Richard Kauffmann (1887–1958) was a
German-Jewish
The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...
architect who migrated to
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
in 1920. His architecture was influenced by
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd ...
, a proponent of the International Style, and was applied to the local landscape, laying the architectural groundwork for the nascent
State of 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 ...
and the
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 ...
, as
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 ...
's
International Style architecture became known.
Biography
Early life, World War I, work in Europe
Richard Kauffmann was born in 1887 in
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 ...
, Germany.
[ In 1907, he began to study art at the ]Städelschule
The Städelschule (), Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste, is a tertiary school of art in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It accepts about 20 students each year from 500 applicants, and has a total of approximately 150 students of visual a ...
, but transferred to architecture studies in Amsterdam the following year. In 1909, he moved to the Technical University of Munich
The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; german: Technische Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences.
Establis ...
, graduating in 1912. In 1914, he opened an office in Frankfurt.
During the First World War
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 ...
Kauffmann fought on the Eastern Front, where he became aware of the persecutions directed against East European Jews.[Esther Kauffmann Forsen (ed.)]
Richard Kauffmann – Architect and Town Planner: A daughter's perspective on his life and work
accessed 13 August 2018
In 1919, Kauffmann met Arthur Ruppin
Arthur Ruppin (1 March 1876 – 1 January 1943) was a German Zionist proponent of pseudoscientific race theory and one of the founders of the city of Tel Aviv.Todd Samuel Presner, ’German Jewish Studies in the Digital Age:Remarks on Discipline ...
, who invited him to design new Jewish settlements in Palestine[ as leading physical planner of the Zionist enterprise.][ At that point, Kauffmann was already government town planner in Christiania, now ]Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
, the capital of Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
.[
]
Mandate Palestine
In 1920, he migrated to Eretz Yisrael
The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine (see also Israe ...
, at that point a British-controlled territory. Between 1920 and 1932, Kauffmann was the chief architect of the Palestine Land Development Company
Israel Land Development Company (ILDC) ( he, הכשרת הישוב, Hachsharat HaYishuv) is one of Israel's largest conglomerates, with fields including real estate, construction, energy and hotels. It was acquired in 1987 by Yaakov Nimrodi.
Hist ...
(''Hachsharat HaYishuv'') of the Zionist movement
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Jew ...
. Kauffmann designed and initiated, almost alone, a full architectural master plan for the new rural villages of many kibutz
A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...
im and moshav
A moshav ( he, מוֹשָׁב, plural ', lit. ''settlement, village'') is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 an ...
im in the northern valleys (Jezreel Valley
The Jezreel Valley (from the he, עמק יזרעאל, translit. ''ʿĒmeq Yīzrəʿēʿl''), or Marj Ibn Amir ( ar, مرج ابن عامر), also known as the Valley of Megiddo, is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the Northern Distr ...
), most notably Ein Harod
Ein Harod ( he, עֵין חֲרוֹד) was a kibbutz in northern Israel near Mount Gilboa. Founded in 1921, it became the center of Mandatory Palestine's kibbutz movement, hosting the headquarters of the largest kibbutz organisation, HaKibbutz H ...
, Kfar Yehoshua
Kfar Yehoshua ( he, כְּפַר יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, ''lit.'' Joshua's Village) is a moshav in northern Israel. Located between Haifa and Nazareth, it falls under the jurisdiction of Jezreel Valley Regional Council. In it had a population of ...
, Degania Alef
Degania Alef ( he, דְּגַנְיָה א', ) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. The Jewish communal settlement (''kvutza'') started off in 1910, making it the earliest socialist Zionist farming commune in the Land of Israel. Its status as "the mo ...
, Kfar Yehezkel
Kfar Yehezkel ( he, כְּפַר יְחֶזְקֵאל, ''lit.'' Yehezkel Village) is a moshav ovdim in northern Israel. Located in the Jezreel Valley, six kilometres southeast of Afula, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gilboa Regional Council. I ...
and Nahalal
Nahalal ( he, נַהֲלָל) is a moshav in northern Israel. Covering 8.5 square kilometers, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Jezreel Valley Regional Council. In it had a population of .
Nahalal is best known for its general layout, as d ...
.
Nahalal, the first '' moshav ovdim'', was designed in a circular shape, where public buildings were located in the middle surrounded by a circular road, then the agricultural farm buildings about from each other, and then the farms and fields wide and hundreds meters long, forming a whole shape of sunshine rays.
His designs for the children's house, kindergarten and school in Degania Alef embodied the social and educational principles of the kibbutz
A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...
movement.
Kauffmann was asked to design the northern neighborhoods of 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 ...
, based on the urban plans of Patrick Geddes
Sir Patrick Geddes (2 October 1854 – 17 April 1932) was a British biologist, sociologist, Comtean positivist, geographer, philanthropist and pioneering town planner. He is known for his innovative thinking in the fields of urban planning ...
. In 1927, he was appointed a member of the British Mandate town planning committee. He built private residences all over the country and participated in design competitions. He was one of the architects of the Levant Fair
The Levant Fair (Hebrew: יריד המזרח; Yarid HaMizrach) was an international trade fair held in Tel Aviv during the 1920s and 1930s.
History
Early years
One of the early precursors to the Levant Fair, an exhibition titled the "Exhibiti ...
(Hebrew ''Yarid HaMizrah'') in 1932–1934. He planned the layout of the pavilions.
Kauffmann designed some new Israeli cities, such as Afula
Afula ( he, עפולה Arabic: العفولة) is a city in the Northern District of Israel, often known as the "Capital of the Valley" due to its strategic location in the Jezreel Valley. As of , the city had a population of .
Afula's ancient ...
and Herzliya
Herzliya ( ; he, הֶרְצְלִיָּה ; ar, هرتسليا, Hirtsiliyā) is an affluent city in the central coast of Israel, at the northern part of the Tel Aviv District, known for its robust start-up and entrepreneurial culture. In it h ...
, and neighborhoods in major Israeli cities such as Rehavia
Rehavia or Rechavia ( he, רחביה, ar, رحافيا) is an upscale Jerusalem neighborhood located between the city center and Talbiya.
Since its establishment in the 1920s, the area has always been associated with German-Jewish culture and tra ...
, Beit Hakerem, Talpiyot and Kiryat Moshe
Kiryat Moshe ( he, קריית משה) is a neighborhood in Jerusalem, named for the British Jewish philanthropist Moses Montefiore. Kiryat Moshe is bordered by Givat Shaul.
History
Kiryat Moshe was founded in 1923 with funding from the Moses Mon ...
in Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, and Hadar HaCarmel
Hadar HaCarmel ( he, הדר הכרמל lit. "''Splendor of the Carmel''"; or simply known as the neighbourhood of Hadar he, שכונת הדר, الهدار in Arabic) is a district of Haifa, Israel. Located on the northern slope of Mount Carmel be ...
, Neve Sha'anan, Bat Galim and Central Carmel in the city of 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 ...
.
Concept and style
The main idea in his urban planning was the incorporation of Ebenezer Howard
Sir Ebenezer Howard (29 January 1850 – 1 May 1928) was an English urban planner and founder of the garden city movement, known for his publication '' To-Morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform'' (1898), the description of a utopian city in whi ...
's idea of Garden suburbs
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...
, as a manifestation of the social ideals, with the ideals of agricultural-Zionist communities, and with the pragmatical needs of the inhabitants of those communities and the settling organizations requests. He was influenced by the Neoclassicist
Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism was ...
architecture, but his urban and agricultural community planning also addressed the specific environmental and climate conditions.
See also
*Architecture in Israel
The architecture of Israel has been influenced by the different architectural styles of those who have inhabited the country over time, sometimes modified to suit the local climate and landscape. Byzantine churches, Crusader castles, Isl ...
References
External links
* The personal papers of Richard Kauffmann are kept at th
Central Zionist Archives
in Jerusalem. The notation of the record group is A175.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kauffmann, Richard
1887 births
1958 deaths
Architects in Mandatory Palestine
Israeli architects
Technical University of Munich alumni
19th-century German Jews
German emigrants to Mandatory Palestine