Nitza Metzger-Szmuk (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: ניצה מֶצְגֶר-סְמוּק) is an Israeli

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, and

Emet Prize The EMET Prize for Art, Science and Culture is an Israeli prize awarded annually for excellence in academic and professional achievements that have far-reaching influence and make a significant contribution to society. Prizes are awarded in the fol ...

laureate in architecture for her work on documentation and

preservation Preservation may refer to: Heritage and conservation * Preservation (library and archival science), activities aimed at prolonging the life of a record while making as few changes as possible * ''Preservation'' (magazine), published by the Nat ...

of Tel Aviv's

White City White City may refer to: Places Australia * White City, Perth, an amusement park on the Perth foreshore * White City railway station, a former railway station * White City Stadium (Sydney), a tennis centre in Sydney * White City FC, a football clu ...

. She also received the Rokach Prize in 2001.

Early life and education

Born in 1945 in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

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 ...

, she completed her architecture studies at the University of Florence, Italy, in 1978. After graduating she worked at an architectural firm in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

doing conservation of historic buildings.

Work in architecture and preservation

Upon her return to Israel in 1989, Metzger-Szmuk was employed by the Tel Aviv Foundation for the development of an architectural survey of the city's

International Style International style may refer to: * International Style (architecture), the early 20th century modern movement in architecture *International style (art), the International Gothic style in medieval art *International Style (dancing), a term used in ...

buildings. The survey served as the basis for the city's preservation plan and for her first book, "Dwelling on the Dunes", which was first published in 1994 and has been published to date in Hebrew, English and French. Metzger-Szmuk set up the conservation team at the

Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality ( he, עיריית תל אביב-יפו) is the arm of local government responsible for the administration of the Israeli city of Tel Aviv-Yafo. Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality handles such municipal affairs as education, cu ...

in 1990 and headed it until 2002. She has been given much credit in the proclamation of "The White City" as a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

in 2003. In 2003 she opened an architectural office, specializing in preservation.

Academic career

In 2005 she joined the Technion as a faculty member. In 2006 she was appointed associate professor. Through 2013 she headed the graduate program in architecture with specialization in

Awards

* 2006 - The Emet Prize in Culture and Art, Field: Architecture, for her contribution to promoting conservation in Israel * 2001 - The Rokach Prize for Architecture * YYYY - Certificate of recognition by the Association of Israeli Architects and Town Planners for her professional contributions to the field of conservation

Exhibitions

Metzger-Szmuk has curated an exhibition carrying the name : "The White City-Tel Aviv's Modern Movement". The exhibition was first held at the

Tel Aviv Museum of Art Tel Aviv Museum of Art ( he, מוזיאון תל אביב לאמנות ''Muzeon Tel Aviv Leomanut'') is an art museum in Tel Aviv, Israel. The museum is dedicated to the preservation and display of modern and contemporary art from Israel and aroun ...

in 2004. Since then it has traveled to Canada,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, Italy,

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and Germany.http://dam.inm.de/presse/PI_WhiteCity_090625_e.pdf the exhibition at the DAM,

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

Publications

* Nitza Metzger-Szmuk, Véra Pinto-Lasry, Vivianne Barsky,

Dani Karavan Daniel "Dani" Karavan ( he, דני קרוון, 7 December 1930 – 29 May 2021) was an Israeli sculptor best known for site specific memorials and monuments which merge into the environment. Biography Daniel (Dani) Karavan was born in Tel A ...

, ''Dwelling on the Dunes: Tel Aviv, Modern Movement and Bauhaus Ideals / Des maisons sur le sable: Tel-Aviv, Mouvement moderne et esprit Bauhaus''. Bilingual edition English/French. Editions de l'Eclat, Paris, 2004. 447 pages.

References

External links

Emet Prize Laureate

List of Rokach Prize Laureates
(

)
Website
at the Technion {{DEFAULTSORT:Metzger-Szmuk, Nitza Living people Israeli architects Academic staff of Technion – Israel Institute of Technology University of Florence alumni Israeli expatriates in Italy People from Tel Aviv Preservationist architects Israeli women architects Year of birth missing (living people)