Abstract
In the first half of the 20th century, a number of Jewish intellectual elites came to Palestine from different countries in Europe in succession. Driven by the then socialist thought, they attempted to build a new Utopian Jewish homeland in Palestine. Along with that, a number of agricultural Kibbutz and collective houses for urban workers were built continuously, and a new kind of community based on equality and labor came into being in Palestine. These new communities with strong democratic color played a critical role in the forming of the then design language, and even affected the architectural language of private homes in Tel Aviv.
Through investigating the architectural landscape of agricultural Kibbutz and collective houses for urban workers and the features of private homes in Tel Aviv, this paper studies how local Jewish architects converted European avant-garde culture into emerging Hebrew culture, and explores how the new communities shaped an organizational living environment and an orderly autonomous system. This can not only present the forming process of the local modern design system in Palestine, but also can present the unique design ecology in Palestine.
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Notes
- 1.
In 1897, Herzl called the first Zionist conference in Basel, Switzerland. At this conference, World Zionist Organization (WZO) was founded, and Herzl became the first chairman. WZO aimed at building a Jewish homeland protected by the Public Law for the Jews in Palestine.
- 2.
Balfour Declaration was a statement of British Government, which clearly supported Zionism. At that time, Winston Churchill and Herbert Samuel, the first High Commissioner of British Government exercising administration, were loyal supporters to Zionism. After the Commission of Zionism entered Palestine in 1918, the leaders of Zionism with Weizmann as the chief always actively maintained an alliance with British Government. For details, please see Anita Shapira, Israel: a history, translated from the Hebrew by Anthony Berris. BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY PRESS. 2012. p.120.
- 3.
Rachael Gelfman Schultz, The Kibbutz Movement/The proud and turbulent history of Israel’s experiment in communal living. (https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-kibbutz-movement/).
- 4.
Chief Editor: Galia Bar Or, Kibbutz: Architecture without Precedents, Design and production: Michael Gordon, Pre-press and printing: Top.Print, Tel Aviv, 2010. p241.
- 5.
Kibbutz was built in Beit Alfa, Nahalal, Ein Gedi, Beit Ha Arava, etc.
- 6.
For example, Richard Kouffmann (proposal for the Antiochia neighborhood, Jerusalem, 1922), Benjamin Anekstein(Tel Aviv and Jerusalem 1930s-40s), Dov Kutchinsky(Workers’ Residence Bet, Jerusalem, 1934), Theodor Menkes (proposal for a workers’ housing project in Haifa, 1936), Avraham and Tzipora Cherniak(Workers’ Residence Aleph, Jerusalem, early 1930s). For details, please see Ada Karmi-Melamede and Don Price, Architecture in Palestine during the British Mandate, 1917–1948, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem. 2014. P180–185.
- 7.
Architects studying in Belgium included Dov Karmi, Benjamin Anekstein, Genia Averbouch, Ben-Ami Shulman, Haim Kashdan, Ze’ev Berlin (son of Josef Berlin), Moshe Karassik, etc. Some architects studied in Paris or Vienna for one or two years first, and then went to Belgium for a study, for example, Ze’ev Rechter, Josef Neufeld, Genia Averbouch, Israel Dicker, Sam Barkai, Harry Lurie, etc.
- 8.
Anita Shapira, Israel: a history, translated from the Hebrew by Anthony Berris. BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY PRESS. 2012. P117.
References
Israel, S.A.: A History, Translated from the Hebrew by Anthony Berris. Brandeis University Press (2012)
Chief Editor: Galia Bar Or, Kibbutz: Architecture without Precedents, Design and production: Michael Gordon, Pre-press and printing: Top.Print, Tel Aviv (2010)
Karmi-Melamede, A., Price, D.: Architecture in Palestine during the British Mandate, 1917–1948. The Israel Museum, Jerusalem (2014)
Rotbard, S.: White City, Black City: Architecture and War in Tel Aviv and Jaffa. The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts (2015)
Metzger-Szmuk, N.: Dwelling on the Dunes/Tel Aviv/Modern Movement and Bauhaus Ideals. Kal Press Ltd, Tel Aviv, Israel (2004)
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Wei, L. (2023). Architectural Design Landscape in the Near East in the Early 20th Century. In: Marcus, A., Rosenzweig, E., Soares, M.M. (eds) Design, User Experience, and Usability. HCII 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14030. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35699-5_27
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