Scopus Magazine 2023

BEHIND THE SCENES
Building the
Future,
Preserving the
Past
Ilan Mizrachi in the construction site of the Saul and
Joyce Brandman Science Laboratories Building B.
Walk through any of the Hebrew University’s
campuses, and you’ll likely encounter Ilan
Mizrachi’s work. His name isn’t affixed to any of
his projects, but his fingerprints are everywhere.
Ilan is the Hebrew University’s Head
Engineer and Deputy Director of the
Building and Infrastructure Division. An
eighth-generation Jerusalemite, there’s
nowhere else he’d rather work. “The
University is one of the city’s gems,”
he says. He joined the administrative
faculty twenty-eight years ago.
“University buildings need to be functional
and enjoyable for students and
researchers alike,” Ilan reflects. “But
that’s not enough. Every single project
must stay on budget, be completed on
time, and then withstand decades of
wear and tear.”
A significant part of Ilan’s work is balancing
each of the campuses’ aesthetics
with the need for change.
“The campus on Givat Ram, today
known as the Edmond J. Safra Cam-