A Brief History of Tel Aviv's White City (Ft.

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Tel Aviv's White City is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for having outstanding significance to early 20th century movements in architecture - including the Bauhaus and International Style. How did a land that was just a bunch of empty sand dunes just over 100 years ago become one of the most important landmarks of Modern architecture?
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Sources and Further Reading:
Form and Light: From Bauhaus to Tel Aviv by Yigal Gawze (2018): www.amazon.com/Form-Light-Bau...
Tel Aviv: The White City by by Jochen Visscher and Stefan Boness (2012): www.amazon.com/Tel-Aviv-White...
Bauhaus Tel Aviv : An Architectural Guide by by Nahoum Cohen (2002): www.amazon.com/Bauhaus-Tel-Av...
UNESCO - White City of Tel-Aviv: whc.unesco.org/en/list/1096/
Levine, Mark. "Globalization, Architecture, and Town Planning in a Colonial City: The Case of Jaffa and Tel Aviv." Journal of World History 18, no. 2 (2007): 171-98. www.jstor.org/stable/20079422
Mann, Barbara. "Tel Aviv after 100: Notes toward a New Cultural History." Jewish Social Studies 16, no. 2 (2010): 93-110. www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/...
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Music:
For Another Day by Colours of Illusion - www.epidemicsound.com/track/O...
Another Hot Evening by Riverworn - www.epidemicsound.com/track/i...

[@ARTiculations]

Check out Unpacked's great video about the New Tel Aviv Central Bus Station here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iau3cqeKnbeLgqc

[@SamAronow]

I absolutely think the Bauhaus architecture of Tel Aviv is worthy of preservation...but I would never want it to totally dominate the city. However, what I would *not* miss is the "style" that *actually* dominates the city- shoddy, crumbling low-rise apartment blocks, covered in dripping AC hoses and exposed wires, built as hastily as possible to house as many people as possible with no legal requirement of architectural oversight. These places aren't just ugly, they're a safety hazard. I currently live in one that's marked for a total rebuild.

[@UNPACKED]

You don't absolutely adore it when a 2.5 room apartment becomes 4 separate studio apartments???

[@PeterPanMan]

"Style...shmyle! We need housing!".

[@Daniel-jv1ku]

I think it's better to fix it and make it look better, rather than demolishing it... unless it has no potential at all.

[@NeivGabay]

@@Daniel-jv1ku bruh we can demolish thousands of pretty much identical shikunim all over israel and still be left with plenty. Anything archtiectually significant is another thing

[@MythologywithMike]

Great video! I think it would be great to see you cover more cities with interesting architectural histories & styles

[@brianploszay7202]

I thought Tel Aviv's architecture was chaotic. The White Neighborhood was an exception. Too bad that this style didn't expand and become the major style of the city.

[@tranzco1173]

It's expensive to be that classically minimalist. You have to pay more to get less.

[@DiazThumb]

Thanks for coming BACK! This architecture mini docs where the reason I find you years ago. Love your content :D

[@sydyidanton5873]

Thank you for this terrific showcase of Tel Aviv's eclectic design styles. It is a fabulous city to take a stroll through. A genuine melting pot of rich and varied cultures the fusion of which is like no other. The Bauhaus design has become quintessentially Tel Avivian. I have three small ceramic replicas of these designs, you featured pictures of the actual buildings they’re modelled from. These began as an affordable housing plan and have evolved into a high value investment, its terrific that they’re appreciated and protected. They were well designed and built. There are many other apartments around the city of quite poor standards, quickly constructed with exposed utilities etc. I guess at the time demands were high with slim resources. They could be tidied up to look quite okay, if their ‘bones’ are strong and worth the effort/investment. A former cinema of that era was converted to a hotel, beautiful design nuances throughout. Great location also, I would absolutely stay there again. There are so many fascinating designs that came from that deco era. They have a degree of charm and individuality very rarely seen in the more contemporary designs, which are frequently bland and featureless. Another construction from later in that design period that I’ve always loved is the Fallingwater House by Frank Lloyd Wright in Pennsylvania. Thanks again. This was a really enjoyable production.

[@witchbitchgirl]

I live in Israel, and what you said about the Bauhaus style's appeal is so true. As much as I love European architecture, when I visited Germany I always felt haunted in some way. Like the saying "if these walls could talk"- who knows what happened at the apartment I stayed at. what if jews were lined up on the very pavement I walked on. I felt so nervous the entire time. Israel for me and many other jews is like a clean slate, a place where we could start a new life.

[@sydyidanton5873]

I agree, I’ve found many Germans to be truly delightful and parts of the country are fairytale picturesque, but there are definitely chilling echoes of an all too recent horror story. I felt the same way in the old city in Prague, I adored it but was aware of an eerie vacuum of extinguished community life. There’s a palpable essence, I was very aware of it one evening in particular I went for a walk around on my own quite late at night. I wasn’t even thinking of anything other than admiring the architecture and beautiful features. From nowhere I was overcome by a peculiar wave of emotion like all the happiness was just suddenly sucked out of the air, you could almost imagine all the sounds of daily life, yenta and laughter then silence, the atmosphere felt heavy and foreboding, it was disturbing. After a couple of minutes it was gone. There were many places I was aware of what I can only describe as a muffled vacuum.Quite bizarre, yet I loved the city there were very many mixed and confused feelings towards the place. The following day it was compounded significantly by a beautiful old shul with so many names painted on the walls along with the art of the children in an upstairs room. Then there is another truly beautiful shul (Italian) also filled with horror, it was quite near there I had felt that dreadful feeling the previous evening. Such unimaginable cruelty and terror. Now the hate is being tolerated again, they don’t even know why they hate us, they just do. I certainly agree with your sentiments.

[@Daniel-jv1ku]

Thank you so much for the great content and analysis! Please keep making these videos!

[@kibrika]

Thnx for the cool video! I think I've heard of Tel Aviv as a popular vacation destination from my country (Latvia) but I didn't have any idea of what it was.

[@AmorSciendi]

Great video Betty. Love to hear about intentional spaces and how they impact the way we live in them

[@AudieHolland]

What I like about Bauhaus is that it still looks modern but on a human scale. Nothing special, no 'ohs' or 'ahs' when examining a Bauhaus style building. In fact, only architecture students or historians will stop to study any Bauhaus building in my opinion. But I'm biases because my old highschool was built in Bauhaus style. It's nothing remarkable but like I said, it's built to human scale. Take the building at 04:16 for instance. Looks like a corporate building, including the large glass panes at the front but because the entrance/stairway section looks like a seperate part, the building does not look like a factory or any dystopian building. Together with the horizontal and vertical lines, partitioning the large surfaces into smaller parts, it is not built to impress/intimidate/dwarve any person. Of course, Hitler hated Bauhaus and all the other leftie architecture schools in pre-WW2 Germany. I just looked it up and indeed, the Nazis shut down Bauhaus when they came to power in 1933. However, rather sobering and bizarre, a few prominent Bauhaus students actually collaborated with the Nazis (one designed the gates of the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany, while the designer of that very building at 04:16, actually made propaganda for the Nazis in the early 1930s untill he had to flee the country and went to the USA.

[@KnowHistory]

Why did I only get notified of this today???? Superb video!

[@SR-wi2hf]

Awesome and fascinating video!

[@dariocavegn4052]

You've just added a city to my must visit list. Thanks for that! (And great videos, by the way. Keep them coming. Best lunchtime entertainment ever if, like me, you're the type who eats at their desk.)

[@tocov]

Really great and interesting video. Really well researched.

[@ReliableDragon]

Great video! It's really cool to see explanations of different architectural styles along with examples of the most iconic places that they have been used. Sorry that so many people in the likes can't seem to separate a factual history of architecture in a place from their knee-jerk reactions to hearing the word "Israel". :(

[@i20010]

Thank you, very interesting! These buildings are beautiful.

[@danielintheantipodes6741]

Brilliant video. It looks beautiful. Thank you for the video! I am not an Israeli, but I definitely believe that buildings like this should be kept. They are wonderful, at their best and okay even at their most ordinary. Better than any functional but dull modern tower. (Just my opinion, for whatever it may be worth.)

[@derekdurst9984]

Very informative....well done!

[@HistoryandHeadlines]

It's nice to see collaborations among KZbin channels I am subscribed to!

[@owenhaupt]

Fantastic video!! Keep it up :)

[@danielleonstern2303]

Such a wonderful video about such a wonderful city, Tel Aviv.

[@janusquiamco7128]

I adore the bauhaus architectural style, but i think it is really a style that exists in a vacuum. I mean, each building looks its best in a pristine, well-ordered environment, surrounded by its own kind or maybe on its own. It demands to be filled (or minimalistically decorated) with well-curated objects that match the functional nature of the interiors, and god forbid that the inhabitants themselves be messy people who can‘t keep anything in order. In other words, it‘s architecture that’s probably too idealistic for a messy world.

[@louisdewit4429]

You spoke my mind. Too many careless people putting not Bauhaus matching materials on their balconies and God may know what goes on inside these apartments. For an over whole ‘coming to justice’ indeed a whole pristine street. No parked cars. Our modern world has become rather messy for old day’s beauty. Thanks.

[@1998tkhri]

I think Tel Aviv needs to find a balance between the chaos and craziness of architecture like the Central Bus Station and the serenity but blandness of the Bauhaus. Like, find ways of incorporating the historical ties and religious landmarks in a more structured architecture. Don't leave it all behind, like Bauhaus, but too much becomes a mess and an eyesore.

[@alonknaan4536]

Wonderful video!!

[@fiverZ]

More videos like this please!

[@Obizzy4shizzy]

Great presenter and content!

[@AudieHolland]

At 02:36, hey cool! An old stereographic photo! I read somewhere that the correct way to view it as a single photo in 3D, is to relax your gaze (eyes on the horizon) and then try to focus the left eye on the left image and the right eye on the right image. I have never been able to actually do that, what I do instead is, cross my eyes and then make the two photos overlap. Works just as well for me. In those days, late 19th to early 20th century, they had special stereographic viewers where you had to look through a binocular apparatus. Which also meant other people couldn't see what you were watching, which in turn meant many rather naught stereographic pictures were available.

[@MsDafiM]

Hi Betty! That was a great video, and it was so fun to see familiar places, thank you! I think the beauty of the white city in Tel-Aviv is inseparable from Tel-Aviv's diverse, eclectic style. Sure, much of it is a utopian idea, but utopian ideas guide us and serve as a reminder of what we came from, what we'd like to create, and where we stand in comparison to that. Even if the idea changes, even if it's irrelevant anymore, I think it's still worth keeping as a reminder of what mattered to us, and what we were meticulous about. It can help us shape the current idea of our utopia, that embraces the diversity of the city. And hit me up when you're coming to see it for yourself so that we can enjoy it together :).

[@UNPACKED]

Can we join too??

[@ARTiculations]

Dafi I'm so glad you enjoyed the video. I honestly would love to visit and see all these sites in real life! I will certainly let you know if/when I visit. It will be so awesome to enjoy the city with lovely friends. 💕

[@iwanabana]

Great stuff!!!

[@richardeagle2682]

Very good video.... Bauhaus style Is super nice

[@alexanderjones405]

Thanks for the video! Did you read the book Black City, White City? Very interesting comparison of Tel Aviv and Jaffa, and how Tel Aviv has successfully marketed itself as Jaffa's more modern, clean and 'superior' replacement. In it the claim is also made that in fact only 3 architects who graduated from the Bauhaus School ever worked in Tel Aviv (including Sharon, as you mentioned). You said about half were, and I've struggled to find numerous, accurate sources on this. I'm lost but would love to know! Thanks

[@sydyidanton5873]

You wrote this a year ago, this is my first time watching this production so I thought I’d reply anyhow. Jaffa is at the southern end of the beach running along the front of Tel Aviv. It’s practically one city with Jaffa/Yafo like a suburb. Jaffa itself is a great location, it’s certainly not inferior in any way. Back when Tel Aviv was first being established there may have been that 'new and better' attitude like any new project. I would almost prefer to reside in Yafo given the choice between the two. I love Tel Aviv, but there’s a special charm about Yafo. The area considered ‘superior' is Herzliya to the immediate north of Tel Aviv along the coast. Extremely close, so much so that could almost be counted as part of greater Tel Aviv. It’s an affluent area with a great deal of tech start ups. It lacks the charm of Yafo and the older parts of Tel Aviv like Neve Tzedek though. I hope this in some way answers your question. Cheers, Anton

[@TheHistocrat]

Aaaaaaa I didn't see this was out time to catch up!

[@user-LazyMustang]

great video! what is this gray-black Tel-Aviv book behind you?

[@ARTiculations]

It is “Tel Aviv: The White City” by Stefan Boness and Jochen Visscher. www.amazon.com/Tel-Aviv-White-English-German/dp/3939633755

[@user-LazyMustang]

@@ARTiculations thanks

[@OscarRomero-dj6um]

Came from @Unpacked and loving the content

[@captaindragon8179]

A couple of the buildings you showed were built in the last two decades. I wish I had better proof than me having lived in Tel-Aviv and seeing the buildings before and after.

[@MrStudioso]

Amazing video! I should bookmark and reference to it later… every still image is a study on its own. I lived in TLV for 6 years but never consciously stopped to study unmarked residential buildings, what a shame! I did live in an apartment on Pines street (pronounces “penis”!) and the interior architecture is as beautiful as the outside, i though it was mid century modern but I guess it was more original bauhaus. -interestingly i was told that the pilotis or stilts on many buildings’ ground floor was a way to circumvent code requirements for building setback. It made sense because even ugly practical buildings in nearby poor Bnei Brak has them… Thanks again!

[@kovie9162]

Having been in Tel Aviv many times and studied a bit about the Bauhaus movement in college, I've long been struck by its obvious influences on its architecture from the 20's to 40's. But it gets me to wondering about the influence of other art, style and architecture movements of that era or immediately preceding it, like the Viennese Secession movement, Art Nouveau, Jugendstil and Art Deco. Anyone know anything about that and where I might find more information on it?

[@junedilevsky6343]

You are delightful!

[@OronIsrael]

Love it ❤️

[@UNPACKED]

Great video!

[@AbhinavDhar93]

Didn't Delhi's Millennium Park depot has overtake the Central Bus Station as the largest bus depot in 2010?

[@cesarcortes3891]

I haven’t had the opportunity to visit Tel aviv and I didn’t understand why the white city is considered a World Heritage site, it is true the influence of the Modernism movement in the architecture not only in the typology also in the materials used to built those projects, I would preserve or considered the most representative buildings as Heritage but not the whole city,there could be a new opportunity to readapt the city to the needs of the XXI century.

[@SierraSierraFoxtrot]

Some people may not like Bauhaus or brutalism, but those styles worked and many of the buildings built in that style endured. OTOH buildings designed here in the 80s aged very fast, and many of their features proved to be unfit for purpose. Impractical lobbies in public buildings and poor ventilation and cooling in apartment buildings for example.

[@agapitoliria]

Really interesting video, thank you! I quite enjoyed your explanation for the why of the movement (forgetting a terrible past). It's also interesting to see in the coments some references about how this is a sort of colonialism, which I'd like to learn more about now (I guess it could be derived form that need to live a cosmopolitan lifestyle instead of integrating with the locals). Also really enjoyed the little facts about the utilitarian nature of the architecture itself.

[@sagivmaaravi763]

I want to add that if a building is passing a conservation status you can't destroy the building even if he's dangerous and old to people and people are living there. My father is working as Real estate appraisal so I know a lot from this profession

[@diamondluck3851]

Bauhaus should dominate the apartments in Tel Aviv.

[@ashovav13]

Tel Aviv is a chaotic disarray of streets and buildings . this ia what makes people like me love it and hate it at the same time.

[@michaelmanus7765]

Might suggest referencing Sir Patrick Geddes and his contribution to the White City.

[@ARTiculations]

Yes originally I had an entire section in this video on Geddes and his plans. Unfortunately the video was too long and I decided to cut that section. Perhaps one day there will be a Part II.

[@santosh_979]

Preservation or no preservation is Tel Avivians has to decide. It's the culture to which Architecture responds.

[@shmuelzach161]

Love Tel Aviv

[@daanwillemsen223]

Bauhaus is timeless

[@TheJAMF]

If buildings are beautiful, they should be preserved. It then comes down to who decides which buildings are not beautiful enough, to allow those to be taken down when someone wants to build something in its place. You hope that a new building would be better looking than the one of replaces.

[@alejandroojeda1572]

Great video. I'm not a fan of modernism, but the white city should absolutely be preserved. It's an important part of the Tel Avivs history, it reflects a unique artistic style and makes a valid point for Bauhaus. Every generation thinks they're better than the last, they're more intelligent, responsible, artistic, etc. We are all just the same and the different styles just represent the wide range of the human experience. Destroying them would be akin to burning books. Of course this only applies if they're safe and don't hinder the lives of actual people. People should always come first.

[@thomasmccabe6690]

Yes , the buildings should be preserved. I think they are beautiful. .

[@yechielyogev]

Eclectic style should be TLV Style

[@a_paris3082]

I’m from Tel Aviv, and I can say that the only mistake in this video is that some of us don’t like the Bauhaus buildings. We pretty much all love them

[@adamredwine774]

I love the White City. It's a gorgeous neighborhood.

[@Mauri-jb9up]

If I was a billionaire, I'd buy one Bauhaus villa

[@user-cl7yr]

"how did a german architectural movement end up in the jewish state in the mid 20th century" hmmm i wonder

[@stroke_of_luck]

The is objectively ugly, but it works. The architects of Tel Aviv escaped from the more horrible aspects. You missed some of the better structures you will see Between Allenby and Rothchild. The main Synagogue on Alleny shows how they escaped from the strictures of the while still using it. The interior is both stark and having the standard synagogue interior. the women had seating to the right and left of the men, instead of a balcony. of more interest is the way the streets are laid out. there are several interesting neiborhoods

[@cerezimsi5013]

Ceriously.... I almost believed....... 😂😂😂So peaceful..... Soooooooo peaceful...... Sooooooooo peaceful....... Ceriously...... 😂😂😂😂

[@louisdewit4429]

Tel Aviv = Bauhaus. Demolish it and the city will totally lose it’s character. Same as demolish all of Gothic and Jugendstil (art-nouveau) Prague and what would there be to visit when the soul is gone. If buildings due old concrete are not to be saved, copy them. A bit larger for extra space but exact. It’s No shame or tacky. Most old tourist worthy European cities have total renovations/rebuilds in old revisionist style in order to preserve the essence of a place. Like canal-houses in Amsterdam. (Occasionally one burns down or collapses). Believe me. If Europe had not done that in the past and present, there would be a lot less to admire. I fell in love with Tel Aviv in 1977. Just the beat of the city with it’s appearance. (Then not restored and all buildings gloomy brownish with dirt). Still for me it’s the best city in the world and i’ve seen them all and, as in Tel Aviv, have lived in several of them. Keep it all up. It’s magic. When it’s gone you’ll think: Shoot, what were they thinking ? (Like demolishing the Herzliya Gymnasium where now the Shalom Meïr tower stands. ‘Who did that ???’). 🇮🇱 ❤ Ps: Rebuild Mograbi. It was iconic and a landmark in Tel Aviv.

[@Jewish_Israeli_Zionist]

I hate Le Corbusier, Bauhaus, the international style, brutalism and modern architecture in general. Of course I hate communist khrushchyovkas too.

[@gordonspicer]

difficult to please. What do you like ?

[@havenbastion]

In interior design, Bohemian Eclectic exemplifies a style that everyone can participate in and where almost every version goes well together, kinda like Indian food. This style does something similar for architecture. Given that you've already got it established historically, it would be a big mistake not to own it. Write it into building codes or something.

[@AudieHolland]

*There is nothing wrong with the modern style of Bauhaus.* Do we really need more 'neo classicist' buildings, ie building that remind you of Roman temples but were built in the late 19th and well into the 20th century? Those are not old buildings, they're fakes. 06:42 *kitsch* And I don't know what style the 'Vredespaleis' in The Hague was built but it looks hideous (Peace Palace, the place where international law is dealt out etc. etc.) on second thought, let's call it 'Tower Bridge' style. That bridge was constructed in 1886 I believe but people without much architectural knowledge will think it is much older at first sight. The Vredespaleis in The Hague was built in 1913.

[@19bendunk]

Will be happy if you try to cover other parts of Israel, like Jerusalem 😁

[@henrytudor8537]

I dont like them. But they seem important

[@moustafaabdel5877]

Occupied land is not the land of the Jews. They talked about the people who were killed because of the Jews who killed innocent people to steal the land. 🇵🇸🇵🇸

[@interstatehighwayfan_645]

Unban EJ

[@subversivelysurreal3645]

Too bad it is a shitty Apartheid State. Free Palestine 🇵🇸❤️✌🏽

[@Fritz999]

Nice shapes, but boring and uninteresting.

[@fares238]

It's actually quite fascinating once you ignore the colonialism, apartheid and all the killings of children and innocent.

[@winstonsmith2079]

What happened to you?

[@a_paris3082]

How can you colonize a land you’re indigenous to?

[@loplopthebird1860]

If you talk about Gaza and Cisjordania, of course... But this is not the case

[@a_paris3082]

@@loplopthebird1860 Jews are indigenous to Israel...

[@dolfi1961]

As well as ignoring the fact, that close to 1 million Jews from Arab and Muslim countries, fund refuge in Tel Aviv and neighboring cities in Israel. After being massively expelled from the Arab/Muslim countries In the most brutal and total Ethnic Cleaning, that took place in the 20th century. Carried out by different Arab governments throughout the region. The Islamic APARTHEID, to paraphrase you.

[@fniebres]

Exactly how is Tel Aviv’s White City so diverse? It sounds thoroughly gentrified. A mix of very cosmopolitan Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews predominate. High income surely and inheritance determine how property is passed from one owner to the next. Please don’t fall into the trap of capping your videos with meaningless platitudes.

[@minervastuckinnwo]

Free Palestine 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸

[@32123ABCBA]

Palestine was offered freedom by Israel MULTIPLE TIMES.

[@naushabakhan4728]

Tel Aviv's architecture is beautiful for sure but not that much beautiful to hide ugliness of this places.

[@snjtmd3928]

Palestine 🇵🇸 🧐

[@normitacabahug6129]

But Palestine

[@dolfi1961]

Well, to be honest, Tel Aviv was funded (1909) before this land was named, or been known as Palestine by the British. Remember Normita that the British conquer these lands, only at the end of the First World War (1914-1918).

[@dolfi1961]

So by the time Tel Aviv was founded, this land was part of the Ottoman Empire. And I don't think they called or knew this land as Palestine.

[@dolfi1961]

I will suggest you read and study history a little more, Normita.

[@Malakgodknows]

Beautiful palestine and Islamic architecture

[@rb49352]

This is offensive. I'm umsubscribing

[@32123ABCBA]

Why..?