Nitza Metzger-Szmuk


Nitza Metzger-Szmuk is an Israeli architect, and Emet Prize laureate in architecture for her work on documentation and preservation of Tel Aviv's White City. She also received the Rokach Prize in 2001.

Early life and education

Born in 1945 in Tel Aviv, Israel, she completed her architecture studies at the University of Florence, Italy, in 1978. After graduating she worked at an architectural firm in Florence doing conservation of historic buildings.

Work in architecture and preservation

Upon her return to Israel in 1989, Metzger-Szmuk was employed by the Tel Aviv Foundation for the development of an architectural survey of the city's International Style buildings. The survey served as the basis for the city's preservation plan and for her first book, "Dwelling on the Dunes", which was first published in 1994 and has been published to date in Hebrew, English and French.
Metzger-Szmuk set up the conservation team at the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality in 1990 and headed it until 2002. She has been given much credit in the proclamation of "The White City" as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2003.
In 2003 she opened an architectural office, specializing in preservation.

Academic career

In 2005 she joined the Technion as a faculty member. In 2006 she was appointed Associate Professor. Through 2013 she headed the graduate program in architecture with specialization in preservation.

Awards

Metzger-Szmuk has curated an exhibition carrying the name : "The White City-Tel Aviv's Modern Movement". The exhibition was first held at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art in 2004. Since then it has traveled to Canada, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Belgium and Germany.

Publications