Born:
7/23/1891,
Died:
12/29/1980
Israel Demchick was born in Russia, the son of Myer Demchick, and graduated from Southern and Manual Training High School for Boys in 1911 and from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Architecture in 1915. At the University he studied with both Paul P. Cret and Leon Arnal and as a senior received both the Stewardson Scholarship and a Beaux-Arts medal. During the early part of his career he was associated with the firms of Albert Kelsey, Edmund Gilchrist, Rankin, Kellogg & Crane, David Bassett, and Hoffman-Henon. Although he and theatre architect David Supowitz began sharing an office as early as 1945, it was not until 1963 that the firm of Supowitz & Demchick was formally established.
Demchick was an authority on synagogue design and on the design of institutions for the elderly. He was appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to head the first national committee to investigate geriatric needs in architecture.
Demchick joined the AlA in 1923. He donated a chair in architecture to the Hebrew University in Israel and was named the school's Man of the Year in 1971.
Written by
Emily T. Cooperman, and
Sandra L. Tatman.
Clubs and Membership Organizations
- American Institute of Architects (AIA)
- Philadelphia Chapter, AIA
School Affiliations
- University of Pennsylvania
- Hebrew University
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