Saturday 14 June 2014

White Silicon City




The White Silicon City (Hebrew: העיר הלבנה‎, Ha-Ir HaLevana) refers to a collection of over 4,000 Bauhaus or International style buildings built in Tel Aviv from the 1930s by German Jewish architects who immigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine after the rise of the Nazis. Tel Aviv has the largest number of buildings in this 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."[1] The citation recognized the unique adaptation of modern international architectural trends to the cultural, climatic, and local traditions of the city. The Bauhaus Center in Tel Aviv organises regular architectural tours of the city.
Tel Aviv has one of the highest concentrations of Start Ups in the world  and increasingly is becoming known as the White Silicon City. The name was coined by Stephen Darori in lectures , presentations and articles  dating from June 2001. 

Historical background[edit]


Tel Aviv Bauhaus Museum

Dizengoff Square in the 1940s

Rabinsky House in the center of Tel Aviv
The concept for a new garden city, to be called Tel Aviv, was developed on the sand dunes outside Jaffa in 1909.[2] British urban planner Patrick Geddes, who had previously worked on town-planning in New Delhi, was commissioned by Tel Aviv's first mayor, Meir Dizengoff, to draw up a master plan for the new city. Geddes began work in 1925 on the plan, which was accepted in 1929.[3] The view of the British Mandatory authorities seemed to have been supportive. In addition to Geddes, and Dizengoff, the city engineer Ya'acov Ben-Sira contributed significantly to the development and planning during his 1929 to 1951 tenure.[4]Patrick Geddes laid out the streets and decided on block size and utilisation. Geddes did not prescribe an architectural style for the buildings in the new city. But by 1933, many Jewish architects of the Bauhaus school in Germany, like Arieh Sharon, fled to the British Mandate of Palestine.[5] Both the emigration of these Jewish architects and the closing of the Bauhaus school in Berlin were consequences of the rise to power of the Nazi party in Germany in 1933.
The residential and public buildings were designed by these architects, who took advantage of the absence of established architectural conventions to put the principles of modern architecture into practice. The Bauhaus principles, with their emphasis on functionality and inexpensive building materials, were perceived as ideal in Tel Aviv. The architects fleeing Europe brought not only Bauhaus ideas; the architectural ideas of Le Corbusier were also mixed in. Furthermore, Erich Mendelsohn was not formally associated with the Bauhaus, though he had several projects in Israel in the 1930s as did Carl Rubin, an architect from Mendelsohn's office.[6]In the 1930s in Tel Aviv, many architectural ideas were converging and Tel Aviv was the ideal place for them to be tested.

Location map of the three conservation zones included in the WHS listing
In 1984, in celebration of Tel Aviv's 75th year,[7] an exhibition was held at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art entitled White City, International Style Architecture in Israel, Portrait of an Era. Some sources trace the origin of the term "White City" to this exhibition and its curator Michael Levin,[7] some to the poet Nathan Alterman.[8] The 1984 exhibition traveled to New York, to the Jewish Museum.[9] In 1994, a conference took place at the UNESCO headquarters, entitled World Conference on the International Style in Architecture. Credit was given to Israeli artist Dani Karavanwho made a sculpture garden at the headquarters,[10] and had earlier made a sculptural environment entitled Kikar Levana that was inspired by the White City.[11]In 1996, Tel Aviv's White City was listed as a World Monuments Fund endangered site.[12] In 2003, UNESCO named Tel Aviv a World Heritage Site for its treasure of modern architecture.[13]
White City of Tel-Aviv -- the Modern Movement
Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 and developed as a metropolitan city under the British Mandate in Palestine. The White City was constructed from the early 1930s until the 1950s, based on the urban plan by Sir Patrick Geddes, reflecting modern organic planning principles. The buildings were designed by architects who were trained in Europe where they practised their profession before immigrating. They created an outstanding architectural 
White City of Tel-Aviv -- the Modern Movement © UNESCO
Outstanding Universal Value
Brief synthesis
The city of Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 to the immediate north of the walled port city of Jaffa, on the hills along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. During the era of British rule in Palestine (1917-1948) it developed into a thriving urban centre, becoming Israel's foremost economic and metropolitan nucleus.
The serial property consists of three separate zones, the central White City, Lev Hair and Rothschild Avenue, and the Bialik Area, surrounded by a common buffer zone.
The White City of Tel Aviv can be seen as an outstanding example in a large scale of the innovative town-planning ideas of the first part of the 20th century. The architecture is a synthetic representation of some of the most significant trends of Modern Movement in architecture, as it developed in Europe. The White City is also an outstanding example of the implementation of these trends taking into account local cultural traditions and climatic conditions.
Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 and developed rapidly under the British Mandate in Palestine. The area of the White City forms its central part, and is based on the urban master plan by Sir Patrick Geddes (1925-27), one of the foremost theorists in the early modern period. Tel Aviv is his only large-scale urban realization, not a 'garden city', but an urban entity of physical, economic, social and human needs based on an environmental approach. He developed such innovative notions as 'conurbation' and 'environment', and was pioneer in his insight into the nature of city as an organism constantly changing in time and space, as a homogeneous urban and rural evolving landscape. His scientific principles in town planning, based on a new vision of a 'site' and 'region', influenced urban planning in the 20th century internationally. These are issues that are reflected in his master plan of Tel Aviv.
The buildings were designed by a large number of architects, who had been trained and had practised in various European countries. In their work in Tel Aviv, they represented the plurality of the creative trends of modernism, but they also took into account the local, cultural quality of the site. None of the European or North-Africa realizations exhibit such a synthesis of the modernistic picture nor are they at the same scale. The buildings of Tel Aviv are further enriched by local traditions; the design was adapted to the specific climatic conditions of the site, giving a particular character to the buildings and to the ensemble as a whole.
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 White City 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.
Integrity
The spirit of the Geddes plan has been well preserved in the various aspects of urban design (morphology, parcelling, hierarchy and profiles of streets, proportions of open and closed spaces, green areas). The urban infrastructure is intact, with the exception of Dizengoff Circle, where traffic and pedestrian schemes have been changed, although efforts are being made to reinstate the original plan Incremental changes could affect the integrity of the urban ensemble in the future. There are some visible changes in the buffer zone due to new construction and commercial development in the 1960s-1990s including some office and residential structures that are out of scale. The White City is encapsulated inside a ring of high-rise structures, which has obviously altered the initial relationship with its context. Any further development could impact on its visual integrity.
Authenticity
The authenticity of architectural design has been fairly well preserved, proven by homogeneous visual perception of urban fabric, the integrity of style, typology, character of streets, relationship of green areas and urban elements, including, fountains, pergolas and gardens. The details of entrance lobbies, staircases, railings, wooden mailboxes, front and apartment doors, window frames have generally not been changed, though there are some losses - as in most historic towns.
The design of some individual buildings has been modified through rooftop additions even in registered buildings. Although within certain limits, such additions could be perceived as part of traditional continuity, to keep Tel Aviv as a vibrant, living city, attention will need to be given to ensure, the quantity of remodelled buildings is not enough to alter the urban profile, the original scale or parameters of the site.
Protection and management requirements
Management is covered and incorporated in urban and territorial plans. These include the National Master Plan TaMA 35, with the relevant section 58 on the 'Urban Conservation Ensemble in Central Tel Aviv - Jaffa', and the Regional Master Plan TMM 5 providing the main planning instrument for the Tel Aviv conservation area. Management policies include programmes to encourage tourist activities, provide information, and placing an emphasis on conservation. It would be desirable to consider the possibility to provide legal protection at the national level to recent heritage.
Deposited in 2002, Conservation Plan (2650B) was approved in 2008. As the majority of the approximately 1,000 historic buildings identified in this document, and other focused local plans, are privately owned, a strategy allowing the transfer of building rights has been implemented to compensate for the loss of those rights. This specifically includes the stringent conditions applying to 180 buildings to which no changes are allowed. Within defined limitations, the application of permitted additional floors to the other remaining protected buildings has been allowed.
A special process has been established for the evaluation, approval and supervision of building permits and construction within the inscribed area. This is managed and controlled by the Municipality's Conservation Unit that currently employs eight trained architects. With the intention of providing measures to improve the control of changes in existing fabric, in view of existing real estate pressures, development trends are continually monitored by the Municipality.
With reference to the Operational Guidelines Annex 3 (concerning New Towns of the 20th century) it is essential for the city of Tel Aviv to ensure moderated and controlled growth in the historic core area. Accordingly, height limits are to be proposed for the property and its buffer zone.
Long Description
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.
Tel Aviv developed to the north of the city of Jaffa, on the hills along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The property consists of three selected urban areas were built in the 1930s, based on the urban master plan by the British architect Patrick Geddes. The Geddes plan identified an area that was conceived as a 'garden city,' but with a more urban character than those built earlier. There was a free-standing building on each lot, surrounded by a garden, and the ground plan should not be more than one-third of the lot. The development of Tel Aviv follows a succession of urban plans, starting from ancient Jaffa, and including the historic quarters of Neve Zedek (1896), Achuzat Bayit (1909), the Red City, Lev Hayir and, finally, the White City of Tel-Aviv (1931-47).
Historically, the beginning is marked by the construction of Neve Zedek, with two-storey sandstone buildings with tiled roofs in traditional styles built on a hill sloping towards the sea: this became the first nucleus of Tel Aviv. The Red City, developed to the east, consists mostly of eclectic-style buildings with tiled roofs. Lev Hayir (the core of present-day Tel Aviv) and its surroundings extend to the north. It is mainly built in international style, a succession of three- to five-storey buildings with gardens. The Central White City, to the north and built according to the Geddes Plan, has clearly marked residential zones and business areas. The centre is on the highest point, the Circus of Zina Dizengoff with the Habima Theatre, a museum pavilion, and the Mann Auditorium. The buildings are mainly three to four storeys high, with flat roofs, plaster rendering, some decorative features, and the colour scheme ranging from cream to white. The Northern White City, beyond the Ben Gurion Boulevard, was built somewhat later. The western part is similar to the Central White City, not until 1948. The eastern part dates from the late 1940s to 1960s, and it was built to lower standards, in a period of recession. The southern section of the Northern White City is included in the buffer zone.
The three zones have a consistent representation of Modern Movement architecture, although they differ in character. Zone B was built in the early 1930s, and zone A mainly from the 1930s to the early 1940s. Zone C, the Bialik district, represents local architecture from the 1920s on, with examples of Art Deco and eclecticism, but also a strong presence of 'white architecture'. This small area represents a selection of buildings that became landmarks in the development of the regional language of Tel Aviv's modernism. The buildings reflect influences from the Bauhaus, Le Corbusier and Erich Mendelsohn. The buildings are characterized by the implementation of the Modernist ideas into the local conditions. The large glazed surfaces of European buildings are reduced to relatively small and strip window openings, more suitable for the hot weather. Many buildings have pilotis, as in Le Corbusier's design, allowing the sea breeze to come through. Other elements include the brise-soleil to cut direct sunlight; the deep balconies served the same purpose, giving shade, as well as adding to the plasticity of the architecture. The flat roofs were paved and could be used for social purposes. A characteristic feature is the use of curbed corners and balconies, expressive of Mendelsohn's architecture. The buildings also include a certain amount of local elements, such as cupolas. The most common building material was reinforced concrete; it had been used since 1912, being suitable for less-skilled workers. Other materials were also introduced, such as stone cladding for the external surfaces, and metal. There was some use of decorative plasters, although decoration became a matter of carefully detailed functional elements, such as balcony balustrades, flower boxes and canopies
Source: UNESCO/CLT/WHC
Historical Description
The Jewish population living in the Ottoman Palestine at the end of the 19th century had mainly come from Spain in the 16th century. Following the First World War, the Palestine territories became a British mandate in 1920. Due to growing anti-Semitism in Europe, large groups of Jewish immigrants started arriving to Palestine in the early 20th century, first from Russia and Poland, and then again from 1933 onwards. The political movement advocating the re-establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, opposing the Diaspora, has been called Zionism.
Tel Aviv's origins go back to the Ottoman Jaffa, a walled city in the midst of agricultural land in the early 19th century. Towards the end of the century, also due to the construction of Suez Canal, Jaffa developed into a commercial harbour, as well as being the port for pilgrims to the Holy Land. A decree of 1856 allowed foreigners to acquire land, which led to the development of suburban areas. The first Jewish settlement north of Jaffa was Neve Zedek, founded in 1887-96. In 1908-09, a group of affluent merchants established Achuzat Bayit as a garden suburb, later named Tel Aviv.
From 1920 to 1925, Tel Aviv's population grew from 2,000 to 34,000, and the construction followed a variety of styles, combined with local Oriental motives. The first master plan (1921) for a new settlement was prepared by Richard Kauffmann. The Scottish architect Patrick Geddes designed a new plan in 1925, which was ratified in 1927 and approved with amendments in 1938. The construction started in the early 1930s; the designers were the newly immigrated architects who had been formed in Europe, and who implemented here the modernist vision. At the same time, the trends in Europe were changing due to new political situations.
The main influences to modernist architecture in Tel Aviv came from the teachings of the Bauhaus (19 architects had studied at the Bauhaus school), and from the examples of Le Corbusier and Erich Mendelsohn. The architects included Joseph Neufeld and Carl Rubin who worked with Mendelsohn, who was a friend of Richard Kauffmann's. Arie Sharon, Shmuel Mistechkin, and Shlomo Bernstein studied at the Bauhaus school; Sam Barkai and Shlomo Bernstein worked in Le Corbusier's office, and Ze'ev Rechter studied in Paris. Dov Karmi, Genia Averbuch, and Benjamin Anekstein were amongst those who studied in Gent and Brussels; others were influenced by Terragni and Pagano in Italy. Mendelsohn worked in Israel from 1934 to 1942 (mainly in Haifa and Jerusalem).

Adaptation to local climate


Cinema Hotel, formerly anInternational Style movie theater built in the 1930s
However, the architecture had to be adapted to suit the extremes of the Mediterranean and desert climate. White and light colors reflected the heat. Walls not only provided privacy but protected against the sun. Large areas of glass that let in the light, a key element of the Bauhaus style in Europe, were replaced with small recessed windows that limited the heat and glare. Long narrow balconies, each shaded by the balcony above it, allowed residents to catch the breeze blowing in from the sea to the west. Slanted roofs were replaced with flat ones, providing a common area where residents could socialize in the cool of the evening.[14]

The Engel House in the White City of Tel Aviv. Architect: Zeev Rechter, 1933. A residential building that has become one of the symbols of Modernist architecture. The first building in Tel Aviv to be built on pilotis.
Buildings were raised on pillars (pilotis), the first being the 1933 Engel House designed by Zeev Rechter.[15] These allow the wind to blow under and cool the apartments, as well as providing a play area for children. In 1935, at the office building Beit Hadar, steel frame structure was introduced,[16] a technique which facilitates opening the first floor for such purposes.
The style of architecture and construction methods used in the hundreds of new buildings came to define the character of the modern city. Most of the buildings were of concrete,[15] reinforced concrete was often applied from 1912 on,[6] and in the summer were unbearably hot despite their innovative design features. Tel Aviv’s residents took to the streets in the evenings, frequenting the numerous small parks between the buildings and the growing number of coffee shops, where they could enjoy the evening air. This tradition continues in the café society, and nightlife of the city today.[7]
The apartment blocks provided a variety of services such as childcare, postal services, store, and laundry within the buildings themselves. Additionally, having a connection to the land was viewed as extremely important, so residents were encouraged to grow their own vegetables on an allotment of land set aside next to or behind the building. This created a sense of community for the residents, who were in the main, displaced people from differing cultures and origins.[17]

Preservation plans


Classical Bauhausbuilding with "thermometer" windows

Classical Bauhausbuilding - "The Thermometer House" named after the shape of its windows
Many of the buildings from this period, some architectural classics, have been neglected to the point of ruin, and before legislation was passed, some were demolished. However, of the original 4,000 Bauhaus buildings built, some have been refurbished and at least 1,500 more are slated for preservation and restoration.[15] The municipal government of Tel Aviv passed legislation in 2009 that covers some 1,000 structures.[18]

Documentation and exhibitions

The most comprehensive architectural survey of the White City has been held by Nitza Metzger Szmuk. It became was later transformed into a book and an exhibition called "Dwelling on the Dunes".[17] The exhibition was originally held at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art in 2004 and then traveled to Canada, Switzerland, Belgium and Germany.[19][20][21][22] Established in 2000, The Bauhaus Center in Tel Aviv is an organization dedicated to the ongoing documentation of the architectural heritage.[23] In 2003, it hosted an exhibition on preservation of the architecture that showcased 25 buildings.[24] Further to this architectural culture in the city, a Bauhaus Museum opened in Tel Aviv in 2008.[25][26] On occasion of the 100 years since the city's founding, Docomomo International published Docomomo Journal 40 in March 2009, with most of the coverage in the journal on "Tel Aviv 100 Years: A Century of Modern Buildings."[27]

Bauhaus Museum

The Bauhaus Museum was opened in Bialik Street, near the old City Hall in 2010.[28]

Bibliography

  • Yavin, Shmuel; Ran Erde (2003). Revival of the Bauhaus in Tel Aviv: Renovation of the International Style in the White City. Tel Aviv: Bauhaus Center. ISBN 978-965-90606-0-3.


References[

  1. Jump up^ UNESCO, Decision Text, World Heritage Centre, retrieved 14 September 2009
  2. Jump up^ Barbara E. Mann, A place in history: modernism, Tel Aviv, and the creation of Jewish urban space, Stanford University Press, 2006, p. xi ISBN 0-8047-5019-X
  3. Jump up^ Yael Zisling, A Patchwork of Neighborhoods, Gems in Israel, April 2001
  4. Jump up^ Selwyn Ilan Troen, Imagining Zion: dreams, designs, and realities in a century of Jewish settlement, Yale University Press, 2003, p. 146 ISBN 0-300-09483-3
  5. Jump up^ Ina Rottscheidt, Kate Bowen, Jewish refugees put their own twist on Bauhaus homes in Israel, Deutsche Welle, 1 April 2009
  6. ^ Jump up to:a b UNESCO, Advisory Body Evaluation: Tel Aviv (Israel) No 1096, p. 57, retrieved 14 September 2009
  7. ^ Jump up to:a b c Goel Pinto, Taking to the streets - all night long, Haaretz, 29 June 2007
  8. Jump up^ Bill Strubbe, Back to Bauhaus: A Weekly Briefing in the Mother Tongue, The Jewish Daily Forward, 25 June 2004
  9. Jump up^ Paul Goldberger, Architecture View: Tel Aviv, Showcase of Modernism is Looking Frayed The New York Times, 25 November 1984
  10. Jump up^ Michael Omolewa, Message by H.E. Professor Michael Omolewa President of the General Conference of UNESCO, UNESCO, 6–8 June 2004, retrieved 17 September 2009
  11. Jump up^ Yael Zisling, Dani Karavan's Kikar Levana, Gems in Israel, December 2001 / January 2002
  12. Jump up^ World Monuments Fund, World Monuments Watch 1996-2006, retrieved 16 September 2009
  13. Jump up^ UNESCO, White City of Tel-Aviv -- the Modern Movement World Heritage Centre, retrieved 14 September 2009
  14. Jump up^ Daniella Ashkenazy, Tel Aviv - "Bauhaus Capital" of the World, Israel Magazine-On-Web, 1 April 1998, retrieved 14 September 2009
  15. ^ Jump up to:a b c Yael Zisling, Bauhaus in Tel Aviv, Gems in Israel, April 2001
  16. Jump up^ Stanford University, The Streets of Tel Aviv: The New City and Its Setting, retrieved 15 September 2009
  17. ^ Jump up to:a b Nitza Metzger-Szmuk, Des maisons sur le sable: Tel-Aviv, mouvement moderne et esprit Bauhaus, éditions de l’éclat, 2004, p. 307 ISBN 2-84162-077-8
  18. Jump up^ Sharon Udasin, Bauhaus is Our House, The Jewish Week, 20 May 2009
  19. Jump up^ White City exhibition at the UQAM, Montreal [1]
  20. Jump up^ White City exhibition at the EPFL, Switzerland [2]
  21. Jump up^ White City exhibition at the CIVA, Brussels [3]
  22. Jump up^ White City exhibition at the DAM, Frankfurt [4]
  23. Jump up^ The Bauhaus Center, Haaretz, 18 May 2008
  24. Jump up^ Esther Zandberg, Exhibition on Preservation of Bauhaus in Tel Aviv, Haaretz, 15 October 2003
  25. Jump up^ Esther Hecht, Bauhaus Museum Opens in Tel Aviv’s White City, Architectural Record, 21 April 2008
  26. Jump up^ David Bachar, Surroundings / Daniella Luxembourg's Bauhaus kiosk, Haaretz, 1 May 2008
  27. Jump up^ Docomomo International, Journal 40, March 2009
  28. Jump up^ Hecht, Esther. "Bauhaus Museum Opens in Tel Aviv’s White City". Architectural Record. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
29. Nahoum Cohen Bauhaus-Tel Aviv, (Batford, London)

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to White City of Tel Aviv.
While Israeli tanks and bombs hit Gaza, a sales video for an apartment tower in Tel Aviv, 40 miles north of Gaza City, pitches the "Neve Tsedek White City Residence." As photos roll, the voice describes the tower in the heart of the "vibrant cosmopolitan city" of Tel Aviv; it cites "luxurious apartments," even a penthouse designed by Armani Casa, Milan, a "sophisticated lobby, lounge, and business rooms" for new enterprises. Sharing the same Mediterranean coast, Gaza City and Tel Aviv offer a brutal display of contrasts. 
There is no need for conference rooms in Gaza, since 80 percent of inhabitants live under the poverty level, and 38 percent are unemployed. No call for penthouses by Armani, Milan, in Palestinian houses destroyed by US-supplied F16s. No sophisticated lobby for shelter, but refugee camps and darkened homes without electricity. While residents of the "White City" tower will enjoy sea views, Gaza inhabitants experience a blockade and see gunboats that occasionally fire "practice" shots inland, which last year killed a family picnicking on Gaza Beach. Where is the truth about these two towns?
The myth of Tel Aviv as "the White City" rests on the importation of style characteristics from European Modernism into Israel, and the number of Israeli architects educated or practicing in the "International style." This last connection centers largely on Arieh (not Ariel) Sharon, who studied with Hannes Meyer at the Bauhaus. The myth supports the presentation of Israel as a sophisticated, modern nation, understanding and willing to further goals of harmony and peace—a better life.
Those were the goals underlying buildings of the Modern Movement in Europe in the 1920s, practiced primarily in the Netherlands, Germany and France. The myth started in 1959 at the 50th anniversary of Tel Aviv, progressed in the 1980s through museum exhibitions in Tel Aviv and their publications; in 2003, the district was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO; and continued most recently in the Netherlands with an exhibition from Israel at the Technical University of Delft in September entitled "Revival of the Bauhaus in Tel Aviv," introduced by the Cultural Attaché of the Embassy of Israel.
Completed in Poissy, outside Paris, France, in 1929, LeCorbusier's Villa Savoye provides an iconic representation of early modernism, incorporating the five points which the architect used to define this "entirely new kind of building": columnar structure, roof gardens, open plan, horizontal window and free design of the facade.
In the construction boom of the 1930s, virtually all of Tel Aviv was built in the "International Style," understood here as white walls, flat roofs and massing of cube-like blocks, sometimes raised on columns. Conditions favored this style. Concrete construction was cheap and used unskilled workers. Buildings raised on columns like Corbusier's pilotis worked especially well in Tel Aviv because they allowed sea breezes to pass through. Flat roofs are not alien to Canaan, but stem from ancient tradition; David lusted after Bathsheba from his roof, and later, Jesus healed the man on a litter whose friends cut a hole in the roof to let him down (Mark 2:4). The Eastern aspect of Tel Aviv has been acknowledged and sometimes surfaces in White City "International" construction—atriums with splashing pools (not German), cupolas, tall arches, occasional ogees and ornament.
The International Style can be understood as a vocabulary of forms or as a social movement to achieve a better life through architecture. Its iconic buildings in Europe manifest both. Betondorf, a 1920s white concrete village outside Amsterdam, admitted only socialists, and provided a village green with adjoining library, but banned bars and churches. During a visit last autumn, it appeared to be still happily inhabited. The movement inspired sanitariums with balconies for TB patients, workers' housing projects, open-air schools and orphanages. The style allied architecture with a conscience.
Today, there are two architectures in Israel, as there are two politics. There are peace movements in Tel Aviv, and elsewhere in the land, and there are extremists, defiant of the law, even the laws of their own courts and certainly that of the UN. So there is another architecture alongside the imported/borrowed-International/Bauhaus style. It is the architecture of the outposts: wall and tower.
In July 2002, two Israeli architects won a competition within the Israeli Association of United Architects to produce an exhibition of Israeli architecture in Berlin. It was a trenchant critique of the architecture of occupation. When a spokesman for the Interior Ministry reviewed the exhibition the day before its shipment, he became enraged, demanding that the exhibition be cancelled and all the catalogs shredded. 
The architects themselves revised and published the catalog as A Civilian Occupation (Verso, English edition 2003). In the catalog, they map the spread of settlements in the West Bank and document through photographs a new native building type, a hasty ensemble of a wall, a tower and dwellings. The wall area outlines and claims the territory, usually a hilltop, and the tower allows surveillance of the surroundings. The dwellings housed pioneer settlers. This model was favored by Ariel (the Prime Minister) Sharon when he constructed an upscale wall-and-tower residence on land allegedly taken from a Palestinian farmer.
As Israel continues its aggression on Palestinian land, wall-and-tower architecture appears as its authentic voice. To mimic International Style characteristics is as false as the nation's imitation of a modern state. Claiming a free press, it controls journalists at gunpoint at the Gaza border; having established a court system, it ignores its rulings; boasting of cosmopolitanism, it shuts down airports and forbids Palestinian travel—somehow in imitating Modernism it has violated all the beliefs of what was truly the spirit of Modernism, that of social justice. 

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