May 11, 2025 • 15 mins
Original Air Date: May 11, 2025
Ada Karmi Melamede is a woman you probably never heard of , though as an architect, she created some of the best known buildings in Israel. Her daughter, Yael, almost followed in her footsteps but ended up as an Oscar-winning film director with her doc “Ada: My Mother The Architect” now in theaters.
Ada Karmi Melamede is a woman you probably never heard of , though as an architect, she created some of the best known buildings in Israel. Her daughter, Yael, almost followed in her footsteps but ended up as an Oscar-winning film director with her doc “Ada: My Mother The Architect” now in theaters.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Sunstein Sessions on iHeartRadio, conversations about issues that matter.
Here's your host, three time Gracie Award winner, Shelley Sunstein.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Happy Mother's Day, and I am going to be introducing
you to the daughter of a very famous woman I
have never heard of before, although I have seen and
appreciated her work, I always come back to hidden figures. Well,
this is a female hidden figure of history who is
(00:33):
still with us, still working today, still creating today, and
perhaps you have seen her work. Joining me this morning
is the daughter of Ada Karmi Melamed, and the daughter
is Oscar winning producer ya Elle Melamed and her mom
(00:55):
Ada is the architect who created Ben Gurion Airport, the
Open University of Israel, and with her brother, the Jerusalem
Supreme Court. Now I have to tell you, y'a Elle,
I have been to Israel once and I flew into
Ben Gurion Airport and I thought to myself, I have
(01:18):
never seen a building like this, much less an airport
like this. I had no idea that it was your
mom who was the architect.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
How would I know?
Speaker 2 (01:33):
It's just, you know, it pains me that we just
I didn't. I can't name another female architect. I can
name several male architects. I cannot think of a single
female architect, although I'm sure they exist and there are
many that are prominent. So first of all, welcome y'a
(01:53):
el and tell me why you decided to do this
doc documentary adda my mother the architect, which by the way,
you can see at the Angelica Film Center and it's
going to be rolling out during the month of May.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
So what was the passion here?
Speaker 4 (02:12):
Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me. Secondly,
I do want to correct the record that the Israel
the Benngreyan Airport was a project that my mother did
with my uncle, but it is also a project that
they did together with other architects, both Okay Sousha Softi
and with the American company so M Skidmore Owings and Merril,
(02:33):
so it was a joint effort. But she has done
many buildings and she is amazing, and I think the
reason I was interested in doing a film about her
is I think she's the kind of person we don't
pay enough attention to. She's very modest in terms of
her own work. She's very humble and yet incredibly powerful
(02:57):
through her work. And I thought that was really interesting.
And I did a film right before this one on
a very famous lawyer, and he had some of those
qualities as well.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Your mother has a very unusual story.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
First of all, she is the daughter of an architect,
an Israeli architect, and her brother a very famous architect,
known in Israel and known worldwide.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
She moved to New York City because your dad had.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
A career opportunity here And what was that What was
his career, that's correct.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
He was in finance. He started as an economist and journalist,
and then he had an opportunity that first took them
to Paris for a year and then brought them to
New York. Yeah, And so they came with her expectation
that they would probably be going back to Israel within
a few years.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
And she was involved with the master plan for con
Edison to study for mixed use development along the proposed
Second Avenue subway. But mostly she was known here for
teaching architecture at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture. And
she was there what seven years and then did not
(04:24):
get tenure.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
No, she was actually there twelve years and did not
get tenure, and then she continued teaching part time a
little bit. One of the amazing things that's come out
of just the initial screenings that we've had in New York.
I always knew she was a good teacher, but I
didn't quite appreciate the extent to which she was beloved.
She really had an impact on people in the way
(04:47):
that I think most teachers dream of. We had a
screening in Portland, Oregon, at the Jewish Film Festival, and
somebody got up and said, I was at Columbia when
Atta Karmi was there and getting into her study it
was like getting was like winning the lottery. And then
she said, I didn't win the lottery, but I sat
next to people who did, and I learned a lot
(05:07):
from just being next to them, which was amazing.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
But after not getting tenure, she returned to Israel. You
were howled at the time.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
You know, it's a really interesting question. We can't quite
figure out when she entirely left, because it wasn't that
one day she said I'm leaving and was gone. She
was so somewhere offended. I think it not getting tenure
and really wanting to practice more that she started spending
(05:39):
more time in Israel. And that time just grew and grew,
and then she and her brother were together invited to
participate in this international competition for the Supreme Court of
Israel and they were complete underdogs and they won.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
And I am Pay, I am Pay, who I have
heard of, most people have heard of, was one of
those they were competing against. I mean, this is you know,
a world renowned architect, and you know, your uncle and
your mom were not so much so at the time.
Speaker 4 (06:12):
Not at all, not at all. They were not known
outside of Israel. They're still not very well known outside
of Israel. Yeah, and they won the competition, and it
was extraordinary and it was the opportunity of a lifetime.
So it was clear that she had to stay. It
was a project that took six years. She was asked
to sign a contract that said that she would not
(06:32):
leave Israel for more than three weeks a year during
that construction period. And after the building was done, you know,
her career took off and she ended up staying in
Israel till today.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Well, again, how old were you when all this were
you twelve fourteen?
Speaker 4 (06:51):
I was, Yeah, I was somewhere between twelve and fourteen,
and I was a very independent New York kid. I
left home to go to college at sixteen. Yeah, I
was fiercely independent. But yeah, she started spending a lot
of time away, as did my father. He spent a
(07:13):
lot of time outside of the US as well, traveling
for his work.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Well, how did you feel about this?
Speaker 4 (07:21):
I felt really respected. I felt like I had parents
who thought that I was really independent. I was very
engaged with school. I had lots of friends. I had friends.
I studied at the lyse in New York, and I
happened to have friends with a lot of them who
lived in Westchester. So often people would sleep over at
(07:41):
my house because there was lots of extra room. I
had a brother and sister who were already out of
the house. But I never felt you know, I think
all kids at certain points of their childhood feel lonely.
But I never felt alone or in any way as
if my parents abandoned me. I felt like they It
(08:03):
was such a sign of respect and kind of admiration
that I was completely fine with what they were doing,
and that they were completely fine with what I was doing.
We were in touch all the time. I mean that
my dad would call every day, So we were and
remained very close. My father died unfortunately a long time ago,
(08:24):
but we were very very close.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
And your mom wasn't with him when he died. No,
that's and you know.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Yes, in this documentary Ada my mother the Architect again,
which you can see at the Angelica Film Center, and
it's going to be rolling out in me. Your mom
is is you know, very willing to talk about her
creations and her work. She shuts down when it comes
(08:55):
to something personal. She just she just is not comfortable
going there, even with you, her daughter. I mean, but
you mentioned in the film, because even though you're the
director and co producer, you're you're on screen, and you
mentioned that you were closer to your father. Your father
(09:17):
was was calling all the time. Now remember those who
are listening, now, this is way before there was FaceTime.
It's not like y'aelle could pick up her iPhone and
have a conversation with her mom. Yes, she could buy phone,
but it's you just had a very unusual background, very unusual.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
Yeah, it seemed really normal to me at the time.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
But because you were living it, because I was living it,
It's true.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
And you know, I don't say that I was closer
to my father, My mother says that I was closer
to my father, but we were very close, and I
was and am very close with my mother. I think
I think she was an incredible role model as a
woman in terms of how seriously she took her work.
(10:06):
I think the thing that maybe helped me a lot
is I never had any doubt that if I called
and said to either of them, I need you now,
that they would drop everything in come. I just it
was something that I just felt inside me. I think,
probably for my own benefit, I should have done it once,
but again I was so independent that I just never
(10:29):
chose to do it, but it was. It is an
incredible strength to know that that's behind you, to feel
that there is that kind of support and love and
willingness to do anything for you. I mean, I think
it really does give one a lot of power.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Do you think it was out an out discrimination, the
fact that she did not get tenure at Columbia.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
Or did she I think these things are complicated and
they continue. I think the truth is there were no
there was I think that there was either one person
or nobody would tenure at Columbia at the time, and
so certainly there was discrimination. You could also say, my
mother had not published much and she hadn't built much
at that point in her life. But you could also
(11:15):
say that very few women had published much or built much.
So it's one of those vicious cycles where you know
there is a systemic problem that needs to be resolved,
and she was a part of that part of that time.
So for sure, for sure there was a there was
(11:37):
sexism at Columbia. It was I mean, you know, the
way other people described it at the time, it was
such an old boys club. That was definitely a sense
back then.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Now, you originally you were an architect yourself, and in fact,
you designed your mom's apartment an office, right, So what
made you do you leave?
Speaker 3 (12:01):
And by the way, I love the way the light
came in.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
That's what I love about your mom's work was the
importance of light. And you know you feel that I
felt that at Bengorian Airports certainly.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
She always says the cheaping the cheapest building material in
Israel is the light and the most the most beautiful
and the cheapest material. I think it's a lovely statement. Yeah,
I did not intend to become an architect. I went
to college and was very much more of a intellectual
rather than an artist. I probably was heading towards law school,
(12:37):
but I fell in love with photography, and photography took
me to architecture. And when I worked for my mom,
most people say, oh, well, that's probably what killed you
because it was so hard, and I say, you know,
it killed me because I actually knew it would never
it would never be better than that. She was a
tremendous boss. My mother is one of those people, and
I try to be this way in my work, where
(12:59):
whoever was whatever is the best idea in the room
wins and she doesn't care, and I try not to
care about whose idea it is. And I think that's
the best way to work is you know, the best
ideas move forward and it doesn't matter whose they are.
Because filmmaking, like architecture, and probably in some ways even
things that we don't think about, like law, I think
(13:20):
they are at their best when they are collaborative, when
you learn from others, when you bring in other ideas.
I mean, this film is such a work of collaboration
between me and editors and cinematographers. We had two cinematographers
on the film. So I think she is a wonderful boss.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
In that regard, y'aielle, are you a mom?
Speaker 4 (13:42):
I that is a hard question. I was a mom.
I have a son who died about two years ago.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
I'm so sorry. Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
Yeah, is there but I had a wonderful son. I
had a wonderful son who was very close to me
and to my mom.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I even brought that up.
Is there anything else? We only have minute left. Anything
else that our audience you want our audience to know
about Ada my mother the architect, which again you can
see at the Angelica Film Center and it'll be rolling
out throughout the month.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
I think she's a super interesting woman, you know. I
love when she's asked about whether she sees herself as
a feminist or a leader in the field. She kind
of doesn't see it that way as a woman, But
I think we watching her can just see a real
force of nature, somebody who so believes in what they
do and see in what they do the entire world.
(14:44):
And I think seeing architecture through her eyes is an
opportunity to learn another language. So I hope people will
get a chance to hear her talk about architecture and
through architecture see life a different way.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
And your mom is an extraordinary and very unusual woman.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
And uh yeah, so just muzzle TOUV to you both,
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
You've been listening to Sunsteen sessions on iHeartRadio, a production
of New York's classic rock Q one O four point
three
Welcome to Sunstein Sessions on iHeartRadio, conversations about issues that matter.
Here's your host, three time Gracie Award winner, Shelley Sunstein.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Happy Mother's Day, and I am going to be introducing
you to the daughter of a very famous woman I
have never heard of before, although I have seen and
appreciated her work, I always come back to hidden figures. Well,
this is a female hidden figure of history who is
(00:33):
still with us, still working today, still creating today, and
perhaps you have seen her work. Joining me this morning
is the daughter of Ada Karmi Melamed, and the daughter
is Oscar winning producer ya Elle Melamed and her mom
(00:55):
Ada is the architect who created Ben Gurion Airport, the
Open University of Israel, and with her brother, the Jerusalem
Supreme Court. Now I have to tell you, y'a Elle,
I have been to Israel once and I flew into
Ben Gurion Airport and I thought to myself, I have
(01:18):
never seen a building like this, much less an airport
like this. I had no idea that it was your
mom who was the architect.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
How would I know?
Speaker 2 (01:33):
It's just, you know, it pains me that we just
I didn't. I can't name another female architect. I can
name several male architects. I cannot think of a single
female architect, although I'm sure they exist and there are
many that are prominent. So first of all, welcome y'a
(01:53):
el and tell me why you decided to do this
doc documentary adda my mother the architect, which by the way,
you can see at the Angelica Film Center and it's
going to be rolling out during the month of May.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
So what was the passion here?
Speaker 4 (02:12):
Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me. Secondly,
I do want to correct the record that the Israel
the Benngreyan Airport was a project that my mother did
with my uncle, but it is also a project that
they did together with other architects, both Okay Sousha Softi
and with the American company so M Skidmore Owings and Merril,
(02:33):
so it was a joint effort. But she has done
many buildings and she is amazing, and I think the
reason I was interested in doing a film about her
is I think she's the kind of person we don't
pay enough attention to. She's very modest in terms of
her own work. She's very humble and yet incredibly powerful
(02:57):
through her work. And I thought that was really interesting.
And I did a film right before this one on
a very famous lawyer, and he had some of those
qualities as well.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Your mother has a very unusual story.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
First of all, she is the daughter of an architect,
an Israeli architect, and her brother a very famous architect,
known in Israel and known worldwide.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
She moved to New York City because your dad had.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
A career opportunity here And what was that What was
his career, that's correct.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
He was in finance. He started as an economist and journalist,
and then he had an opportunity that first took them
to Paris for a year and then brought them to
New York. Yeah, And so they came with her expectation
that they would probably be going back to Israel within
a few years.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
And she was involved with the master plan for con
Edison to study for mixed use development along the proposed
Second Avenue subway. But mostly she was known here for
teaching architecture at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture. And
she was there what seven years and then did not
(04:24):
get tenure.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
No, she was actually there twelve years and did not
get tenure, and then she continued teaching part time a
little bit. One of the amazing things that's come out
of just the initial screenings that we've had in New York.
I always knew she was a good teacher, but I
didn't quite appreciate the extent to which she was beloved.
She really had an impact on people in the way
(04:47):
that I think most teachers dream of. We had a
screening in Portland, Oregon, at the Jewish Film Festival, and
somebody got up and said, I was at Columbia when
Atta Karmi was there and getting into her study it
was like getting was like winning the lottery. And then
she said, I didn't win the lottery, but I sat
next to people who did, and I learned a lot
(05:07):
from just being next to them, which was amazing.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
But after not getting tenure, she returned to Israel. You
were howled at the time.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
You know, it's a really interesting question. We can't quite
figure out when she entirely left, because it wasn't that
one day she said I'm leaving and was gone. She
was so somewhere offended. I think it not getting tenure
and really wanting to practice more that she started spending
(05:39):
more time in Israel. And that time just grew and grew,
and then she and her brother were together invited to
participate in this international competition for the Supreme Court of
Israel and they were complete underdogs and they won.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
And I am Pay, I am Pay, who I have
heard of, most people have heard of, was one of
those they were competing against. I mean, this is you know,
a world renowned architect, and you know, your uncle and
your mom were not so much so at the time.
Speaker 4 (06:12):
Not at all, not at all. They were not known
outside of Israel. They're still not very well known outside
of Israel. Yeah, and they won the competition, and it
was extraordinary and it was the opportunity of a lifetime.
So it was clear that she had to stay. It
was a project that took six years. She was asked
to sign a contract that said that she would not
(06:32):
leave Israel for more than three weeks a year during
that construction period. And after the building was done, you know,
her career took off and she ended up staying in
Israel till today.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Well, again, how old were you when all this were
you twelve fourteen?
Speaker 4 (06:51):
I was, Yeah, I was somewhere between twelve and fourteen,
and I was a very independent New York kid. I
left home to go to college at sixteen. Yeah, I
was fiercely independent. But yeah, she started spending a lot
of time away, as did my father. He spent a
(07:13):
lot of time outside of the US as well, traveling
for his work.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Well, how did you feel about this?
Speaker 4 (07:21):
I felt really respected. I felt like I had parents
who thought that I was really independent. I was very
engaged with school. I had lots of friends. I had friends.
I studied at the lyse in New York, and I
happened to have friends with a lot of them who
lived in Westchester. So often people would sleep over at
(07:41):
my house because there was lots of extra room. I
had a brother and sister who were already out of
the house. But I never felt you know, I think
all kids at certain points of their childhood feel lonely.
But I never felt alone or in any way as
if my parents abandoned me. I felt like they It
(08:03):
was such a sign of respect and kind of admiration
that I was completely fine with what they were doing,
and that they were completely fine with what I was doing.
We were in touch all the time. I mean that
my dad would call every day, So we were and
remained very close. My father died unfortunately a long time ago,
(08:24):
but we were very very close.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
And your mom wasn't with him when he died. No,
that's and you know.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Yes, in this documentary Ada my mother the Architect again,
which you can see at the Angelica Film Center, and
it's going to be rolling out in me. Your mom
is is you know, very willing to talk about her
creations and her work. She shuts down when it comes
(08:55):
to something personal. She just she just is not comfortable
going there, even with you, her daughter. I mean, but
you mentioned in the film, because even though you're the
director and co producer, you're you're on screen, and you
mentioned that you were closer to your father. Your father
(09:17):
was was calling all the time. Now remember those who
are listening, now, this is way before there was FaceTime.
It's not like y'aelle could pick up her iPhone and
have a conversation with her mom. Yes, she could buy phone,
but it's you just had a very unusual background, very unusual.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
Yeah, it seemed really normal to me at the time.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
But because you were living it, because I was living it,
It's true.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
And you know, I don't say that I was closer
to my father, My mother says that I was closer
to my father, but we were very close, and I
was and am very close with my mother. I think
I think she was an incredible role model as a
woman in terms of how seriously she took her work.
(10:06):
I think the thing that maybe helped me a lot
is I never had any doubt that if I called
and said to either of them, I need you now,
that they would drop everything in come. I just it
was something that I just felt inside me. I think,
probably for my own benefit, I should have done it once,
but again I was so independent that I just never
(10:29):
chose to do it, but it was. It is an
incredible strength to know that that's behind you, to feel
that there is that kind of support and love and
willingness to do anything for you. I mean, I think
it really does give one a lot of power.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Do you think it was out an out discrimination, the
fact that she did not get tenure at Columbia.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
Or did she I think these things are complicated and
they continue. I think the truth is there were no
there was I think that there was either one person
or nobody would tenure at Columbia at the time, and
so certainly there was discrimination. You could also say, my
mother had not published much and she hadn't built much
at that point in her life. But you could also
(11:15):
say that very few women had published much or built much.
So it's one of those vicious cycles where you know
there is a systemic problem that needs to be resolved,
and she was a part of that part of that time.
So for sure, for sure there was a there was
(11:37):
sexism at Columbia. It was I mean, you know, the
way other people described it at the time, it was
such an old boys club. That was definitely a sense
back then.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Now, you originally you were an architect yourself, and in fact,
you designed your mom's apartment an office, right, So what
made you do you leave?
Speaker 3 (12:01):
And by the way, I love the way the light
came in.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
That's what I love about your mom's work was the
importance of light. And you know you feel that I
felt that at Bengorian Airports certainly.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
She always says the cheaping the cheapest building material in
Israel is the light and the most the most beautiful
and the cheapest material. I think it's a lovely statement. Yeah,
I did not intend to become an architect. I went
to college and was very much more of a intellectual
rather than an artist. I probably was heading towards law school,
(12:37):
but I fell in love with photography, and photography took
me to architecture. And when I worked for my mom,
most people say, oh, well, that's probably what killed you
because it was so hard, and I say, you know,
it killed me because I actually knew it would never
it would never be better than that. She was a
tremendous boss. My mother is one of those people, and
I try to be this way in my work, where
(12:59):
whoever was whatever is the best idea in the room
wins and she doesn't care, and I try not to
care about whose idea it is. And I think that's
the best way to work is you know, the best
ideas move forward and it doesn't matter whose they are.
Because filmmaking, like architecture, and probably in some ways even
things that we don't think about, like law, I think
(13:20):
they are at their best when they are collaborative, when
you learn from others, when you bring in other ideas.
I mean, this film is such a work of collaboration
between me and editors and cinematographers. We had two cinematographers
on the film. So I think she is a wonderful boss.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
In that regard, y'aielle, are you a mom?
Speaker 4 (13:42):
I that is a hard question. I was a mom.
I have a son who died about two years ago.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
I'm so sorry. Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
Yeah, is there but I had a wonderful son. I
had a wonderful son who was very close to me
and to my mom.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I even brought that up.
Is there anything else? We only have minute left. Anything
else that our audience you want our audience to know
about Ada my mother the architect, which again you can
see at the Angelica Film Center and it'll be rolling
out throughout the month.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
I think she's a super interesting woman, you know. I
love when she's asked about whether she sees herself as
a feminist or a leader in the field. She kind
of doesn't see it that way as a woman, But
I think we watching her can just see a real
force of nature, somebody who so believes in what they
do and see in what they do the entire world.
(14:44):
And I think seeing architecture through her eyes is an
opportunity to learn another language. So I hope people will
get a chance to hear her talk about architecture and
through architecture see life a different way.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
And your mom is an extraordinary and very unusual woman.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
And uh yeah, so just muzzle TOUV to you both,
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
You've been listening to Sunsteen sessions on iHeartRadio, a production
of New York's classic rock Q one O four point
three
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