The White City refers to the historic district of Tel Aviv, containing one of the world's largest area of buildings designed in the International Style, also known as Bauhaus. From 1930 until 1948, 4,000 buildings made from concrete and steel were constructed in the international style in Tel Aviv by German Jewish architects who had fled Nazi Germany. The White City design is characterised by its functionality, aesthics, clean lines, and minimalist modernist approach. In 2003, UNESCO declared the White City of Tel Aviv a World Heritage site.
Cinema Ester was designed by architect Yehuda Magidowitz as one of the first cinemas in Tel Aviv. Now restored as the Cinema Hotel, it is located in Dizengoff Square and features undulating balconies and geometric windows. Its columns and pilotis supports lift a building above the ground or a body of water.
Called the Thermometer building because of the vertical line of diagonal, slatted windows running up and down its four-story length. The windows align with the interior staircase, letting in light throughout the day but not as much heat. The vertical stairwell window, resembling a thermometer, splits the structure at a symmetrical angle on the crossroads of Rothschild Boulevard and Mazeh Street. Glazed floor-to-rooftop window brings natural light into the staircase by day and illuminates the street at night. Designed in 1933 by architects Joseph and Ze’ev Berlin.
This building designed for photographer Avraham Soskin is divided into two asymmetrical wings, each with its own entrance and stairwell. The front wing – designed as the family home – has a flat roof with a pergola and a horizontal emphasis, expressed in rows of windows and the balconies' elongated ventilation slits. Its two floors and basement served as Soskin's photography studio. The building is located at 12 Lilenblum street and was designed by Ze'ev Rechter in 1933.
Shimon Levi House was designed by architect Arieh Cohen and completed in 1934, and, is located on 56 Levanda Street. The house’s imposing height and curvilinear form feels like approaching the bow of a massive steam ship from the water, so the building is more popularly known as “the ship building".
Coded by Liora Lederman