TABLET MAG
The Architect Shaping Israel’s Landmarks
Anna Rahmanan
September 09, 2025

In Israel, Ada Karmi-Melamede is architectural royalty. She codesigned the Supreme Court in Givat Ram, helped shape Ben Gurion Airport, and spent decades teaching and building on both sides of the Atlantic. However, for most of her career, she has been a woman in a man’s field. Although she is well known among Israelis, Karmi-Melamede’s legacy has remained surprisingly under-recognized in the United States. In a new documentary, her daughter, Yael Melamede, hopes to change that. Ada: My Mother the Architect, which premiered this May in New York and Los Angeles, is both an intimate portrait and a meditation on architecture as a life’s calling. Shot over several years, it follows Karmi-Melamede through her archives, buildings, and memories as she reflects on a career marked by quiet defiance and lasting impact. READ MORE