White City (Tel Aviv)

The White City (עברית. 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. In 2003, 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." The citation recognized the unique adaptation of modern international architectural trends to the cultural, climatic, and local traditions of the city.

Historical background

The concept for a new garden city, to be called Tel Aviv, was developed on the sand dunes outside Jaffa in 1909. 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 worked from 1925 to 1927 on the plan, which was accepted in full by the council. The view of British Mandatory authorities seemed to have been supportive.

Patrick Geddes laid out the streets and decided on block size and utilisation. But he 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, which was closed down on the orders of the Nazis, fled to the British Mandate of Palestine. The residential and public buildings were designed by these Bauhaus-trained architects, who took advantage of the absence of established architectural conventions to put the Bauhaus principles into practice. The Bauhaus style, with its emphasis on functionality and inexpensive building materials, was perceived as ideal in Tel Aviv. In 2004, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) named Tel Aviv a World Heritage Site for its treasure of Bauhaus architecture.

Adaptation to local climate

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.

]] Later, buildings were raised on pillars, which allowed the wind to blow under and cool the apartments, as well as providing a play area for children.

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, 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 of the city today.

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 a plot 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.

Preservation plans

Шаблон:Commonscat 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.

References

Шаблон:Reflist

External links

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