The Daniel Sieff Research Institute, which gave rise to the Weizmann Institute of Science, was established in 1934 on the initiative of Dr. Chaim Weizmann. It was built with a donation from Israel and Rebecca Sieff, among the founders of the Marks & Spencer chain of department stores, who wished to commemorate their son Daniel. The inscription in three languages – English, Hebrew and Arabic – on the front of the building testifies to Weizmann’s vision of peace, comradeship and joint enterprise between Jews and Arabs. The building was designed by Benjamin Chaikin. The logo on the building is the work of the noted Jewish architect Erich Mendelsohn and, to the best of our knowledge, typographer Francesca Baruch.
The Daniel Sieff Research Building, interior The well-preserved building and its entrance are characteristic of the period, combining the International Style with typical Mediterranean elements. A striking example is the cornice of the building’s roof, pointed toward the center like a classical Greek pediment. A complicated system of protrusions and depressions emphasizes the cornice, the position of the entrance and the lines of the upper and lower windows. The latter resemble the famous ribbon windows by the French architect Le Corbusier, one of the hallmarks of the International Style. Yet Chaikin, an Eretz-Israel architect, chose not to disconnect the columns from the wall, creating a ribbon window using depressions only. While the original wooden roll-down shades have not survived, the building’s central staircase is exceptionally well preserved and deserves to be an object of pilgrimage by historians, conservation architects and all nostalgia aficionados. Here one finds materials and decorations of a rare quality: light-gray Carrera marble for the floor with two black stripes running along the sides of the corridor; iron balustrades with geometrical straight lines and barred iron newel posts at the corners; and a stylized wooden handrail. The iron entrance door is also the work of a master craftsman. Each of its heavy wings is 2.5 meters high. On the second floor is the lab in which Dr. Weizmann conducted his numerous research projects, preserved as if the scientist had just stepped out to lunch and will be returning shortly. Displays include various research installations and original wooden furniture.
The Daniel Sieff Research Institute, which gave rise to the Weizmann Institute of Science, was established in 1934 on the initiative of Dr. Chaim Weizmann. It was built with a donation from Israel and Rebecca Sieff, among the founders of the Marks & Spencer chain of department stores, who wished to commemorate their son Daniel. The inscription in three languages – English, Hebrew and Arabic – on the front of the building testifies to Weizmann’s vision of peace, comradeship and joint enterprise between Jews and Arabs. The building was designed by Benjamin Chaikin. The logo on the building is the work of the noted Jewish architect Erich Mendelsohn and, to the best of our knowledge, typographer Francesca Baruch.
Find on Weizmann Institute campus map >>