude distinction.

Academic career

After university, Zwarts was employed by

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

Plastics Laboratory, where he worked from 1963 until 1969. During his research on plastics in construction, he developed an innovative lightweight building system for better, more affordable social housing that could be built in less time. In 1969 Zwarts was offered a teaching position at the

as a Lecturer of Architectural Detailing. Shortly afterwards he became Head of the Department of Building Production Technology. From 1981 until 1989 he was Senior Professor in Architectural Technology at both TU Eindhoven and TU Delft.

ZJA

In January 1990, Zwarts (aged 52) founded an architectural office in partnership with

Rein Jansma Rein Jansma (28 September 1959 – 17 April 2023) was a Dutch architect and co-founder of the architectural studio ZJA. Early life and education Jansma was born on 28 September 1959 in an artistic environment to parents that were interested in ...

(aged 31). Jansma is the son of Zwarts’ close friend, the late artist Arie Jansma. Despite their age gap of more than 20 years, Zwarts and Jansma proved to be a successful creative team with their architectural office ZJA (formerly Zwarts & Jansma Architecten) still functioning today. Notable projects of

include the Dutch pavilion for the

Seville Expo '92 The Seville Expo '92 was a universal exposition that took place from Monday, April 20 to Monday, October 12, 1992, on La Isla de La Cartuja (Charterhouse Island), Seville, Spain. The theme for the expo was "The Age of Discovery", celebrating the ...

, the metro station Wilhelminaplein in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, the internationally-acclaimed light rail station ‘ De Netkous’ at the Beatrixlaan in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

and the renovation of the Feijenoord Football Stadium ‘

De Kuip Stadion Feijenoord (), more commonly known by its nickname De Kuip (, the Tub), is a stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was completed in 1937. The name is derived from the Feijenoord district in Rotterdam, and from the club with the same na ...

’. Over the years, ZJA grew as a company to employ around fifty employees. Reinald Top and Rob Torsing joined the board in 2003 and Ralph Kieft in 2019. Aged 72, Zwarts retired in 2009. Privately he continued his own research and design practice.

Personal life

Moshé Zwarts was married to Mineke Zwarts-Broekman and they had two children.

Publications

Publications with contributions by Moshé Zwarts: * ''Zwarts & Jansma Architects''. By Jeroen Mensink. Amsterdam: Architecture & Natura, 2003. * ''Architecten 15 portretten''. Amsterdam: Architectura & Natura, 2005. * ''Architectuur als discipline''. By Bart Goldhoorn. Rotterdam: NAI uitgevers, 1996. * ''Architecture Now''. Amsterdam: Architectura & Natura, 1991.

References

External links

Official website ZJA

ZJA on e-architect
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zwarts, Moshe Dutch architects 1937 births 2019 deaths