Nationality Israeli Died December 31, 2003 | Name Dora Gad Occupation Interior Designer | |
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Born 1912 Campulung, Romania | ||
Dora Gad (Hebrew דורה גד; b. 1912, d. 31 December 2003) was an Israeli interior designer, whose work had significant influence on the development of modern Israeli architecture.
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Early life
Dora Gad (née Siegel) was born in 1912 in Campulung, Romania. She grew up in the home of her grandfather, and attended Hebrew school and a government-run school. Between 1930 and 1934, she studied at the Technische Hochschule in Vienna, and received her diploma in engineering and architecture. There, she met her future husband, Heinrich Yehezkel Goldberg, an architecture student. They married in 1936, immigrated to Mandatory Palestine and settled in Tel Aviv.
Career
Gad found her first position with architect Oskar Kauffman. In 1938 she began to work independently, and her early projects led her towards interior design. In 1942 she began to design private apartments together with her husband. Her style was light and modern, drawing from local inspiration; abundant light, and local building materials. Gad incorporated locally available fabrics, wool carpets, woven work, straw and felt in her designs. Her style set her apart from many European educated architects of the day, who maintained more European styles of architecture.
By the 1950s, the couple were already prominent interior designers in Israel. During these years they changed their name to the Hebrew name, Gad. They were involved in the planning of many government buildings and institutions.
After the death of Yehezkel Gad in 1958, Gad established a partnership with Arieh Noy, an employee in her office. In 1959 she married Efraim Ben Arzi, a former general and prominent public figure. The Gad-Noy firm continued to work on governmental projects, and they were responsible, in 1965, for the design of the Israel Museum, together with architect Al Mansfeld, and in 1966, for the interior design of the Knesset building.
The Gad-Noy firm operated until 1976. Gad continued to work independently in both the public and private sectors until her death, in 2003.