Page 14 - The Architecture of Nadler-Nadler-Bixon-Gil

Concrete Crystals:
Introductory Notes
Ziva Sternhell

In 1946 Shulamit and Michael Nadler, two young
graduates of the Department of Architecture at Haifa’s
Technion, opened a practice in Tel Aviv and soon forged
a path leading them directly to the central stage of
Israeli architecture. Two buildings the Nadlers planned
in those early days – the campus of the Ruppin College
of Agriculture in Emek Hefer (1946-74) and the Sokolov
Journalists Association House in Tel Aviv (1948-57) – set
the tone for their future professional development. Since
then, and throughout its sixty years of operation, the firm
concentrated on planning public buildings that have had
an important role in forming the local visual language.
Besides their talents as planners and designers, the
couple knew how to incorporate valuable partners to the
firm, and how to adapt to changes in Israeli society and
culture in general.

The years following the establishment of the state
in 1948, were a golden age for Israeli architecture. The
high demand for buildings and the political establishment’s
broad-minded approach gave young architects the
chance to win important design competitions. Shulamit
and Michael Nadler had already demonstrated their skills
in handling the functional demands of a building and
expressing the spirit of the time. Both Ruppin College and
Sokolov House manifest a simplicity and directness that
embodies the ideals of the new society. Each building
complements its setting: Sokolov House continues in

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