Our revived publishing house is the contemporary incarnation of the publishing house founded by Prof. Gilbert Herbert in the early 1980s in the Department for Architectural Documentation. The early publishing efforts were unique and ground-breaking, due to the sparsity of research and publications concerning the history of local architecture at the time, and offered a new trove of knowledge accessible not only to professionals but to a wide range of interested parties. The early publications of the publishing house headed by Herbert included a variety of studies in the history of architecture conducted by researchers, teachers, and students in the Faculty of Architecture. These publications are characterized by uniform brown covers and are numbered according to the order of their publication. In the early 1990s, when the department became the Research Center for Architectural Heritage, its publishing operations were also established, publishing several seminal books on the history of architecture, often in collaboration with other parties, including: Keter Publishing, Yad Ben Zvi, the Israel Electric Company, and the Shlomo Glass & Fanny Balaban-Glass Foundation.

The various pioneering publications that characterized the 1980s and 1990s, and the academic engagement of diverse audiences, were an inspiration for us in the process of reviving the publishing house beginning in 2016. The generous contribution of the Arenson family allowed us to establish the revived publishing house, adapt it to developments in the research and publication of architectural history, and to outline a number of thematic series – Testimony, Document, Anthology, Research, and Inquiry. The publishing house is an extension of a highly active and dynamic academic research center committed to holding its publications to research quality standards. Furthermore, the publication works in concert with the center’s archival collections, which offer inexhaustible sources of knowledge.

Our series include:

Anthology – provides a fresh platform for past publications written by researchers and teachers in the fields of architecture, planning and landscape architecture. Each book focuses on the body of work and knowledge of a single figure, and the concepts and ideas they explore throughout their professional and research journeys.

Testimony – presents first-hand accounts, serving as a platform for personal narratives by architects, planners, and designers. This series seeks to peek behind the curtain of various spatial design disciplines, and to trace the professional paths taken by figures who left their unique mark on the local industry.

Document – offers a diverse selection of primary sources focusing on a specific space, concept, or unique historical chapter. The documents provide access to rich resources and bodies of knowledge, with the aim of spurring further research and discussions.

Inquiry – focuses on diverse issues concerning spatial design disciplines. It engages with topics that lay the groundwork for research and chart conceptual paths for further research and study.

Research – is intended for the publication and translation of books that present comprehensive, rigorous research in a variety of locally relevant subjects.