Nili Portugali, Architect

Profile of Nili Portugali, Architect

Business Name

Nili Portugali, Architect

Location

Israel

Services

Architecture

Website

http://www.niliportugali.com

Nili Portugali

Principal(s)

Nili Portugali (1948)

• Architectural Association School of Architecture (A.A), London (Diploma 1973)
• Graduate Study in Architecture + Buddhism at the University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A (1979-81)

Philosophy

Nili Portugali is a lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning.

Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa (until 2006 at the Bezalel Academy of Art & Design, Architectural Department, Jerusalem) and a practicing architect working in Israel for more than 30 years. Her work has focused on both practice and theory, and is tightly connected to the holistic-phenomenological school of thought.

She is a graduate of the Architectural Association School of Architecture (A.A), London (Diploma 1973). She studied architecture and Buddhism at the University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A (1979-81), and worked and participated in research with Prof. Christopher Alexander at the Center for Environmental Structure, Berkeley California.

Portugali has won prizes in competitions; she is invited to lectures in international conferences and participates in various exhibitions in Israel and abroad. She has published many articles on architecture and her work is documented in professional magazines, in the press and on television.

Her firm established in 1979 is doing variety of projects within different degree of complexity in the realm of Education, Culture, Residential, Commercial, and Tourism. Many of her projects are with in unique historic urban areas or natural environment which both requires highly creative and sensitive solutions, which her firm is well known about.

Following her holistic approach to architecture, lead her office to be qualified in all levels of scale: Urban planning, Building design, Interior design & Landscape design, disciplines she regards as one continuous Whole.

The office in its size is big enough to handle complicated projects, but small enough to assure a tied and personal relationship with the client.

The office has regular clientele for years, the ones who appreciate the highly professional work done in the office and the immense devotion put into their projects.
As a lecturer at the Technion Institute of Technology, Haifa and for many years at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem and the ongoing participation in research Portugali has with top Universities internationally add an extra dimension to the essence and the depth of the projects designed in the office.

User participation is a basic element in our design process. Portugali's unique Methodology to take an active part in the design process as a whole. The design team together with the client decides about the set of priorities within the budget frame.

Working with Foundations and public resources taught us to work within strict budget frames.

Background

• Founded: 1979
• Offices: 1
• Design team: 5

Key projects

• Felicia Blumental Music center & Library - Tel-Aviv
• Hibat Zion Synagogue - Jerusalem
• Residential neighborhood - Kibbutz Maagan - Michael
• Neighborhood Center - Ramot Jerusalem
• David Shutz Residence, Jerusalem
• The West Yefet Hatzorfim project - Old city of Jaffa
• Tuch Residence 1, Jerusalem
• Rambam Sepharadi Central Synagogue - Hadera
• Senior Citizens Day Center Tel-Aviv
• Ohel Shem Community & High school Library - Ramat-Gan

Key publications

• The Act of Creation and the Spirit of A place, A Holistic - Phenomenological Approach to Architecture / Nili Portugali / Edition Axel Menges 2006

Key awards

• The Sephardic central Synagogue of Hadera, Hadera Israel. 1988
• Nili Portugali's book - Selected for The RIBA International Book Award Architecture Prize - Long list 2007, RIBA, London