Saturday 19 November 2011

White City

So is nicknamed Tel Aviv, a small Middle Eastern city swarming with geometric Bauhaus architecture - from the newly white polished to the old crumbling and forgotten. Those unappreciated ones are actually my favourites. 

A Brief History.
German Jewish architects and students of the Bauhaus school in Germany immigrate to British Mandate of Palestine in the 1930s following the rise of the Nazis in Europe. Tel Aviv's first mayor Meir Dizengoff had already planned the new 'garden city' with British urban planner Patrick Geddes to be built on the sand dunes outside Jaffa. It was now waiting for an iconic architectural style to make its mark. The Bauhaus buildings were wonderfully adapted to the arid climate: glass was limited to a narrow 'thermometre' running the length of the stairwell of a building whilst the rest of the windows were kept small to keep the glare of the sun out.  Balconies were usually long, narrow, sometimes recessed and shaded by the balcony above it.

One of my favourites on Bialik Street.


 Renovated on Kikar Dizengoff.

 Unusual on Dov Hos street - a holder of many gems.

 The typical rounded balconies.

 Freshly re-made with extension. Yaffe street.

 Love the minimalism of these recessed balconies and frame detail. 

 Not really Bauhaus but in keeping with the look.

 Shlomo Hamelech street has some beauts.



Detail of this new restaurant - HaMizlala.


and incredible photo

I return to Tel Aviv at least once a year and can never resist photographing the beautiful buildings, I find a new fascination for them every time and can guarantee I will come across a house I had never seen before.

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