Ada Karmi-Melamede

{{Infobox person

| name = Ada Karmi-Melamede

| native_name = עדה כרמי-מלמד

| native_name_lang = he

| image = Adakarmi2013.jpeg

| image_size = 250px

| caption = Ada Karmi-Melamede

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1936|12|24}}

| birth_place = Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality = Israeli

| occupation = Architect

| known_for = Co-designing the Supreme Court of Israel building

| awards = {{ubl|Israel Prize (2007)|Sandberg Prize for Research in Art and Architecture (1985)}}

}}

Ada Karmi-Melamede ({{langx|he|עדה כרמי-מלמד}}; born 1936) is a noted Israeli architect.

Biography

Karmi-Melamede was born on December 24, 1936, in Tel Aviv, in Mandate Palestine (now Israel).[http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/karmi-melamede-ada Ada Karmi-Melamede] in Jewish Women's Archive Encyclopedia

She studied at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London from 1956 to 1959 and at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology from 1961 to 1962, being awarded her degree in 1963.

She has taught at Columbia University (1969-1982), Yale University (1985, 1993), and the University of Pennsylvania (1991).

She established Ada Karmi-Melamede Architects in 1985 in Tel Aviv.

In 1986 she and her brother Ram Karmi won an international competition to design the Supreme Court of Israel compound, which opened in 1992.{{cite web|url=http://www.labiennale-israeli-pavilion.org/html/YY_Architect.html |title=Ram Karmi |publisher=Yad LaYeled Children's Museum |accessdate=October 17, 2008 |url-status=usurped |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071007053717/http://www.labiennale-israeli-pavilion.org/html/YY_Architect.html |archivedate=October 7, 2007 }} New York Times architecture critic Paul Goldberger wrote that "the sharpness of the Mediterranean architectural tradition and the dignity of the law are here married with remarkable grace".{{cite web|author=Goldberger, Paul|authorlink=Paul Goldberger|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/13/arts/architecture-view-a-public-work-that-ennobles-as-it-serves.html |title=Architecture View: A Public Work That Ennobles As It Serves|work=New York Times|date=August 13, 1995|accessdate=October 20, 2008}}

She is the subject of the documentary film Ada: My Mother the Architect (2024).{{cite web | access-date = February 12, 2025 | url =https://www.filmlinc.org/films/ada-my-mother-the-architect/ | website = Film at Lincoln Center | title = New York Jewish Film Festival 2025 }}

Projects

Ramat Hanadiv Visiting Center, Ramat Hanadiv Memorial Gardens, 2008, Zikhron Ya'akov, Israel{{Cite web |date=2011-12-08 |title=Ramat Hanadiv Visiting Center / Ada Karmi-Melamede Architects |url=https://www.archdaily.com/189050/ramat-hanadiv-visiting-center-ada-karmi-melamede-architects |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=ArchDaily |language=en-US}}

Life Sciences Building, Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel.

Supreme Court Building, Jerusalem, Israel, 1992.

File:Model of Israel supreme court building.jpg|Model of Israel supreme court building

File:Israel Supreme Court.jpg|aerial view, Israel Supreme Court

File:Israel supreme courtDSCN1014.JPG|Viewing the model

File:BeitAviChaiMay062023.jpg|Beit Avi Chai

File:Adakarmiramathanadiv.jpg|Ramat HaNadiv

Awards

In 2007, Karmi-Melamede was awarded the Israel Prize, for architecture, the second woman to have ever been awarded this prize.{{Cite web

| title = Israel Prize Official Site (in Hebrew) - Recipient's C.V. | url =

http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Units/PrasIsrael/Tashsaz/AdaKarmi-Melamede/cv.htm}}{{Cite web

| title = Israel Prize Official Site (in Hebrew) - Judges' Rationale for Grant to Recipient

| url = http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Units/PrasIsrael/Tashsaz/AdaKarmi-Melamede/nimuk.htm}} Her father, Dov Karmi, had received the same prize in 1957, and her brother Ram Karmi in 2002.

Awarded the Sandberg Prize for Research in Art and Architecture (1985?){{Cite web |title=Awards - Ada Karmi-Melamede Architects |url=https://www.adakarmimelamede.com/awards |access-date=2023-03-27 |website=www.adakarmimelamede.com}}
Awarded grants from the United States National Endowment for the Arts
New York City's Second Avenue (1975)
transportation, mixed-use development, housing, and industry in Long Island City (1976–1977)
architecture in Palestine under the British Mandate (1984)