Language:
English
Year of publication:
2018
Titel der Quelle:
Jahrbuch des Simon-Dubnow-Instituts
Angaben zur Quelle:
17 (2018) 335-364
Keywords:
Kahane, Ariel,
;
Kahane, Ariel, Archives
;
Jewish architects
;
Jews, German History 20th century
;
Architects
;
City planning
;
Regional planning
Abstract:
This article explores the collection of the planner and architect Ariel (Anselm) Kahane (1907–1986), which is held at the Central Archive of the Hebrew University, as a “deliberate site” of utopian intention. Despite his high-ranking positions both within the British colonial and Israeli planning systems, Kahane has remained under the scholarly and professional radar, his work being almost entirely forgotten. Against this background, the article argues that the story of the making of the archive is linked to its utopian content, and that both of these aspects are rooted in Kahane’s cultural position as a Jecke, a German-trained planner operating within the context of Zionist nation-building. The article provides a first attempt at exploring this virtually unknown planner’s work and assessing his contribution to the field. It traces his attempts to call attention to his utopian blueprints drawn throughout his five-decade career: from his virtually unnoticed planning exhibition in Jerusalem in 1945 – arguably the first to be held in Palestine – to his work as a state planner in the 1950s and the unrealized New Town of Oshrat, through to his international activity as a UN expert in Turkey in the 1960s. The article charts Kahane’s development from being principally an importer, a producer, and later exporter of distinct professional knowledge. In doing so, it argues that Kahane’s story serves as a powerful platform from which to explore the encounter between German-Jewish intellectual migration, Zionist nation- building, and transnational circulation of knowledge and expertise.
DOI:
10.13109/9783666370809.335
URL:
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