David Kroyanker
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David Kroyanker (; born 1939) 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 architectural historian of
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
. He has written dozens of popular books about Jerusalem neighborhoods, streets, and buildings, and
urban planning Urban planning (also called city planning in some contexts) is the process of developing and designing land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportatio ...
.


Biography

Kroyanker was born and raised in the
Rehavia Rehavia or Rechavia (, ) is an upscale neighbourhood in Jerusalem. It is bordered by Nachlaot and Sha'arei Hesed to the north, Talbiya and Kiryat Shmuel, Jerusalem, Kiryat Shmuel to the south, and the Valley of the Cross to the west. Rehavia was ...
neighborhood of Jerusalem. His father, Dr. , was a German Zionist activist, journalist and art researcher. His mother, Dr. Edith Krojanker, was a lawyer in the public sector. His father died of
cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
when Kroyanker was six years old. He attended a high school located next to the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...
and served in the Paratroopers Brigade of the
Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...
from 1958 to 1961. Kroyanker studied at the
Architectural Association School of Architecture The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest private school of architecture in the UK. The AA hosts exhibitions, lectures, academic conference, symposia and publications. Histo ...
in London from 1963 to 1968. He returned to Israel to work as an architect for a firm headed by David Resnick in Jerusalem, and moved to the urban planning department of the Jerusalem Municipality under Meron Benvenisti in 1970. From 1973 to 1981 he worked in various planning departments in the municipality, including the Department of Urban Planning and the Special Projects Unit Planning Department. Specializing in building preservation and rehabilitation, Kroyanker set about documenting the historical and architectural record of Jerusalem in order to build public awareness and support for preservation efforts. Among the many campaigns that he was involved in to save historic buildings was the battle to save the Talitha Kumi school building in downtown Jerusalem. The school was ultimately torn down in 1980; Kroyanker was part of the team that designed a memorial to the bulldozed structure using pieces of the original facade. Kroyanker is credited with the successful preservation and restoration of the Ticho House. To aid the public campaigns, Kroyanker wrote a series of booklets spotlighting the "architectural and historical value of the streets and buildings" These booklets were so well-received that he began documenting the history and architecture of Jerusalem for a large-format book series, producing a book every other year at his next post, the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, where he became an architectural historian and documenter in 1981. By 1994 he had completed a six-volume series titled ''Architecture in Jerusalem'', with the first five 500-page volumes documenting architecture in Jerusalem's New City and the last volume covering buildings and streets in the Old City. The first volume only was translated into English, French,
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
, and
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
under the title ''Jerusalem Architecture''. These six volumes, in turn, laid the foundation for an additional 15 large-format books. As of 2010, Kroyanker has written more than 30 books on the neighborhoods and buildings of Jerusalem, 20 of which became mass-market bestsellers. His works are richly illustrated with historic photographs, maps, sketches, and original street and neighborhood plans. His wife, Leora, actively assists him by editing and proofreading texts. As a result of his research, Kroyanker has amassed the largest private archive in the world of literary and visual documentation related to Jerusalem architecture. His files include historic photographs, drawings, documents, drawings, maps and newspaper clippings. The files are catalogued in three topic areas: neighborhoods, streets and buildings; architectural/planning (such as conservation, building styles, architectural details, and biographies of architects); and planning processes (including demolition, new construction and urban development). He has also curated exhibitions, lectured, and led tours on Jerusalem's architectural heritage.


Views and critical response

Kroyanker is openly critical of the urban degeneration in Jerusalem caused by poverty and neglect. He is also critical of the
Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...
demographic whose lower socioeconomic level, he claims, has created a lack of aesthetics in Orthodox neighborhoods and weakened the economy by forcing the exodus of cinemas and "attractive shops" from the downtown area, replacing them with bargain stores. Kroyanker's research has been criticized for its "nostalgic tone" and his exclusion of "more recent architectural phenomena such as the effect of the security barrier on the urban space, or the abundance of empty apartments in the center of town". He has also been accused of partiality toward the interests of city hall and real-estate developers. The Alrov Corp funded his book ''Mamilla: Prosperity, Decay and Renewal – the Alrov Mamilla Quarter'' (2009), and his book on the Hebrew University of Jerusalem campus at
Givat Ram Givat Ram () is a neighborhood in central Jerusalem. It is the site of Kiryat HaMemshala (Hebrew language, Hebrew: קריית הממשלה, ''lit.'' Government complex), which includes many of Israel's most important national institutions, among t ...
was written by request of the university.


Personal

Kroyanker married Leora Farkash-Himsley, daughter of
Ladislaus Farkas Ladislaus Farkas (, ) (May 10, 1904, in Dunajská Streda, Austria-Hungary – December 31, 1948, in Monte Argentario, Italy) was an Israeli chemist, of Austro-Hungarian origin, he was the founder of the Department of Physical Chemistry at the Heb ...
, in 1969. They have two daughters. In 2012 the couple relocated to
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
.


Awards

*2006 The
Teddy Kollek Theodor "Teddy" Kollek (; 27 May 1911 – 2 January 2007) was an Israeli politician who served as the mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation. Kollek was re-elected five times, in 1969, 1973, 1978 Jerusalem ...
Lifetime Achievement Award *2010 Yakir Yerushalayim Award


Selected bibliography


Books

* (with Julian Louis Meltzer and Dorothea Shefer-Vanson) * (with Yael Guiladi) * * (with Dror Wahrman) * * * * 2nd edition published 2002 * * * * * * *


Articles

* * * * * * * * *


References


External links


Website"The Life of David Kroyanker" (video) - Hebrew
Presenter: David Kroyanker, June 2000 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kroyanker, David Israeli architects Israeli people of German-Jewish descent Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Writers from Jerusalem People from Tel Aviv 1939 births Living people Artists from Jerusalem Hebrew University Secondary School alumni