Abstract

The article presents the work of the Polish born Is¬raeli architect Zvi Hecker in the context of his recent exhibi¬tion in the DAZ (November 1997 to January 1998)—the German Architecture Centre. Located in a postindustrial building in the former East Berlin, the DAZ has established itself as a forum for both theoreticians and practitioners of architecture, for architects and clients. Tearing down the walls of prejudices and misunderstanding—such was the atmosphere of the exhi¬bition.
The architecture of Hecker, who won the prestigious Ger¬man Critics’ Award in 1995, enjoys popularity in Germany; several projects, like the Jewish Centre in Duisburg or the monument commemorating terrible events of the Reich—skristallnacht, the “Memorial Site for the Lindenstrasse Syn¬agogue in Berlin,” are due to be completed. Architecture is Landscape—from the early works of Zvi Hecker, for instance the Viennese monument of the Holocaust victims, his archi¬tecture is highly sculptural and merges with the surrounding space by means of protruding wings, walls and half-open spaces. The labyrinth of the Jewish primary school in Berlin is the perfect example of the “small town atmosphere,” says Hecker. More recent designs, like the so called “Berlin Mountains” complex are organic and have “their own laws of gravity”... The apparently spontaneous forms are in reality strictly ruled by the laws of the specific Hecker’s geometry. Fascinated by spiral three-dimensional forms and geometry as well as symbolism of the sunflower, the architect designed several buildings, like the Ramat Hasharon (1986) and Ramat Gan (1990) houses in Israel and the famous Berlin school. Sophisticated geometry is, however, a point of departure, visible on architectural drawings, unnoticed by the un¬prepared viewer. Such process of “liberating from geometry” must be accompanied by the perfect precision of design and crisp detailing.
Zvi Hecker definitely insists on the precise construction process and execution of details. His consequence, as quoted in the exhibition catalogue, even led him to prison, when, in 1966, he physically attacked the windows of the building he designed in Haifa, which were altered without the architect’s consent...
Hecker claims that, like Frank O. Ghery, he considers himself more a painter than an architect. Colourful sketches, pictures and the multitude of working models inspire archi¬tecture and vice versa. Such unconventional methods of design are definitely noteworthy for those who appreciate the genuine creative process.