Acknowledgments & credits
In my research for architect David Reznik’s retrospective, I faced the absence of many original documents (preliminary drawings, personal and professional correspondence, models of works, and display) which ordinarily enable scrutiny of intimate artistic processes and provide spatial and experiential insights. The attempt to fill the gaps involved many months of burrowing in private and public archives, and long conversations, which grew into three years of intensive work.
The decision to focus on selected projects, some better and some less well known, was based on their significance to the understanding of Reznik’s architectural language and their ability to attest to the unique, modernist and humanist nature of his oeuvre, which is modest and ascetic but at the same time fascinating and highly impressive.
The main body of the catalogue is twofold. One chapter is dedicated to a detailed description of Reznik’s most significant projects constructed or proposed over the years. Another chapter— “A Humanist Element in the Machine”—strives to situate his work within the architectural discourse, both local and international. To complete the picture and for the sake of future research, a comprehensive list of his projects and a bibliography related to his professional and public works are also included.
The demanding encounter with David Reznik and his work was a great privilege. His modesty, patience, and willingness to cooperate, his ability to share his deliberations, how he embodies the spirit of the first decades of the nascent State, during which he contributed greatly to its urban appearance – all these have been an invaluable asset that I will always cherish this, I am indebted to him. I would also like to thank Rachel Reznik, whose radiance inspired all those involved in the project with warmth. Her enlistment in the architectural endeavor and her efforts to preserve the materials throughout the years have greatly contributed to the research.
The exhibition and catalogue have been made possible through the initiative, determination, and warm support of Prof. Mordechai Omer who followed their execution closely. Many individuals invested efforts and talent toward the realization of the exhibition and catalogue, and this is my opportunity to thank them: Thanks to the staff of David Reznik, Baruch Reznik – Architects & Town Planners Ltd., to Baruch Reznik, Aviva Shomroni and mainly Chen Ofer who assisted in the research and helped untangle many intricate knots; to Daphna Raz, the text editor, for her devotion and the unique ability to lend the text an added contextual and linguistic value; to Daria Kassovsky for the articulate, patient, punctilious translation; to Hava Mordohovich and Kfir Malka for the beautiful ideas manifested in the catalogue design; to Eyal Schoenbaum and Hadas Zemer of Tucan Design Studio Ltd., the exhibition designers, and to Itai Shechory of Tamooz Exhibitions & Museums Ltd. who devised an apt, modest way to expose Reznik’s architecture; to Irit Tal who warmly assisted in the realization of the exhibition, to Sarah Keller for her meticulous work and dedication, and to Orna Gilboa and Yossi Ambar, from the Gallery staff, for their devoted work.
Special thanks to our partner, the Israel National Museum of Science, Technology & Space, Daniel and Matilde Recanati Center, to its Chairman Leon Recanati, and Director Prof. Yoram Zvirin, for acknowledgement of the importance of architectural research in Israel and its contribution to the collective visual memory of generations to come. Finally, thanks to my family who allowed me the much-needed space for the Sisyphean work involved in the realization of an exhibition.
Exhibition: David Reznik, A Retrospective, 2005
The Genia Schreiber University Art Gallery
The Yolanda and David Katz Faculty of the Arts, Tel Aviv University
