The architecture of Israel has been influenced by the different architectural styles of those who have inhabited the country over time, sometimes modified to suit the local climate and landscape. Byzantine churches, Crusader castles, Islamic madrasas, Templer houses, Arab arches and minarets, Russian Orthodox onion domes, International Style modernist buildings, sculptural concrete Brutalist architecture, and glass-sided skyscrapers all are part of the architecture of Israel.
Ancient regional architecture can be divided into two phases based on building materials — stone and sundried mud brick. Most of the stones used were limestone. [1]
After the Hellenistic period, hard limestone was used for columns, capitals, bases or also the Herodian enclosure walls of the Temple Mount. In the north of the country, basalt was used for building stone, door sockets, door pivots but also for drainage. Fieldstone were placed randomly or laid in courses as well as for polygonal structures, for example it is found in city walls. Rough-hewn Stones and ashlars were used for more complex structure, and they were extracted from quarries. Huge stones were used since the first century B.C. Stone dressing was primarily done with the chisel and the hammer. [1]
Sundried mud bricks were the most used material until modern times, particularly in the coastal plain and valleys. Structures were roofed with timber wooden beams covered by reeds and rushes. [1]
In Lifta, until the end of the 19th century, traditional housing construction consisted of a single room without partitions, divided into levels in accordance with various functions carried out in the house:
In the second half of the 19th century, a residential story characterized by a cross-vault was added above the traditional house, creating a space between the floor with the livestock in the bottom room and the residential story. A separate entrance was installed in each story. [2]
Fortified houses were built outside the village core and had two stories: a raised ground floor with tiny windows used for raising livestock and storage, and a separate residential floor with large windows and balconies. In the courtyard was a small structure used for storage. Sometimes a tabun baking oven would be located inside it. [2]
The first modern building technology was evident in the farmhouses. Iron beams were used and the roofs were made of concrete and roof tiles. These structures had balconies with a view and wide doorways. [2]
Sensing the political changes taking place in central Europe around the time of the First World War, as well as the stirrings of Zionist ideals about the re-establishment of a homeland for Jews, numerous Jewish architects from around Europe emigrated to Palestine during the first three decades of the 20th century. While much innovative planning occurred during the time of the British Mandatory authorities, 1920–1948, in particular the town plan for Tel Aviv in 1925 by Patrick Geddes, it would be architecture designed in the modernist "Bauhaus" style that would fill the plots of that plan; among the architects who emigrated to Palestine at that time, and who went on to establish formidable careers were: Yehuda Magidovitch, Shmuel Mestechkin (1908-2004; specialised in kibbutz architecture), [3] Lucjan Korngold (1897-1963; Poland and Brazil; the Rubinsky House, an early Le Corbusier-style building in Tel Aviv, is often misattributed to him), [4] [5] [6] Jacob (Jacques, Jacov) Ornstein (1886-1953), Salomon Gepstein (1882-1961), Josef Neufeld (1899–1980) and Elsa Gidoni (1899–1978; née Mandelstamm). [7]
Dov Karmi, Zeev Rechter and Arieh Sharon were among the leading architects of the early 1950s. [8] Rudolf (Reuven) Trostler played an important role in designing the country's early industrial buildings. [8] Dora Gad designed the interiors of the Knesset, the Israel Museum, the country's first large hotels, the Jewish National and University Library, El Al planes and Zim passenger ships. [9] Amnon Niv designed Moshe Aviv Tower, then Israel's tallest building (today it's the second tallest, after the Azrieli Sarona tower). David Resnick was a Brazilian-born Israeli architect who won the Israel Prize in architecture [10] and the Rechter Prize for iconic Jerusalem buildings such as the Israel Goldstein Synagogue and Brigham Young University on Mount Scopus. [11] [12]
The architecture of Tel Aviv's movie theaters can be seen as a reflection of Israeli architectural history: The first cinema, the Eden, opened in 1914, was an example of the eclectic style that was in vogue at the time, combining European and Arab traditions. The Mugrabi cinema, designed in 1930, was built in art deco style. In the late 1930s, the Esther, Chen and Allenby theaters were prime examples of the Bauhaus style. In the 1950s and 1960s, brutalist style architecture was exemplified by the Tamar cinema built inside the historic Solel Boneh building on Tel Aviv's Allenby Street. [13]
The Templers built homes with tiled roofs like those in the German countryside.[ dubious – discuss ][ citation needed ]
Housing built during the British Mandate was urban in character, with flat roofs, rectangular doorways and painted floor tiles. [2]
Municipal laws in Jerusalem require that all buildings be faced with local Jerusalem stone. [14] The ordinance dates back to the British Mandate and the governorship of Sir Ronald Storrs [15] and was part of a master plan for the city drawn up in 1918 by Sir William McLean, then city engineer of Alexandria. [16]
Three of the six British town planners of the time were Charles Robert Ashbee, "the most pro-Arab and anti-Zionist" of them, [17] Clifford Holliday and Austen Harrison, another important Mandate-time town planner being the German-Jewish architect Richard Kaufmann.
The White City of Tel Aviv, a collection of over 4,000 buildings from the 1930s built in a locally adapted form of the International Style, has first been named the "White City" in 1984 and has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001.[ citation needed ]
In the 1950s and 1960s, Israel built rows of concrete tenements to accommodate the masses of new immigrants living in the temporary tents and tin shacks of the maabarot, some of these were known as "rakevet" or train in Hebrew due to their relative monotony and length. [18]
From 1948, architecture in Israel was dominated by the need to house masses of new immigrants. The Brutalist concrete style suited Israel's harsh climate and paucity of natural building materials. [19] Today, many such old buildings remain in Israeli cities. Although they are being gradually remodeled as part of the TAMA 38 program which is meant to strengthen old buildings against earthquakes or completely demolished and replaced with more modern housing projects occupying the former site as part of the "pinui binui " (evacuate and build) program, it is expected to take decades before this style of architecture completely disappears from Israel's cities. [20]
As property values have risen, skyscrapers are going up around the country. The Azrieli Sarona Tower in Tel Aviv is the tallest building in Israel to date. [21]
Ephraim Henry Pavie has evolved from organic architecture towards biomorphism. [22] The Pavie House in Neve Daniel is a rare case of non-geometric, Neo-futuristic blobitecture in Israel. [23]
Tel Aviv has three institutions dedicated to the Bauhaus, or more widely, the International Style: the Bauhaus Center with its own gallery and offering guided city tours (see homepage here), the small Bauhaus Museum with original interior furnishings, established in 2008, [24] and the Liebling Haus center for urbanism, architecture and conservation (see homepage here).
The Munio Gitai Weinraub Museum of Architecture opened in Haifa in 2012. [25]
Tel Aviv-Yafo, sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a population of 474,530, it is the economic and technological center of the country and a global high tech hub. If East Jerusalem is considered part of Israel, Tel Aviv is the country's second-most-populous city, after Jerusalem; if not, Tel Aviv is the most populous city, ahead of West Jerusalem.
Gush Dan or Tel Aviv metropolitan area is a conurbation in Israel, located along the country's Mediterranean coastline. There is no single formal definition of Gush Dan, though the term is in frequent use by both governmental bodies and the general public. It ranges from combining Tel Aviv with cities that form an urban continuum with it, to the entire areas from both the Tel Aviv District and the Central District, or sometimes the whole Metropolitan Area of Tel Aviv, which includes a small part of the Southern District as well. Gush Dan is the largest conurbation and metropolitan area in Israel and the center of Israel's financial and High technology sector. The metropolitan area having an estimated population of 4,156,900 residents, 89% of whom are Israeli Jews.
The International Style is a major architectural style and movement that began in western Europe in the 1920s and dominated modern architecture until the 1970s. It is defined by strict adherence to functional and utilitarian designs and construction methods, typically expressed through minimalism. The style is characterized by modular and rectilinear forms, flat surfaces devoid of ornamentation and decoration, open and airy interiors that blend with the exterior, and the use of glass, steel, and concrete.
Shalom Meir Tower is an office tower in Tel Aviv, Israel. It is Israel's first skyscraper.
David Joshua Azrieli was an Israeli-Canadian tycoon, real estate developer, architect, and philanthropist. With an estimated net worth of US$3.1 billion in March 2013, he was ranked by Forbes as the ninth-wealthiest Canadian and the 401st wealthiest person overall.
The White City is a collection of over 4,000 buildings in Tel Aviv from the 1930s built in a unique form of the International Style, commonly known as Bauhaus, by German Jewish architects who fled to the British Mandate of Palestine from Germany after the rise to power of the Nazis. Tel Aviv has the largest number of buildings in the Bauhaus/International Style of any city in the world. Preservation, documentation, and exhibitions have brought attention to Tel Aviv's collection of 1930s architecture. In 2003, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) proclaimed Tel Aviv's White City a World Cultural Heritage site, as "an outstanding example of new town planning and architecture in the early 20th century." The citation recognized the unique adaptation of modern international architectural trends to the cultural, climatic, and local traditions of the city. Bauhaus Center Tel Aviv organizes regular architectural tours of the city.
Azrieli Center is a complex of three skyscrapers in Tel Aviv. At the base of the complex lies a large shopping mall. The complex was designed by Israeli-American architect Eli Attia. After Attia and the developer of the complex David Azrieli fell out, completion of the project was passed on to the Tel Aviv firm of Moore Yaski Sivan Architects.
Rothschild Boulevard is one of the principal streets in the center of Tel Aviv, Israel, beginning in Neve Tzedek at its southwestern edge and running north to Habima Theatre. It is one of the most expensive streets in the city, being among one of its main tourist attractions. It features a wide, tree-lined central strip, with pedestrian and bike lanes.
HaYovel Tower also known as Kiryat HaMemshala Tower is a skyscraper in Tel Aviv, Israel. At 158 m, it is the 20th tallest building in Israel. Construction was completed in 2005 on land previously belonging to the IDF HaKirya base. The tower is located near the Tel Aviv's tallest skyscraper cluster, the Azrieli Center complex, and is occupied largely by government offices. The consolidation of many of these offices in the tower, which were previously spread out all over the Tel Aviv district, allowed the release of a considerable amount of high-value government land to private development, as well as introducing efficiencies from housing many government functions under one roof. The tower has a helipad on its roof. It was originally planned to have 28 floors for government functions only, with the additional 14 floors being approved during construction. 13 of these top floors were approved for use by private sector offices, and the top 11 floors have floor-to ceiling windows. An external elevator serves the uppermost floors, and an underpass connects the building with the tower's underground parking. The rent being paid by the government is $16/square metre per month for the next 20 years.
Avraham Yasky was an Israeli architect.
Ram Karmi was an Israeli architect. He was head of the Tel Aviv-based Ram Karmi Architects company, and is known for his Brutalist style.
Arieh Sharon was an Israeli architect and winner of the Israel Prize for Architecture in 1962. Sharon was a critical contributor to the early architecture in Israel and the leader of the first master plan of the young state, reporting to then Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion. Sharon studied at the Bauhaus in Dessau under Walter Gropius and Hannes Meyer and on his return to Israel in 1931, started building in the International Style, better known locally as the Bauhaus style of Tel Aviv. Sharon built private houses, cinemas and in 1937 his first hospital, a field in which he specialized in his later career, planning and constructing many of the country's largest medical centers.
Bialik House was the home of the Hebrew national poet Hayyim Nahman Bialik in the center of Tel Aviv, Israel, and is now used as a museum. The museum is located on 22 Bialik Street, Tel Aviv, close to the old city hall building.
Bauhaus Center Tel Aviv is an organization concerned with Bauhaus architecture and design in the city of Tel Aviv, Israel. Buildings designed in the International Style, commonly known as Bauhaus, comprise most of the center of Tel Aviv known as The White City. The vision behind the Center is to raise awareness of the Bauhaus heritage and be part of the cultural and artistic development in Tel Aviv.
HaYarkon Street is a major street which runs roughly parallel with the coastline in Tel Aviv, Israel, carrying traffic north and south.
Nahum Zolotov was an Israeli architect and a recipient of the Rokach Prize in 1961 and in 1973. He was a recipient of the Rechter Prize.
Ze'ev Rechter (1899–1960) was a pioneering architect of Mandate Palestine and Israel, who designed many of Israel's iconic buildings. He is considered one of the three founding fathers of Israeli architecture, along with Dov Karmi and Arieh Sharon. Among his works, Rechter designed Binyanei HaUma, the Tel Aviv courthouse and the Mann Auditorium. He introduced the use of stilt columns known as piloti in residential housing in Israel.
Max Liebling House is a Bauhaus-style modernist building in Tel Aviv, Israel. Located at 29 Idelson Street, it was designed by architect Dov Karmi and built by Tony and Max Liebling in 1936.
Nahalat Binyamin is a partially car-free street and a neighbourhood in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Danna Azrieli Hakim is an Israeli real-estate developer, and philanthropist. Azrieli has been Chairwoman of Azrieli Group, a publicly real estate company in Israel, since 2014. Azrieli is also Chairwoman of the Azrieli Foundation (Israel), and a member of the Azrieli Foundation (Canada), and a board member of the Weizmann Institute of Science, Tel Aviv University, and the Darca schools. She has an estimated net worth of $1.9 billion.