a visual story

tel aviv

תל אביב

Inhabitants: 405.000 :תושבים

Metropolitan area: 4.344.000 :מטרופולין

Area: 52 km2 :איזור עירוני

Age: 113 / 3000 :גיל

Density: 8600 km2 :צפיפותן

Coastline: 14 km :קו החוף

introduction

fresh gaze

The visual story “Tel Aviv – through my eyes” was created while studying, working and living in Israel. It is a personal approach to the city of Tel Aviv and a project extending with time. Moving to a new city enables us to observe the urban landscape with a fresh gaze. Everything is new. Everything is exciting. All senses are activated and all fears unlocked. The environment does not make sense yet and some details come to our attention that longtime residents do not notice. A state of hyperawareness. With time, our senses get dull. Commutes change into routines, buildings become backdrops, and sounds turn silent. To stay curious I began this story, enabling me to make sense of the city, while simultaneously keeping a fresh gaze.

bauhaus x brutalism x contemporary architecture

Tel Aviv is an urban blend. It’s history, culture, and architecture a mixture of Jewish, European, Middle Eastern, Arabic and Soviet influence. A blend with its roots in the Arab city of Jaffa. Two cities merging into one with a story so complex, that it is impossible to tell in a single paragraph. Hence my book recommendation: White City, Black City: Architecture and War in Tel Aviv and Jaffa by Sharon Rotbard.

Nowadays Tel Aviv is internationally known as “The White City”. Build as a vision and new future for the Jewish world it is heavily influenced by the Bauhaus/international style and known for its UNESCO world heritage site. But the city has significantly more to offer: eclectic architecture reminiscent of Spanish colonial revival architecture, modernist buildings Le Corbusier could only dream of, and countless brutalist buildings woven into the mainly contemporary skyline. A contrast I explored through photography.

bauhaus

© Alexander Hövel

ניתוח חזית

▴ orgin

The Bauhaus style was conceived in post WWI Germany and brought to Tel Aviv by Jewish architects escaping Nazi persecution in the 1930s. Worldwide Tel Aviv is the only city where the Bauhaus spirit was implemented on a large scale, influencing interior- and landscape design as well as urban planning.

⏵ facade analysis

Done for one of my university projects, this analysis shows the evolution of the four original façade styles (A,B,C,D) designed by Bauhaus architects in Tel Aviv during the 1920/30s. Later with the implementation of more variants (a, b, d1-d3, E) the ground floor was elevated for better ventilation, while the growing numbers of Jewish immigrants fleeing Europe during WWII forced architects to build taller (d1-d3).

facade analysis

brutalism

© Alexander Hövel

▴ brutal uniformity

Brutalist architecture took root in Tel Aviv from the 1950s to the 1980s. Influenced by post-war Europe, it adopted a distinct Israeli look. In Israel brutalism isn’t confined to urban spaces but can also be found in kibbutzim, other rural communities, and cities like Be´er Sheva. To capture the stark contrast between the heavy concrete structures, I emphasize the striking repetitive facades in the photographs.

⏵ where and how did i move?

My movement patterns between the different neighborhoods in Tel Aviv varied. The city center is small, hence I moved around mainly by foot, bike, and bus. The chart, true to the geographic location of the neighborhoods, reveals that (although living in the city for 1.5 years) there is much more to explore. I haven’t yet been to the far north and south of the city, as well as only sparsely to the neighboring cities Ramat Gan, Petach Tikwa and Holon.

contemporary

▴ views and glas

The contemporary skyline of Tel Aviv is striking and changes very quickly. New high tech-startups, lawyers and banks all compete for a space in the sky. Every month a skyscraper is finished and a new construction site arises. What’s special compared to Europe? The high percentage of residential towers. The growing Israeli population and high property prices force developers to build vertically. Creating standardized living spaces far above the dunes. They’re selling points? The view, new facilities and parking.

⏵ where did i spend time?

While I thought I had seen it all after some time. Tracking where I have spent time shows that there are still huge areas yet to be explored. While in Europe, I am used to spending a lot of time at home, at work, in universities or libraries. In Tel Aviv, the weather and public spaces allowed me to spend way more time outside: The bigger the black areas on the map, the more time I have spent in that area

urban blend/בלאגן

▴ the result?

A fascinating urban blend incomparable to any other city. Inspiring, beautiful, unique and chaotic. Adjectives I would not only use to summarize my time in Tel Aviv, but also to describe the country and its people in the most loving way. The perfect place for an aspiring urban planner.