Danziger Building • A hidden architectural masterpiece at the Technion

The Danziger Building, which houses the laboratories of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Technion, is not just an academic structure, but an architectural masterpiece on a world scale. Despite quickly becoming one of the Technion's hallmarks, does the institution cherish and preserve this building properly?

Danziger Building

As is known, studies at the Technikum, which later became the Technion, began in early 1924, with only two faculties: Construction and Architecture. The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering was established in 1935 and operated in the historic compound in Hadar Carmel until it was moved to the Neve Sha'anan campus in the 50s.

In 1967, the Danziger (donor) Faculty of Mechanical Engineering laboratory building was inaugurated, which was constructed according to the architects' plans. Prof. Alfred Neumann, the dean of the Faculty of Architecture at that time, and his young partner and former student, Mr. Zvi Hecker.

The two-story building was designed in exposed concrete, a fact that places it in the current The Brutalist ("exposed concrete", in French beton brut). The structure is based on a geometric element (a triangular pyramid) that creates the vertical envelope. The reinforced concrete corrugated ceiling of the upper floor allows for the creation of a multifunctional interior space, free of columns, as well as personal work areas. The diagonal window strips allow for optimal natural lighting. The upper windows, shaded by the protruding roof, add to the natural lighting of the space and also emphasize the lines of the corrugated ceiling that define the space. Another hallmark of the building are the gutters that break down from the roof. The exterior walls and ceiling of the upper space are painted in shades of yellow and light blue.

The building received extensive publicity in the international professional press of the time thanks to its morphology based on repeating geometric elements.

The creators' protest

However, as we know, "there is no prophet in his own city." Despite the great appreciation that the building received among professionals from Israel and abroad, a disagreement arose between the Technion administration and the faculty of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and the planners over functional issues. According to the planners, the faculty made changes to the building plans, during the construction stages, without their consent, thereby damaging their creation.

In response, Zvi Hecker entered the building at night and damaged its windows, as a sign of protest against the changes that were made without the planners' approval. He was thus protesting the violation of the copyright of Prof. Neumann and himself. In a newspaper interview shortly after the event, he admitted to the act and explained his motives. 

Subsequently, the planners filed a lawsuit against the Technion administration demanding that the changes made without their consent be removed, which they claimed had harmed the creators' rights and reputation. However, their lawsuit was rejected by the court. Following this affair, Prof. Neumann resigned from his position as Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and went to Canada, where he received an academic appointment at Laval University in Quebec. 

Prof. Alfred Neumann (1900-1968)

Alfred Neumann was born in Vienna, where he also graduated from the university in 1925 with a degree in engineering. He also studied architecture at the Vienna School of Architecture. After completing his studies, he worked as an architect in well-known architectural firms in Austria and France. During World War II, he went underground, but was eventually captured and sent to Theresienstadt, from where he was liberated in 1945, at the end of the war.

He immigrated to Israel in 1949, received an academic membership at the Technion, and was even appointed Dean of the Faculty of Architecture (1953-58). In 1959, he established a planning office with two of his former students: Zvi Hecker and Eldar Sharon. The buildings they designed, in addition to the Danziger Building, include the Bat Yam City Hall, vacation buildings at the Mediterranean Club in Achziv, and the synagogue at Bahad 1.

At the end of 1966, after the Danziger Building affair, Prof. Neumann resigned from the Technion, went to Canada, and died there in 1968.

Architect Zvi Hecker (1931-2023)

Zvi Hecker was born in Krakow, Poland. At the outbreak of World War II, he fled Poland to Casablanca. In 1950, he immigrated to Israel and began his architectural studies at the Faculty of Architecture at the Technion, which he graduated in 1955. In 1959, he established an architectural planning office in collaboration with Eldar Sharon (until '64) and Prof. Alfred Neumann (until '66). 

For many years he lived in Ramat Gan. In 1990 he moved to live and work in Berlin. In Germany he designed various projects and even taught architecture. He died in 2023 in Germany. The Danziger Building at the Technion was designed by him in partnership with Prof. Alfred Neumann. As mentioned, Hecker sabotaged the building's windows, before its completion, in protest at the construction of the building without beech, in violation of the designers' copyright.

His joint works with Prof. Neumann include: the Mediterranean Club (Achziv), the Bat Yam City Hall, and the synagogue at Bahad 1.

Building for preservation?

According to the Technion's master plan, the Danziger Building is included in the list of buildings for preservation on the campus. Dr. Ruth Liberty-Shalev even prepared a documentation file for the building, as a first step towards its preservation. Therefore, it is difficult to understand how the Technion approves of damaging this building for preservation by building an addition at the front of the entrance to the building. Although the addition is "small" - a glass cube - it is completely foreign to the spirit and morphology of the building. It should be noted that the Technion's list of buildings for preservation also includes the Faculty of Aeronautics building, and the struggle to ensure its proper preservation is not yet over.

It is outrageous to realize that the Technion, which has been training architects for 100 years and is supposed to educate them to respect and preserve architectural heritage, has contributed to the violation of these values ​​in its own home.

Thanks

My gratitude is hereby extended to Aurelia Kirmeier, former campus architect, and Ard Meir Raviv, for their assistance in preparing the present article.

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