Yaacov Yaar
Yaacov Yaar (Hebrew: יעקב יער; born 1929) is an Israeli architect, who received the Israeli prize for architecture in the year 2006 and the EMET Prize in the year 2014. Biography. Yaar was born in Germany in 1929 and immigrated to Palestine with his family at the age of five. He attended the Ohel Shem School in Ramat Gan, and the Gymnasia Herzlia in Tel Aviv. After completing high school he served in the Jewish Settlement Police and in the Israeli Defense Forces. Upon his release from military service in the fall of 1949, he studied architecture at  the Haifa Technion, graduating cum laude in 1953, followed later by a diploma in Engineering (Arch). During his studies, he met his wife Ora Gerstenfeld, whom he married in 1954. The couple had two sons and a daughter. Gerstenfeld died in 1999 and today he lives with his spouse - Ruth A. Berman . Career. Yaar worked as an architect for five years in the offices of Sharon-Idelson in Tel Aviv. In 1960 Yaar established his own architectural practice together with his wife, Ora Gerstenfeld. From the start of their careers, the couple worked primarily in planning public and social projects , including neighborhoods for new immigrants, young couples and evacuees from distressed areas. From 2000 onward Yaar worked with Aviv Yaar and Talli Yaar-Kost. Awards. In 2007, Yaar received the Israel Prize for Architecture. Other awards include the Rokach Prize, first for his role in the renewal of the Old City of Jaffa and subsequently for the planning of the Kfir neighborhood, the Uzzi Rosen Prize of the Jerusalem Architects’ Association for his work on restoration of the Old City of Jerusalem and the Kaplan Prize for design, development, and construction of Pisgat Ze’ev in Jerusalem. In 2014 Yaar received  the EMET prize in the field of architecture. Public activity. Yaar served as President of the Association of Israel Architects. He taught for many years at the Faculty of Architecture of the Technion and, subsequently, the School of Architecture at Tel Aviv University.