On Tuesday, 9 of May, at 7 pm the exhibition Zvi Hecker: I draw because I have to think will open in Oris House of Architecture in presence of architect and author of the exhibition Zvi Hecker. 

The exhition revolves around architectural drawings of the Israeli architect that were created for the realized project Schiphol-Amsterdam. It provides an insight into the thinking and working process and development of an architectural idea or, in other words, into one particular methodology that establishes itself through drawing.

I draw because I have to think

Computer drawings are a necessary means of communication between the architect and his or her collaborators, and eventually with the construction people on site. Sketches and hand drawings are in less demand these days, though their importance and usefulness have lost none of their validity. The significance and uniqueness of hand drawings lies not in the clarity of their message but in their inherent imperfection. They communicate with no one, but their creator. As our mind is never in complete control of our hand, it is free to create signs left open for interpretation. Not once was I surprised at how hand drawing can evoke possibilities that most probably I would not have been able to imagine consciously. As arguably the most complex of all arts, architecture has had to address many contradictory demands and conflicting interests within its overall design. No successful solution can be reached by sequential analysis but rather by intuitive synthesis. In this respect, hand drawings help to channel the vague ponderings of the mind into visual images of a germinating concept. It is then up to the eyes to trace and decode its meaning. The architect’s way of thinking is through his eyes.

by Zvi Hecker

Zvi Hecker

Born in Krakow 1931, Zvi Hecker grew up in Samarkand, studied Architecture in Technion, Haifa, painting at Avni Academy, Tel Aviv, taught Architecture at Université Laval, Quebec and Universität für Angewandte Kunst, Vienna. In 1960 he set up his practise in Tel-Aviv and in 1991 in Berlin. In Israel he designed the City Hall, Bat Yam, Dubiner House, Ramat Gan (with Alfred Neumann and Eldar Sharon), the Palmach Museum of History, Tel Aviv (with Rafi Segal), the Military Academy in Negev, the Ramot Housing in Jerusalem, The Spiral Apartment House, Ramat Gan. In Europe Zvi Hecker designed the Friederik Kiesler exhibition in Centre Pompidou, Paris, the Memorial Site in Linden Straße, Berlin (with Micha Ullman and Eyal Weizmann), the Jewish School in Berlin, the Jewish Cultural Centre in Duisburg and the Koningin Máximakazerne in Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam. Zvi Hecker work is in the collection of Centre Pompidou in Paris, MoMA N-Y, Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Jewish Museum and Berlinische Galerie in Berlin. His work is exhibited regularly in galleries and museums. Zvi Hecker is Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, recipient of the Deutscher Kritikerpreis für Architektur and Rechter Architecture Prize. He lives and works in Berlin.