(b Mogilev, Russia [now Belarus'], 6 Oct 1877; d Tel Aviv, 18 July 1952). Israeli architect of Russian birth. He graduated at the Art Academy, St Petersburg, in 1911, and practised in St Petersburg until 1921, when he settled in Palestine. After two years as chief architect of the Public Works Office of the Histadruth (the General Federation of Jewish Labour in Eretz-Israel), he set up in private practice in Tel Aviv. In his early buildings Berlin developed a highly personal vocabulary of simplified classicist ornament adapted to the simple materials and craftsmanship then available in the city. A notable example is the power station (1925), Jaffa. His most original contribution, however, was his unique use of silicate bricks, the chief building material in Tel Aviv at the period and an early product of its burgeoning industry. Leaving the brick unplastered, he created playful abstract patterns, faintly reminiscent of Expressionism and Art Deco. Examples include Berlin's own house (1929), 59 Balfour Street, and the Moghrabi Theatre (1925-32), both in Tel Aviv. Other important buildings are the Sephardi Synagogue Ohel Moed (1925-7), Tel Aviv, and the Sanatorium (1923-7), Motza. In the Tel Aviv of the 1920s, the architecture of which was characterized by limited resources, pragmatism and generally provincial eastern European taste, Berlin's work, which numbers more than 250 buildings, stood out for its originality and dignity. He was a leading figure in the formation of the Association of Engineers and Architects in Palestine (now the Association of Engineers and Architects in Israel). The 1930s in Palestine were marked by the advent of Modernism following the wave of immigrants leaving Nazi Germany, and although Berlin adjusted to the new taste he did not distinguish himself as a Modernist. As his health deteriorated he passed more work to his son, Zeev Berlin, who became his partner in 1933.

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