Magazine Carleton: batir un héritage (Article en anglais)

David Azrieli might not be a household name in Canada, but type in a query on the World Wide Web and you'll quickly discover the magnitude of this architect's remarkable life and career. Search engines pull up more than 100 related sites and articles, including two of his own dedicated Web pages.

Azrieli, MArch/97, head of Montreal-based Canpro Investments Ltd., is renowned in Israel for creating some of the Middle East's largest developments including state of the art skyscrapers, office complexes and the famous Azrieli Center, Tel Aviv's massive 3.4 million square-foot commercial complex which opened in 1998.

His work as a designer and a developer has earned him many prestigious honours including the Order of Canada, the Order of Quebec and the State of Israel Jubilee Award. He's been awarded numerous honorary degrees from universities around the world.

But in many ways, it is Azrieli's tragic and heroic past as a Holocaust survivor that makes his life story so compelling.

Azrieli's escape from Nazi-occupied Poland is chronicled in a new memoir titled One Step Ahead. The biography, written by his daughter Danna, was published in Hebrew in 1999 and is available in Israeli bookstores. The English version is due to be released soon in Canada. The book was inspired by an emotional journey in 1990 to Poland and Russia where Azrieli, Danna and his eldest daughter Naomi retraced the route of his escape.

Azrieli was just 17 years old when he was forced to leave his parents' home in Poland in 1939. His parents and little sister were killed at Auschwitz. His younger brother was captured by the Soviets and never heard from again. An older brother, imprisoned at a work camp in Siberia, survived and now lives with his family in Israel.


By chance or destiny

It was a combination of sheer luck and shrewd insight that enabled Azrieli to survive. His daughter's book recounts how Azrieli would befriend people -- both Jewish and non-Jewish -- in towns along his escape route who would assist him by hiding him in wagons, or disguising him as an Arab peasant.

This knack for self-preservation, says Danna, is one of the reasons her father is so successful as a businessman today. "He was always running and always managed to stay one step ahead of the Germans," she says. "My father is an intensely focused and optimistic person. He never loses sight of his goals. When all the odds are against him, he sticks to his focus and he inevitably succeeds."


Two homelands

After Azrieli's turbulent escape from Poland in 1939 and journey through Russia and Central Asia in 1940-1941, he arrived alone in Palestine in 1942. Working at many jobs to support himself, he also began to study architecture at Haifa's Technion University. In 1948, Israel's War of Independence broke out and he interrupted his studies to join the Israeli Defense Force, and then, the Israeli Air Force.

In the 1950s, Azrieli traveled to destinations around the world including South Africa, England, Western Europe, the United States and Canada. He moved to Montreal in 1954 where he met his wife Stephanie. Together they raised four children: Rafi, Sharon, Naomi and Danna. They have three grandsons.

Azrieli's success in Canada was steady and far-reaching and included not only his rise as one of Montreal's most prominent businessmen but as a leader in the development and management of commercial real estate markets in Canada and the United States. His contribution to the economic growth of the Gatineau area and, in fact, the national capital region is evidenced by one of the area's most successful shopping centers, Les Promenades de l'Outaouais. Over the years, Azrieli has also contributed his time and resources to the community through philanthropic work, including the establishment of a fellowship at Concordia University in Montreal.

Through it all he never forgot his past. His strong connection to Israel led Azrieli to look for an opportunity to build in his homeland. He built the country's first enclosed shopping mall in a suburb of Tel-Aviv in 1986. His innovations and foresight earned him a reputation as a pioneer in the development of shopping centres in Israel and the Middle East. He says of his achievements on both sides of the ocean, "I have been blessed to have had the opportunity to focus on what I love to do in the places that I love most -- to build and design in Israel and Canada. This passion for my work and for my homelands is what has led to my success."


Crowning achievement

Azrieli's "crowning" achievement is Israel's $400-million (U.S.) commercial complex which bears his name. The Azrieli Center, www.azrielicenter.co.il, contains a shopping mall specializing in fashion, and is topped by three high-rise towers of blue glass set in a bold white frame representing the blue of the Mediterranean and the white of the Tel Aviv beach. The centre houses offices, a hotel, cinemas, an amphitheatre, art gallery, health spa and a swimming pool. A 50-storey circular tower even has a heliport on the roof.

Azrieli's penchant for building shopping malls grew out of his childhood dream of becoming a fashion designer. His father manufactured women's clothing and furs in Poland, an occupation that eventually would shape Azrieli's own career. He recalls spending hours reading international fashion magazines and sketching models and women's clothing.

"I was fascinated with the various designs of Paris at the time," he says. "But I found that I could express my ideas -- the fulfillment of my work -- in architecture as well as I could have in fashion."

The two vocations are not so different, he adds. They both start out with a vision. He sees a picture in his imagination and envisions a final product in every detail before he puts it on paper. "I was blessed with my ability to see a building almost totally completed in a multi-dimensional way before I even set my pencil to paper."

Azrieli has witnessed an evolution in the design profession during a career that has spanned five decades. Even so, he maintains that architecture's basic philosophy remains unchanged.

"Space has to be created for the user to enjoy. The design of the building, the complex, must complement their activities of life."


Capping his success

Azrieli recently capped his professional career by fulfilling a lifelong personal dream. At the age of 73 he went back to school to continue his studies in architecture, graduating from Carleton with a master's degree in 1997. The convocation ceremony brought full circle an academic journey that began more than half a century earlier.

"I always felt it would be exciting to go back and submerge myself in study to complement all those years of practical work." he says. "I found the vocabulary to express my own ideas and to get a better understanding of what I believe architecture is all about."

Attending university was for Azrieli "a very exciting dimension in my life...like a total detachment." He completed his degree in just three semesters, passing with distinction and producing a thesis of "extremely high scholarly quality," according to his thesis adviser, Martin Bressani.

"I found out that I can very well stand on my own and be as good, or perhaps even better, than some of the younger architects," he says proudly. "It reaffirmed to me that the experience, the reading and the studying that I have done over the years is very much accepted and appreciated by the faculty."


Leaving a legacy

Now, Azrieli is leaving his mark on Carleton's campus in a permanent way. A generous $2.7-million donation to the university will allow Carleton to enhance its renowned master of architecture program and build a dedicated facility to house the graduate program.

"I found in Carleton a school that I very much admire," he explains. "It is a truly exciting opportunity for me to have my name connected with the graduate program for the advanced study of architecture."

Approximately $1.7 million will be used to construct a new classroom complex to be called the David J. Azrieli Pavilion. The new space will include architecture studios, seminar rooms, computer labs and offices. Construction is expected to start in the fall of 2001 with the building ready for occupancy by January 2002.

An additional $1 million will provide a permanent endowment for Carleton's graduate program in architecture. The annual earnings will be used to provide enhancements and special features for the graduate program that will be renamed the David J. Azrieli Institute for Graduate Studies in Architecture.

Samy Mahmoud, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Design, says the private support from Azrieli played a key role in Carleton's ability to get $40 million in infrastructure grants this spring from the Ontario government.

"It's very encouraging when you get a vote of confidence from a person with Mr. Azrieli's stature and public reputation. It really does give a lot of credibility that we have total support from prominent people in the private sector."

Creating an expanded graduate program in architecture has been one of Carleton's top strategic priorities, adds Mahmoud. He credits Azrieli's donation with helping to make the university's vision a reality.

"We've realized two dreams here," Mahmoud says. "David really loves the graduate program. He enjoyed his stay here and he really wanted to leave behind a legacy. For us, it's a realization of a dream we had...to transform the project from a concept into something real that will actually be built."

Azrieli says the Carleton project is "part of my vision of contributing to the education of architects." In 1994, he established The David Azrieli School of Architecture at Tel Aviv University where he also sponsors a Chair in Urban and Environmental Architecture, as well as a Chair in Architecture and Town Planning and a Computer Lab for the Faculty of Architecture at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology.


Living a dream

After successfully conquering the worlds of business and academia, raising a family and finding joy in philanthropy, what more could one hope for in life?

"I suppose I will never stop dreaming," Azrieli says. "My dream will be a continuation very much of what I'm doing now. I'm happy. I enjoy my work. It's my vocation, my love. I would not do anything else if I had to do it over again."

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