Conversations: Dana Arazi Levine
I called Dana on a Sunday during the coronavirus quarantine. She was with her family in Florida, where it was a safer place to spend time isolating and where she and her husband Ross can still carry their design work with Arazi Levine Design, an architecture and interior design practice based in Boston. Dana and I met years ago at the Boston Society of Architects, where both of us were new arrivals in town but not necessarily to the US.
Dana grew up in Tel Aviv, Israel. With a degree in architecture from Tel Aviv University and a Master in Urban Design from The City College of New York, she is a multi-faceted designer with a special place in her heart for historic preservation, which is heavily informed by her upbringing in a city immensely rich of built heritage: the White City of Tel Aviv has the largest collection of buildings in the Bauhaus / International style in the world.
“Having grown up in a city so influenced by UNESCO-recognized architecture definitely made me passionate about respecting old buildings and keeping them alive. I remember interviewing to enter the Bachelor program in architecture and being asked about how I felt about preservation, and I just had so many thoughts. To enter the Architecture program in Israel, first you have to submit grades from high school, plus take an entrance exam (similar to SAT), a portfolio that shows your artistic ability, and maybe recommendation letters. Secondly, you take a vocational exam, where you may be requested to draw things and answer qualitative questions about creativity and spatial thinking. Lastly, you have to interview with +/- 4 faculty members.
I sought architecture because I wanted something creative and prestigious, creative and still a real profession. Also, in Israel you have to take a break between high school and university for mandatory Army service (3 years for men, 2 for women). So there are some pre-architecture programs available in the form of workshops that can be taken during this time, so people can figure out whether they in fact have a vocation for it, and to build up that portfolio of work that is required for entry into the degree program. The Bachelor program itself was very competitive when I applied. If people are a bad fit, the faculty would have a conversation with them and say they may not be suited to continue the degree.
It’s hard to say if architects were on the forefront of popular culture due to my family having different backgrounds. My grandfather was a newspaper reporter and then editor; my father was a musician; I wasn’t really aware of architecture as a student growing up. But, my grandmother would take me to museums, and used to teach me about the typologies of buildings in Tel Aviv.
Tel Aviv is very special in terms of architectural heritage, but the rest of Israel isn’t. A lot of the built environment is neither urban nor suburban. In fact, the Israel Pavilion for the 2014 Venice Biennale explored this hybrid typology. It’s like a sea of ugly residential buildings - they are masonry and concrete towers that make up a huge amount of the Israel built environment. Some of the Bauhaus-style buildings are like that too, but some are more unique: they are at a smaller scale, maybe 1-2 townhouses, where 4-6 family units may divide it into apartments.
Often times a developer will make a deal with residents in order to preserve the building and add amenities, like parking or an elevator, plus an extra 1-2 floors to be managed by the developer. They may rent those out, or sell. Currently, there is a huge housing shortage, and the government is trying to find ways to incentivize developers to build more. Most developers will hire architects, and then architects will recommend engineers as consultants to projects. Architects will charge a percentage of the project costs (between 10-25% depending on the kind of work). It’s uncommon for developers to reach out directly to engineers for design services - there is definitely a separation between architects, engineers, and developers.
I have work culture experiences in both the United States and in Israel. It’s very obvious that working in an office in the US is much more quiet; there was constant yapping back in the Tel Aviv offices. The constant chit-chat would drive me crazy, but there was also more camaraderie between colleagues. It was common to show your work to your co-workers, talk about what you’re doing, it was very casual and collaborative. Licensing in Israel has similar requirements to the United States: a degree in architecture, plus 3 years of internship documented by regular reporting with a supervisor. There used to be an exam component, which is no longer mandatory for the license. There’s also the Young Architects of Israel Forum, an entity that is fighting for more rights for emerging architects in Israel. They are responsible for finding an alternative for the exam, along with other changes to the law.
We have thought about taking on work in Israel, from both an immediate response to family and friends asking for help, and from a personal wish to transform an existing building of our own. However, architects in Israel are paid little and fees are lower than in the United States: it would be difficult to survive as an independent architect there, when compared to here. The cost of living is also very high, which adds to the negatives. Architects are not well paid - it is a luxury service.”
As told to GB.
