Rechter was born in the
Russian Empire. He
immigrated to
Mandate Palestine at the age of 20, arriving on board the
Ruslan along with fellow architect
Yehuda Megidovich, artist
Yitzhak Frenkel and historian
Joseph Klausner. His first job was measuring the land that became
Allenby Street. In 1924, he designed Beit Hakadim (the "Urn House"), on the corner of
Nahalat Binyamin and Rambam streets, named for the large vases on its cornices. In 1926 he went to Rome to study architecture, but a shortage of money forced him and his family to return to Palestine. In 1927 he designed a residence for the poet
Esther Raab on HaGalil Street (today Mapu street) in a fledgling modernist style inspired by his impressions from Italy. The house was later demolished. In 1929 he went to the
École des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris to further his studies. It was then that he became an enthusiastic disciple of
Le Corbusier. Upon his return, he settled in Tel Aviv and founded the Hug group of architects together with
Arieh Sharon and Josef Neufeld, who had also returned from studies and work in Europe. Rechter died in 1960. The Beersheeba Municipal Conservatory was built many years later, in 1975, following designs by Rechter and Moshe Zarhy.
Family Rechter was married to Paula Singer, with whom he had three children:
Yaakov, who also became an architect, and two daughters, Aviva and Tuti. ==Gallery==