Karl Ilbing. Ein Architekt in Graz und Haifa
Antje Senarclens de Grancy (Ed.)
Graz: Publishing Company of Graz University of Technology, 2024
German, 140 pages
ISBN: 978-3-99161-007-6 
EUR 20.00
 

The book focuses on the life and work of the architect Karl Ilbing (1886-1981, before: Karl Israelson). He came from the Russian Empire and studied at the Graz University of Technology from 1906. After graduating, he worked with architects such as Hans K. Zisser and, after opening his architectural office, realized commercial designs and a villa in Graz, partly for Jewish clients. Against the backdrop of growing anti-Semitism, he was forced to emigrate with his family to Haifa (Palestine/Israel) in 1934. Due to these historical circumstances, hardly any traces of the architect could be found in Austria. Only now have they been rediscovered.

The book is based on research in Israel financed by the David Herzog Fund of the Styrian universities, where the architect’s estate (photos, correspondence, drawings, etc.) has been preserved by his grandson. This collection was digitized and documented in 2023. The Austrian and Israeli authors of the book present his life and work in their social contexts in Graz and Haifa (architectural development, anti-Semitism, Zionism, emigration, etc.).

Until October 6, 2024, an exhibition at the Museum of History is looking for missing, now rediscovered fragments of the life and work of the Graz architect. It was created in 2023/24 from courses with architecture students at Graz University of Technology and shows photographs, drawings, and correspondence from Karl Ilbing’s estate, which was found in Israel.