Ram Karmi

Ram Karmi studied at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Architectural Association School of Architecture and Avni Institute of Art and Design. The field of work recorded is architecture. Places of work recorded in the authority are Ariel and Haifa. Employment is recorded with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Houston and Columbia University. Distinctions recorded are Israel Prize and Rechter Prize.

• Name — Ram Karmi • Born — 1931 • Birthplace — Jerusalem • Died — 11 April 2013 • Citizenship — Israeli • Education — Avni Institute of Art and Design Technion • Alma Mater — Technion, Haifa, and Architectural Association School of Architecture, London • Occupation — Architect • Employer — Ram Karmi Architects Company • Style — Brutalist • Spouse — Rivka Karmi-Edry • Children — 6

Ram Karmi was born in Jerusalem. His father was architect Dov Karmi. Karmi grew up in Tel Aviv, served in the Israel Defense Forces in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. He studied visual art in the Avni Institute of Art and Design in 1947 following which he studied architecture at the Technion, Haifa, and Architectural Association School of Architecture, London in 1951–56. His father, Dov Karmi, was also an architect and won the Israel Prize in 1957. His sister, the architect Ada Karmi-Melamede, was also awarded the Israel Prize for architecture, in 2007. He was married to Rivka Karmi-Edry with whom he has a son and two daughters. He also has two sons and a daughter from a previous marriage.

• Illustration — The Supreme Court of Israel Early in his career Ram Karmi was employed in his father's office where he worked on plans for the Knesset along with the design competition winner Joseph Klarwein. Karmi planned the Negev Center, Beersheba, in 1960 and El Al building, Tel Aviv, in 1963. He continued his architectural work while lecturing at the Technion, designing the Amal School in Tel Aviv and the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station. • Illustration — The Yad LaYeled Children's Museum According to Karmi, after the 1967 Six-Day War, the changed atmosphere in Israeli society caused him to re-think his brutalist style. In 1974, Karmi voluntarily became the chief architect in the Housing and Construction Minister of Israel, a position he held until 1979, and worked to re-design the near-ubiquitous public housing projects in Israel. In 1981, he finished the Hecht Synagogue in Jerusalem. In 1986 Karmi and his sister Ada Karmi-Melamede were invited to participate in the international competition for the design of the Supreme Court of Israel which they won. The building, designed by Karmi and Karmi-Melamede opened in 1992. New York Times architecture critic Paul Goldberger wrote of Karmi's design, "the sharpness of the Mediterranean architectural tradition and the dignity of the law are here married with remarkable grace." Beginning in 2007, Karmi was the architect in charge of renovating the Habima Theatre.

Karmi taught at the Technion, Haifa between 1964 and 1994. He lectured at MIT, Columbia University and the University of Houston. Karmi was a full professor at the School of Architecture of Ariel University Center of Samaria.