Pioneer Information
Born in Haifa, Israel, Aronson studied landscape architecture at the University of California, Berkeley graduating in 1963. Following graduation he practiced at the office of Lawrence Halprin. With Halprin’s encouragement, he continued his studies at Harvard University Graduate School of Design, receiving his M.L.A. in 1966. He worked for two years in Boston and London, before returning to Israel and opening an office in Ein Kerem in 1969. Here, over the next four decades he developed a multidisciplinary practice blending architecture, landscape architecture, and planning. Known for creating modern spaces, he embraces the natural, cultural, and environmental characteristics of the land, referencing the region’s historical and agricultural traditions. His diverse body of work includes university campuses, parks, promenades, and plazas; among them: Gabriel Sherover Promenade and the Hass Promenade and Park, Jerusalem (a collaboration with friend and mentor, Lawrence Halprin); Kreitman Plaza, Ben-Gurion University, Be'er Sheva; and archaeological and national park projects, Caesarea, Beit Guvrin National Park, and Beit Shalom Park, Jerusalem. Although most of his commissions were in Israel, international work included projects in Japan, China, Egypt, and Italy.
Aronson’s design approach is well chronicled in three publications: Shlomo Aronson (1998), Aridscapes (2008), and Making Peace with the Land: Tribute to Landscape Architect Shlomo Aronson (2010). He taught at many institutions, including Bezalel University, Harvard's Graduate School of Design, and the Institute of Urban and Regional Studies at Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Aronson died on September 13, 2018, at the age of 81. His office continues under the direction of his daughter-in-law, landscape architect Barbara Aronson, and his son Ittai Aronson, an architect.
