EMET Prizes to Technion Architects

The EMET Prize - often called Israel's Nobel - is awarded to two Technion Faculty Members

Architects Prof. Bracha Chyutin and Prof. Shamay Assif have won the EMET prize for architecture for 2020. Known as Israel’s Nobel Prize, the EMET Prize is awarded for excellence in academic and professional achievements that have had far-reaching influence and have made a significant contribution to Israeli society.

Architect Prof. Shamay Assif

The prestigious awards, to the amount of $1 million, were awarded on Thursday 27th May to eight new laureates, two of whom are Technion faculty members: Prof Shamay Assif and Prof. Bracha Chyutin.

This is the 19th year of the EMET Prize, which is given under the auspices of the Prime Minister’s Office. The award committee is headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Yaakov Turkel.

Architect Prof. Shamay Assif completed a bachelor’s degree at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning at the Technion and a master’s degree in architecture and urban design at Harvard University. He is a pioneer of the “Israel 100 – Strategic Spatial Planning for Israel in 2048” initiative. The firm of architects he established in the 1990s was involved in, among other things, the master plan for Be’er Sheva, the master plan for Modi’in-Maccabim-Re’ut, and the architectural and scenic development of the Trans-Israel Highway. He was the Tel Aviv-Yafo City Engineer and headed the planning team of the National Outline Plan TMA 35. In 2010 he left his position as head of the Planning Administration at the Ministry of the Interior and was appointed Visiting Professor at the Technion where he is now a faculty member.

Architect Prof. Bracha Chyutin

Architect Prof. Bracha Chyutin,  graduated from the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning at the Technion, and co-founded the office of Hayut Architects with her husband, the late Dr. Michael Hayutin, who was a leading Israeli architect in recent decades. Hayutin focused on public construction and was responsible for some of the most prominent buildings in the Israeli urban landscape, including the Polonsky Academy at the Van Leer Institute, the Haifa Court, and the Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem. She has won many awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Architects and City Builders in Israel, the Design Award for the Haifa Courthouse, and the Architects Association Award. She also won the Rechter Prize for Architecture three times. She served as a consultant for the master plan of the Technion and a judge in the entrance gate design competition for Technion City. Today, she is a Technion Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning.

Congratulations!