tel aviv turner

THE WHITE CITY OF TEL AVIVMichael Turner – Ha Noi 2009

U T O P I A S

Theador Herzl

Nahum Sokolov translated Altneuland in 1902 under the heading “Tel-Aviv”.

“Tel” signifies a ruin, “Aviv”- spring, that is- a ruin living to see another spring, - “Altneuland”.

U T O P I A S

Thomas More

U T O P I A S

Ebenezer Howard

U T O P I A S

Boris Schatz

The Return to the Holy Land

Eclecticism & Orientalism

Houses built in the 1920s in a stylistic mixture which combined local, oriental motifs with those taken from classical architecture. Motifs were taken from Jewish Culture.

The Return to the Holy Land

Eclecticism & Orientalism

The Garden City

The English School

English modernism united tradition with liberty, or rationalism with romanticism, evolved from William Morris’ philosophy, demanding functionalism and liberation from the eclecticism of the 19th century. Thus architects searched for the continuity of local traditions and building methods.

Sources of Modernism in Israel

Early modernism in Europe (1910-25) was linked to social reforms of Arts and Crafts movements in England and Germany, though without architectural solutions.

Morris, Shaw and Ashbee promoted anti-urban socialist concepts.

Ebenezer Howard promoted ideas of the garden suburb, the self-sufficient city.

Le Corbusier’s planning model of the Plan Voisin though never adopted, gave the simple language that was to be tested in Israel.

The Return to the Holy Land

Kibbutz

• Monofunctional zoning

• Separate residential, work, leisure, and pedestrian circulation areas

• Principles applied later in urban public housing.

The Return to the Holy Land

Moshav

The plan of the cooperative settlement of Nahalal, by Kaufmann in 1924, is a reflection of the desire and dream to create the ideal and perfect society.

Centric organization: means of industrial production are sited in the central circle, surrounded by residential area, which is surrounded by farmlands.

The British Mandate (1920-1948) - Jerusalem

Richard Kaufmanns’ design for Rehavia

urban ideals and garden suburb

The British Mandate (1920-1948) - Haifa

Central Carmel ‘Garden Neighborhood’ designed by Richard Kaufmann.

‘Garden Neighborhood’ designed by Erich Mendelsohn.

Tel Aviv - 1909

Ahuzat Bayit

Built as a suburb of Jaffa in 1909, in which each house was surrounded by a garden, was the first neighborhood in Israel planned according to the garden city concept.

The British Mandate (1920-1948) – Tel Aviv

The new city of Tel Aviv began as a combination of neo-classical elements and the new Garden City concept.

The original nucleus contained a main street on the symmetrical axis – leading to the first Hebrew high school, intersected by several streets and a wide avenue- forming a grid with potential growth.

While urban design was committed to European types, the Tel Aviv architecture was to be very eclectic: a mixture of east and west.

Tel Aviv – 1925 The Geddes Plan

• climate

• superblock

• homeways

• Jewish ideals

City map from 1931 – central and northern areas based on Geddes Plan of 1927

Geddes’ master plan consisted of a hierarchical grid of main arteries and secondary streets forming urban ‘blocks’. Within each block, a sub-system of short and narrow residential streets- ‘homeways’ encircled a small public park at the centre.

Tel Aviv – 1925 the Geddes plan

The road system

two-way grid

• north-south parallel to the shore

• east-west facing the sea

main roads 15-30 metres widthsecondary roads 10-12 metres width

junction

Inner street - homeway

• public gardens within the block

•separation between housing and traffic

•front yards as buffer

•footpaths connected the main streets to the inner green roads

Maximum building heightscommercial main roads 15 metresother main roads 14 metressecondary roads 9 metres

The Super block

open space/public buildings at the core

super block core

The opposition to the plan came from those who wanted to build on the valuable land that was left in the core of the superblock. Anticipating this, Geddes proposed that the state sell the cheaper lands north of the Yarkon river.Unfortunately today, not much is left from the original plan, yet, the area where the plan has survived is considered the most comfortable in Tel-Aviv.

Tel Aviv’s fabric today: Legacy of the Geddes Plan (1925)

Tel Aviv – 1938 The revised plan

1940 - Stuttgart Weissenhofsiedlung Araberdorf

The Economic Crisis (1925-27- 29)

The Bauhaus School

The International Style

The Modern Movement

Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv Architecture - influences and inspirations

BAUHAUS

LE CORBUSIER (1887-1965)

Outlined five main features:

• construction on columns (pilotis)

• roof gardens

• the free plan

• ribbon windows

• free façade

Other hallmarks of this style:

• flat roofs

• large windows

• White walls

Tel Aviv Architecture - influences and inspiration

ERICH MENDELSSOHN

Mendelssohn was already one of the most distinguished architects in Europe when he moved to Palestine.

His expressive style, combining new materials invested his architecture with special organic qualities.

Tel Aviv Architecture - influences and inspiration

Tel Aviv Architecture

• adaptation to climatic conditions

• pilotis

• the roof for use of the residents

Characteristics of the International Style in Israel

Tel Aviv Architecture

• the machine aesthetics

• functional

• clear separation between the structure of the building and the walls of its envelope.

Characteristics of the International Style in Israel

Tel Aviv Architecture

• the curve

Characteristics of the International Style in Israel

Tel Aviv Architecture

Gavrilovitsz House - M. Schwartz, 1930

Tel Aviv Architecture

Hess Street - R. Kaufmann, 1931

Tel Aviv Architecture

4 Ein Vered Street - P. Bijonski, 1933

Tel Aviv Architecture

7 Vilna Street - G. Sapoznikov, 1936

Tel Aviv Architecture

9 Gordon Steet - D. Karmi, 1935

Tel Aviv Architecture

“Hod” residence - A. Sharon, 1931

Tel Aviv Architecture

details

The conservation plan

An aerial photograph of the city centre today

Modern World Heritage

• Brazilia, Brazil, 1987

• Palau de la Musica Catalana, Spain, 1997

Modern World Heritage

•Hospicio Cabanas, Mexico, 1997

Museuminsel Berlin, Germany, 1999

Modern World Heritage

• Rietveld Schroder House, Netherlands, 2000

• Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas, Venezuela, 2000

Modern World Heritage

• Major Town Houses of Victor Horta, Belgium, 2000

Criteria for inscription

Inscribes the White City of Tel-Aviv - the Modern Movement, Israel, on the

World Heritage List on the basis of cultural criteria (ii) and (iv):

Criterion (ii): The White City of Tel Aviv is a synthesis of outstanding significance of the various trends of the Modern Movement in architecture and town planning in the early part of the 20th century. Such influences were adapted to the cultural and climatic conditions of the place, as well as being integrated with local traditions.

Criterion (iv): The new town of Tel Aviv is an outstanding example of new town planning and architecture in the early 20th century, adapted to the requirements of a particular cultural and geographic context.

Criteria for inscription

1. Inscrit La ville blanche de Tel- Aviv- le mouvement moderne, Israël, sur la base des critères culturels (ii) et (iv) :

Critère (ii) : La ville blanche de Tel-Aviv est la synthèse d'une valeur exceptionnelle des diverses tendances du mouvement moderne en matière d'architecture et d'urbanisme au début du XXe siècle. Ces influences ont été adaptées aux conditions culturelles et climatiques du lieu, de même qu'intégrées aux traditions locales.

Critère (iv) : La ville nouvelle de Tel-Aviv est un exemple remarquable d'urbanisme et d'architecture des villes nouvelles du début du XXe siècle, adapté aux exigences d'un contexte culturel et géographique particulier

Criteria for inscription

3. Encourages the State Party to continue monitoring development trends in Tel Aviv, and to improve where possible the control of changes in the existing fabric;

4. Recommends that height limits be proposed for the property and its buffer zone;

5. Encourages the State Party to integrate the management and conservation plans in order to guarantee their efficacy.

27 COM 8C.24

With regard to protective legislation in Israel, the World Heritage Committee,

1. Encourages the State Party to broaden the scope of its system of legal protection at the national level to include modern heritage.

Criteria for inscription

1. Encourage l'Etat partie à continuer de suivre l'évolution des constructions à Tel Aviv et à améliorer, là où c'est possible, la surveillance des modifications du tissu existant ;

2. Recommande que des limites de hauteur soient proposées pour le bien et sa zone tampon ;

3. Encourage l'Etat partie à intégrer les plans de gestion et de conservation afin de garantir leur efficacité.

27 COM 8C.24            

  Concernant la législation de protection en Israël, le Comité du patrimoine mondial,

1. Encourage l'Etat partie à élargir le champ de son système juridique de protection au niveau national pour englober le patrimoine moderne.

Le CorbusierSuperblock model

Tel Aviv - Architecture

Characteristics of the International Style in Israel

The building style prevalent in Tel Aviv from the beginning of the 1930s up to the foundation of the state of Israel (1948).

Buildings that were built according to the Modern Movement:

•functional

• without decoration for its own sake

• flat roofs designated for the use of the residents

•Clear separation between the structure of the building and the walls of its envelope.

• Composition of façade was generally asymmetrical, dominated by horizontal lines sometimes combined with vertical elements which generally designated the staircase.