Shlomo Aronson (; November 27, 1936 – September 12, 2018) was an Israeli

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manage ...

. His works range from master plans for reforestation to archaeological parks and freeway planting schemes to urban plazas.

Biography

Shlomo Aronson was born in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, 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 metropolitan area i ...

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

. Aronson went to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to study

landscape architecture Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructio ...

as an undergraduate student and received his Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (BLA) from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

in 1963. He went on to study at the

Harvard Graduate School of Design The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) is the graduate school of design at Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It offers master's and doctoral programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urba ...

where he received his

Master of Landscape Architecture Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...

in 1966. Aronson returned to Israel, and lived and worked in Ein Kerem,

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 ...

Academic career

Aronson taught at Bezalel Academy, Jerusalem, Department of Architecture 1979 – 1985, 1992; Harvard Graduate School of Design, Urban Design Department, Guest Critic, Spring 1981, Spring 1982, Fall 1997; Harvard Graduate School of Design, Landscape Architecture Department, Visiting Professor, Fall 1985, Spring 1988, Fall 1997;

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. ...

, The Institute of Urban and Regional Studies, 2000–2001. He has been a guest lecturer at various American, Canadian, Italian, German, Indian, Russian and South African universities.

Architectural career

Ben Gurion International Airport P5310006

Prior to receiving his master's degree, Aronson worked in

Lawrence Halprin Lawrence Halprin (July 1, 1916 – October 25, 2009) was an American landscape architect, designer, and teacher. Beginning his career in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, in 1949, Halprin often collaborated with a local circle of modernist ...

's office in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

from 1963 to 1965. The field of landscape architecture was developing at this time to include large scale projects that incorporated transportation and community planning. In his foreword to "Making Peace with the Land," Halprin recognized Aronson's desire to work on larger scale projects and his interest in their "social context and the impact they world have on society."Aronson, 1998, p7 Aronson was part of The Architects' Collaborative in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

in 1966 and The

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

, Architecture Department from 1966 to 1967. Aronson joined the Jerusalem City Engineer's Department in 1968. In 1969, Aronson became the owner and director of Shlomo Aronson and Associates, a multi-disciplinary office that includes

landscape architects A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water managem ...

architects 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

urban planner An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, tow ...

s in Jerusalem. Aronson was also the Chairman of the Israel Associates of Landscape Architects from 1991 to 1998.

Design philosophy

Aronson's work is characterized by its attention to moral and historical issues of place and culture. His designs recognize both cultural and environmental relationships at the scale of the region and the site. Aronson incorporates a modern aesthetic into an ancient landscape. Lawrence Halprin, Aronson's former employer and mentor, remarks that "In many ways ronson'sattitudes and his process have transcended questions of detailed design. I believe his work must be judged on a far larger basis-that of concept, basic philosophy, and the significant role that landscape architecture can play in determining the character and quality, not only of Israel, but also of our world and of the future." Another characteristic of Aronson's work is selection of plants that hark back to agricultural and religious traditions. According to Peter Jacobs, "the form and materials of Aronson's projects are derived from a careful reading of the natural and cultural history of the landscape, an understanding of the urban place as much as the rural countryside." In 2012, Aronson planned four "healing gardens" that adjoin the new entrance pavilion of

Hadassah Medical Center Hadassah Medical Center () is an Israeli medical organization established in 1934 that operates two university hospitals in Jerusalem (one in Ein Karem and one in Mount Scopus) as well as schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, and pharmacology ...

in Ein Karem. The gardens employ the principles of biophilic design, which posits that nature and vegetation impact positively on human health. Besides that, Aronson made a significant and universal contribution towards planning without water. He published ''Aridscapes'' in 2008, an advocacy against water pumping as well as a global warming treatise. His pioneering work as a landscape architect was awarded a

Global Award for Sustainable Architecture The Global Award for Sustainable Architecture is an international architecture founded in 2006 by architect and scholar Jana Revedin. Description Each year, the award honors five architects who "contribute to a more equitable and sustainable d ...

in 2011.

Landscape planning

* Landscape master plan for the city of

Eilat Eilat ( , ; ; ) is Israel's southernmost city, with a population of , a busy port of Eilat, port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan as the Gulf of Aqaba. The c ...

* Landscape master plan for the city of

Carmiel Karmiel () is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Established in 1964 as a development town, Karmiel is located in the Beit HaKerem Valley which divides upper and lower Galilee. The city is located south of the A ...

* Landscape master plan for the city of

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

* Landscape master plan for the city of Hod HaSharon * The Lowest Park on Earth

Dead Sea The Dead Sea (; or ; ), also known by #Names, other names, is a landlocked salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east, the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the west and Israel to the southwest. It lies in the endorheic basin of the Jordan Rift Valle ...

* Master plan for the Yatir Forest * Landscape consultant for the residential extension of Beer Sheva, which will contain 25,000 housing units * Master plan for Jerusalem's green belt * Beit Govrin National park * Hof Hasharon National park * Rehabilitation plan for the "Burnt Forest" on the western approach to Jerusalem.

Archaeological parks

* Archaeological park around the southern wall of the

Temple Mount The Temple Mount (), also known as the Noble Sanctuary (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, 'Haram al-Sharif'), and sometimes as Jerusalem's holy esplanade, is a hill in the Old City of Jerusalem, Old City of Jerusalem that has been venerated as a ...

in Jerusalem, preservation of antiquities, landscaping, roads and parking areas *

Kidron Valley The Kidron Valley ( classical transliteration, ''Cedron'', from , ''Naḥal Qidron'', literally Qidron River; also Qidron Valley) is a valley originating slightly northeast of the Old City of Jerusalem, which then separates the Temple Mount fro ...

–

Tomb of Absalom The Tomb of Absalom (), also called Absalom's Pillar, is an ancient Rock-cut tombs in ancient Israel, monumental rock-cut tomb with a conical roof located in the Kidron Valley in Jerusalem, a few metres from the Tomb of Zechariah and the Tomb of ...

, Jerusalem's "Biblical Park" * Beit Guvrin, archaeological national park *

Caesarea Caesarea, a city name derived from the Roman title " Caesar", was the name of numerous cities and locations in the Roman Empire: Places In the Levant * Caesarea Maritima, also known as "Caesarea Palaestinae", an ancient Roman city near the modern ...

- hippodrome area, the ancient port and the ancient city

National and regional planning

* National master plan of afforestation (with Motti Kaplan and Ilan Beeri) * Master plan for the

Judean Hills The Judaean Mountains, or Judaean Hills (, or ,) are a mountain range in the West Bank and Israel where Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron and several other biblical sites are located. The mountains reach a height of . The Judean Mountains can be div ...

region *

Negev The Negev ( ; ) or Naqab (), is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort town, resort city ...

tourist development plan *

Modi'in Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut ( ''Mōdīʿīn-Makkabbīm-Rēʿūt'') is a city located in central Israel, about southeast of Tel Aviv and west of Jerusalem, and is connected to those two cities via Route 443 (Israel), Highway 443. In the population ...

regional master plan * Master Plan for the entire country (one of five authors), in charge of open spaces and physical appearance

Urban planning

* Mevasseret Zion, a new suburban township (Jerusalem area), 4000 housing units * Master plan for Jerusalem southwest * New town near

Beit Shemesh Beit Shemesh () is a city council (Israel), city located approximately west of Jerusalem in Israel's Jerusalem District. A center of Haredi Judaism and Modern Orthodoxy, Beit Shemesh has a population of 170,683 as of 2024. The city is named afte ...

, 40,000 housing units, joint venture with architect David Reznik * Lavon, an industrial, educational and residential complex * Caesarea Bay, layout of four residential neighborhoods * Beit Shemesh, new neighborhood, 2500 housing units, (with Yair Avigdor)

Architecture

Cardo A ''cardo'' (: ''cardines'') was a north–south street in Ancient Rome, ancient Roman cities and military castra, camps as an integral component of Urban planning, city planning. The ''cardo maximus'', or most often the ''cardo'', was the main ...

market and residential area in the

Jewish Quarter Jewish Quarter may refer to: *Jewish quarter (diaspora), areas of many cities and towns traditionally inhabited by Jews *Jewish Quarter (Jerusalem), one of the four traditional quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem *Jewish Quarter (), a popular name ...

* Nes Harim swimming pool and restaurant complex in

* Talpiot center, 200 residential units plus 20 shops in Jerusalem * Thirty-seven town houses in Mevaseret Zion * Orchidea Hotel,

* Restaurant at the Jerusalem Hass Promenade with

* Restaurant at the Jerusalem Hass Promenade with Kurtis-Groag

Historical preservation

* Dung Gate and Zion Gate, the Old City, Jerusalem *

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

forecourt in Jerusalem * Abu Gosh mosque * Shaar Hagai inn

Landscape architecture

* Sherover Promenade, Jerusalem * Suzanne Dellal Plazas, a series of urban plazas in Neve Zedek,

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 ...

* Central Plaza of

Ben-Gurion University Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) (, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Named after Israeli national founder David Ben-Gurion, the university was founded in 1969 and currently has f ...

– Kreitman Square * Central Plaza for the

Technion – Israel Institute of Technology The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology is a public university, public research university located in Haifa, Israel. Established in 1912 by Jews under the dominion of the Ottoman Empire, the Technion is the oldest university in the coun ...

in Haifa * Central Park for the city of Eilat * Jerusalem Central Park – Independence Park * American Independence Park in the Judean Hills * Ancient Roman town of

, Old City, Jerusalem * Jerusalem Botanical Gardens * Central Park for the city of

Kiryat Shmona Kiryat Shmona () is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel on the western slopes of the Hula Valley near the Lebanon, Lebanese border. In it had a population of . Located near the Blue Line (withdrawal line), Israel ...

* Sapir Park in the

Negev Desert The Negev ( ; ) or Naqab (), is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort town, resort city ...

* Central Plaza of

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

* Central Park of

Gilo Gilo () is an Israeli settlement in south-western East Jerusalem, with a population of 30,000, mostly Jewish inhabitants. Although it is located within the Jerusalem Municipality, it is widely considered a settlement, because as one of the five ...

neighborhood, Jerusalem * Hof HaSharon National Park * Kishle Park in

* Virgin Mary Spring in Nazareth * Municipal square in

Herzliya Herzliya ( ; , / ) is an affluent List of Israeli cities, city in the Israeli coastal plain, central coast of Israel, at the northern part of the Tel Aviv District, known for its robust start-up and entrepreneurial culture. In it had a populatio ...

Malha Malha is a neighborhood in southwest Jerusalem, between Pat (Jerusalem), Pat, Ramat Denya and Kiryat Hayovel in the Valley of Rephaim. Before 1948, Malha was an Arabs, Arab village known as al-Maliha (). Malha is now an upscale neighborhood fea ...

Park, Jerusalem * Trotner Park, Jerusalem * Sherman Park, Jerusalem *

, Valley 17, Central Business District, Industrial zone * Castel National Park

Transportation and engineering

* Tel Aviv – Jerusalem Highway aka Highway 1 (Israel/Palestine) * Road along the

* Landscape consultant for Nature Reserves Authority and Israel Defense Forces for new roads and installations in the Negev Desert * Landscape architect for road no. 9, Jerusalem * Landscape architect for the main trunk road of Israel, road no. 6 * Sha'ar Ha-gai interchange, town planning scheme, architecture and landscape architecture * Ben Shemen interchange * Kesem interchange * Landscape architecture for the Central Garden at Ben-Gurion International Airport * The architecture and landscape design of 18 km conveyor belt from the

to Arad * Landscape architect for the Negev phosphate plant, developing new quarrying methods in Nahal Zin * Rehabilitation of the used mines in the Small Crater

Work outside Israel

* Iran – Arya Mehr – Iran National Botanical Garden, water fixtures and system, 1975 * Canada – Jerusalem garden and pavilion, Montreal Expo, 1981 * Japan – Osaka Expo, the Israeli Garden. Awards: The Best Prize, Honor Prize and two gold medals, 1990 * China – The Israeli Garden. Awards The Silver Medal for design, 1999. * Italy – La Selva master plan for recreation and tourism, site next to Rome, with three pilot projects, 1990–91 * Egypt – Suma Bay master plan and landscape consultant for a 12 square kilometer resort including 19 hotels, 410 villas and an 18-hole golf course complex on the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

, 1992

Awards

* Ben Gurion Airport, Trans-Israel Highway * 1989 Pfefferman Prize * 1990 Rechter Prize * 1990 Gold Medal and Best Design Award, Osaka Expo * 1991 Represented Israel in the International Biennale in Venice, for Sherover Promenade * 1991 Beautiful Israel Prize * 1995 Designer of the Year (with David Resnik) for ''Mivnim'' for the master plan of Beit Shemesh * 1995 Excellence in Communication, ''Landscape Architectural Magazine'' * 1996 Represented Israel in the International Biennale in Venice, for Shaar Hagai Interchange, Nazareth * 1998 Karavan Prize * 1998 Architects and Town Planners Award Prize * 1999 Silver medal for design,

Kunming Kunming is the capital and largest city of the province of Yunnan in China. The political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province, Kunming is also the seat of the provincial government. During World War II, Kunming was a Ch ...

, China Expo * 2000 Jerusalem Prize for Architecture * 2001 Distinguished Alumnus Award, University of California, Berkeley * 2005 General Design Award of Honor,

American Society of Landscape Architects The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is a professional association for landscape architects in the United States. The ASLA's mission is to advance landscape architecture through advocacy, communication, education, and fellowship. ...

, for Ben Gurion International Airport,

, Israel * 2011

ité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine, Paris & Fondation LOCUSref> * 2012

Yakir Yerushalayim Yakir Yerushalayim (; ) is an annual citizenship prize in Jerusalem, inaugurated in 1967. The prize is awarded annually by the municipality of the City of Jerusalem to one or more residents of the city who have contributed to the cultural an ...

Published work

*''Making Peace with the Land: Designing Israel's Landscape''. Washington, D.C: Spacemaker Press, 1998. *"Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod" ''Topos: the international review of landscape architecture and urban design'' 53 (2005): 60–4. *''Aridscapes''. "Land&Scape Series" collection, Gustavo Gili Editions, 2008.

References

Bibliography

*Bennett, Paul. "Habitable Image: A Network of Promenades Defines a Country's Past, Points Toward its Future erusalem" ''Landscape Architecture'' 90.5 (2000): 60–7. *Helphand, Kenneth I. ''Dreaming Gardens : Landscape Architecture and the Making of Modern Israel''. Santa Fe, NM: Center for American Places, 2002. *Loon, Leehu. "Abstracting the Israeli Landscape: This Garden Well Expresses the Landscape of Israel, without Political References – Too Bad most Visitors Can't Find it." ''Landscape Architecture'' 97.3 (2007): 28, 30–2. *Ben-Ari, Eyal, and Yoram Bilu, eds. ''Grasping Land: Space and Place in Contemporary Israeli Discourse and Experience''. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1997. *Flantz, Richard and Daphne Raz, eds. ''Point of View: Four Approaches to Landscape Architecture in Israel''. Tel Aviv: The Genia Schreiber University Art Gallery Tel Aviv University, 1996. * Selin, Helaine, ed. ''Nature Across Cultures: Views of Nature and the Environment in Non-Western Cultures''. Dordrecht; Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003.

External links

1995 ASLA Professional Awards
*Landscape Architects, Town Planners and Architects, Israel. 1/31/200
Shlomo Aronson Architects
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aronson, Shlomo 1936 births 2018 deaths Israeli architects Israeli landscape architects UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design alumni Harvard Graduate School of Design alumni People from Haifa