Paul and I had a special day with our architect tour guide, Abraham Silver. Abraham worked for 20 years on a kibbutz and now lives in Tel Aviv with his wife and twin daughters. We learned about the people who founded Tel Aviv and the progression of the different architectural styles.
Central Tel Aviv has more 1930s Bauhaus (International) style buildings than any other city in the world and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2003. Many structures are characterized by horizontal lines, flat roofs, white walls, vertical stairwells and an absence of ornamentation.
Additional information we learned are as follows:
– Palmach Museum (purpose of museum is story of creation)
– Israel composed of 4 narratives (secular, Arab, religious, ultra-
orthodox)
– sand dune ( founding of Tel Aviv) kind of like Plymouth Rock
– Tel Aviv most Jewish city in world
– Jaffa (natural port)
– people get universal health and college
– parents usually buy couple’s first home
– shutters are mandatory in case of war
– six streets coming together form a star
– lottery system for apartments ( over 40, serve army)
– Tel Aviv 3.5 million people, 1% non Jews
– Israel flag resembles Tallis
– major streets go north/south, struggle to get to beach
– no dogs seen 30 years ago (effect of Holocaust)
The founders were dogmatic and wanted to build a modern city and recreate Biblical Judaism. It was also thought of as a revolt against the Diaspora. Their slogan was the following: “WHERE THERE’S NOTHING, YOU CAN DO ANYTHING.”