Architecture of Israel

Classical International Style ("Bauhaus") architecture, part of the White City UNESCO World Heritage Site

Byzantine basilica in the Negev

Jerusalem stone and metal grillwork

Latrun Monastery (1926-1953)

Levin House (1924) on Rothschild Boulevard flanked by modern glass tower

Government Mint building, Jerusalem, designed by Austen Harrison (1935), built 1937

The three towers of the Azrieli Center (1999)

Azrieli Sarona Tower (finished 2017)

The architecture of Israel has been influenced by the different styles of architecture brought in by those who have inhabited the country over time, sometimes modified to suit the local climate and landscape. Byzantine churches, Crusader castles, Islamic madrasas, Templer houses, Arab arches and minarets, Russian Orthodox onion domes, International Style modernist buildings, sculptural concrete Brutalist architecture, and glass-sided skyscrapers all are part of the architecture of Israel.^{[dubious – discuss]}^{[citation needed]}

Traditional Arab housing[]

Until the end of the 19th century, the traditional Arab rural house in the villages of what was then Palestine consisted of a single room without partitions, divided into levels in accordance with various functions carried out in the house:

Rawiyeh – a bottom level at the elevation of the courtyard considered the “dirty” part of the house, used for storage and sheltering livestock.
Mastabeh – A higher residential level used for sleeping, eating, hospitality and storage.
Sida (gallery) – Another living area above the mastaba, used primarily for sleeping.^[1]

In the second half of the 19th century, a residential story characterized by a cross-vault was added above the traditional house, creating a space between the floor with the livestock in the bottom room and the residential story. A separate entrance was installed in each story.^[1]

Fortified houses were built outside the village core and had two stories: a raised ground floor with tiny windows used for raising livestock and storage, and a separate residential floor with large windows and balconies. In the courtyard was a small structure used for storage. Sometimes a tabun baking oven would be located inside it.^[1]

The first modern building technology was evident in the farmhouses. Iron beams were used and the roofs were made of concrete and roof tiles. These structures had balconies with a view and wide doorways.^[1]

Modern architecture and town planning[]

Notable architects[]

Sensing the political changes taking place in central Europe around the time of the First World War, as well as the stirrings of Zionist ideals about the re-establishment of a homeland for Jews, numerous Jewish architects from around Europe emigrated to Palestine during the first three decades of the 20th century. While much innovative planning occurred during the time of the British Mandatory authorities, 1920–1948, in particular the town plan for Tel Aviv in 1925 by Patrick Geddes, it would be architecture designed in the modernist "Bauhaus" style that would fill the plots of that plan; among the architects who emigrated to Palestine at that time, and who went on to establish formidable careers were: Yehuda Magidovitch, Shmuel Mestechkin (1908-2004; specialised in kibbutz architecture),^[2] Lucjan Korngold (1897-1963; Poland and Brazil; the Rubinsky House, an early Le Corbusier-style building in Tel Aviv, is often misattributed to him),^[3]^[4]^[5] Jacob (Jacques, Jacov) Ornstein (1886-1953), Salomon Gepstein (1882-1961), Josef Neufeld (1899–1980) and Elsa Gidoni (1899–1978; née Mandelstamm).^[6]

Dov Karmi, Zeev Rechter and Arieh Sharon were among the leading architects of the early 1950s.^[7] Rudolf (Reuven) Trostler played an important role in designing the country's early industrial buildings.^[7] Dora Gad designed the interiors of the Knesset, the Israel Museum, the country's first large hotels, the Jewish National and University Library, El Al planes and Zim passenger ships.^[8] Amnon Niv designed Moshe Aviv Tower, Israel's tallest building. David Resnick was a Brazilian-born Israeli architect who won the Israel Prize in architecture^[9] and the Rechter Prize for iconic Jerusalem buildings such as the Israel Goldstein Synagogue and Brigham Young University on Mount Scopus.^[10]^[11]

Movie theaters[]

The architecture of Tel Aviv's movie theaters can be seen as a reflection of Israeli architectural history: The first cinema, the Eden, opened in 1914, was an example of the eclectic style that was in vogue at the time, combining European and Arab traditions. The Mugrabi cinema, designed in 1930, was built in art deco style. In the late 1930s, the Esther, Chen and Allenby theaters were prime examples of the Bauhaus style. In the 1950s and 1960s, brutalist style architecture was exemplified by the Tamar cinema built inside the historic Solel Boneh building on Allenby Street.^[12]

Late Ottoman period[]

The Templers built homes with tiled roofs like those in the German countryside.^{[dubious – discuss]}^{[citation needed]}

Mandate period[]

Housing built during the British Mandate was urban in character, with flat roofs, rectangular doorways and painted floor tiles.^[1]

Municipal laws in Jerusalem require that all buildings be faced with local Jerusalem stone.^[13] The ordinance dates back to the ]British Mandate and the governorship of Sir Ronald Storrs^[14] and was part of a master plan for the city drawn up in 1918 by Sir William McLean, then city engineer of Alexandria.^[15]

State of Israel, first decades[]

In the early years of statehood, Israel built rows of concrete tenements to accommodate the masses of new immigrants to replace the huts, tents and packing crates of the maabarot.^[16]

From 1948, architecture in Israel was dominated by the need to house masses of new immigrants. The Brutalist concrete style suited Israel's harsh climate and paucity of natural building materials.^[17]

Recent developments[]

First named the "White City" in 1984, the White City of Tel Aviv has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.^{[citation needed]}

As property values have risen, skyscrapers are going up around the country. The Azrieli Sarona Tower in Tel Aviv is the tallest building in Israel to date.^{[citation needed]}

[fr] has evolved from organic architecture towards biomorphism.^[18] The Pavie House in Neve Daniel is a rare case of non-geometric, Neo-futuristic blobitecture in Israel.^[19]

Museums and archives[]

A small Bauhaus Museum was established in Tel Aviv in 2008.^[20] The Munio Gitai Weinraub Museum of Architecture opened in Haifa in 2012.^[21]

Gallery[]

Old Town Hall, Tel Aviv
Mugrabi cinema, 1930
Yad Kennedy memorial, Jerusalem Forest
Moshe Aviv Tower, Ramat Gan
The Pavie House, 2011
Meier on Rothschild tower, in 2013 Tel Aviv's highest residential building