Call to support the planned symposium in memory of the architect “Myra Warhaftig”
March 4th, 2018 is the 10th anniversary of the passing away of architect and building researcher Dr. Myra Warhaftig (March 11th, 1930 – March 4th, 2018). To honour her work The Society for the Research of the Lives and Contributions of German-Speaking Jewish Architects that she herself created is planning an academic symposium with international participants on May 17th & 18th, 2018 in Berlin.
The aim of the symposium, on the one hand, is to offer an overview of the strong growth of present day research work of the buildings and the biographies of forgotten Jewish architects in Germany and abroad, who after 1933 lost their livelihood, were forced into exile, were persecuted and in some cases were murdered. A lot of the ongoing research work is based on the in-depth research-work and academic publications of Myra Warhaftig. Above all her book „They Laid the Foundation” (They Broke Ground) Berlin 1996 and „Deutsche jüdische Architekten vor und nach 1933 – Das Lexikon” (The Lexicon of German-Jewish Architects Before and After 1933) Berlin 2005 and further publications.
On the other hand, the symposium will deal with architect Myra Warhaftig; her typology and architectural research work of modern ground plans of apartments that were realised in the building she designed in Dessauer Street 38/39 in Berlin-Kreuzberg. Built in 1987 as part of that year’s International Architectural Exhibition.
Finally, the symposium will tell the story of an impressive personality with an exceptional life story that took her from Israel via France to Germany, where she lived and left her mark. Myra faced a lot of opposition in her attempt to build what she had drafted yet with a lot of energy she finitely achieved her aim.
The symposium will be staged in the Architecture Faculty Building of Berlin’s Technical University, were Myra spent many years teaching students and where she completed her Ph.D. thesis on emancipatory ground plans of modern buildings under the auspices of Julius Posener.
The following persons will be speaking at the symposium:
Prof. Dr. Ines Weizman (Bauhaus-University of Weimar),
Prof. Dr. Martin Papenbrock (Karlsruhe University KIT)
Prof. Dr. Gabi Dolff-Bonekämper (Technical University of Berlin),
Prof. Dr. Andreas Nachama (Berlin),
Prof. Gerald Adler (University of Kent, England) u.a.
DeGeWo Berlin has made a major contribution to finance the symposium. Yet, we require at least a further € 6000 to create both an online as well as a printed documentation of the symposium. That is why we are asking for your support via crowd-funding. Friends, acquaintances and colleagues are being asked to support the symposium with contributions of €20, €50, €100 and even more if possible. All contributors will receive a tax-deductible receipt of their contribution from our registered society as well as a printed documentation of the symposium. Our account is as follows:
Kontoinhaber / Zahlungsempfänger: Gesell.Erforsch.Jüd.Arch
IBAN: DE85 1001 0010 0921 7551 02
BIC: PBNKDEFF
Verwendungszweck: Spende Symposium Myra Warhaftig
All donations will be refunded should the symposium fail to be realised. All supporters will receive a written invitation to the symposium and the program when finalised.
Dr. Günter Schlusche guenter.schlusche@web.de
Chairman of the Society for the Research of the Lives and Contributions of German-Speaking Jewish Architects