The architecture of Israel has been influenced by the different styles of architecture brought in by those who have occupied the country over time, sometimes modified to suit the local climate and landscape. Fortified Crusader castles, Islamic madrassas, Byzantine churches, Templer houses, Arab arches and minarets, Russian Orthodox onion domes, Bauhaus-style modernist buildings, sculptural concrete Brutalist architecture, and soaring glass-sided skyscrapers all are part of the architecture of Israel.

Influence of Israeli architecture
Israeli architecture is characterized by three main sources of influence:
Importing external styles that were common at the time in Western countries, and adapted to the conditions of the country and to the climate.
Attempts to invent, from scratch, authentic Israeli architecture, and sometimes even attempts to invent / restore ancient biblical architecture.
An effort to create a synthesis between local Arab architecture and Western architecture.
Although the import of foreign styles has been established among Israeli architects in recent decades, efforts to create authentic local architecture can not be underestimated, and the importance of local Arab architecture should not be underestimated.

The attitude of the Jewish / Zionist / Israeli architects to local Arab architecture was known to be high and low, and was influenced by the political power relations and the security situation. Thus, for example, Jewish architecture of the late nineteenth century expresses contempt and condescension toward the local Adar, similar to the attitude of the European architects who operated here in Israel. At the beginning of the twentieth century the attitude changed, and architects such as Berwald , Barsky, Chaikin and even Mendelssohn try to learn from local architecture, and adopt elements from it to the buildings they planned. This attitude changed again towards the end of the 1920s and especially in the 1930s, and the Jewish architects blatantly and deliberately ignored all signs of Orientalism, and the only ones who did so were Mendelssohn, Krakauer , Abram.

Only after the 1967 victory there was a change in the attitude of Israeli architecture to the Arab one, and in the seventies many quotations of local Arab architecture appeared in the new Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem and elsewhere. In the first intifada , these quotes almost completely disappeared, and reappeared only after the Oslo Accords , in order to disappear again with the outbreak of the second intifada .

In all those periods when the local Arab style was distancing, the Israeli architects tended to adopt the styles prevalent in Western countries. Thus, in the earliest period of Zionist architecture – Mikveh Israel , the Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem (including Mishkenot Sha’ananim ) and the Baron’s settlements Strong French rural construction, colonial French construction and even German rural construction. This continued in the 1930s, when the Zionist movement adopted the modernist style (international, Bauhaus, the functional white city), which began to take its first steps in Europe and the United States.

After the establishment of the State of Israel, the Israeli architects tended to adopt, again warmly, the brutality that developed in the Western world (including South America and Japan) and then again, in the 1980s, again and again the European / American influence on local architecture.

On the other hand, in most of the periods in which the presence of Arab / local architecture was evident in the works of the Israeli architects, an effort was also made to create a unique and local architectural language: in the years of the Second Aliyah, with buildings such as the Technion and the Gymnasia Herzliya ; In the fifties and sixties (parallel to the adoption of brutality), with unique structures such as the Municipality of Bat Yam , Beit Dubiner , the construction of the carpet in Be’er Sheva, and more; And in the seventies with the Gilana builders, the field school in Hazeva, etc. Even in the 1930s, during one of the most prominent periods of Jewish-Arab relations, when most architects adopted modernist architecture and completely ignored Arab architecture, several architects were still trying to synthesize the East To the West (and this even matched their political views), thereby creating local Israeli architecture unique to Erich Mendelsohn .

Streams and Styles
Colonial Architecture (1850 to 1930)
Since the overthrow of the Crusader kingdom until Napoleon ‘s journey to Palestine, Europe has shown little interest in this remote region of the Middle East. After the Napoleonic journey, and especially after the conquest of the land by the Egyptian Muhammad Ali and its expulsion from it by the European powers, the Holy Land returned to the interest of the nations of Europe, and they became involved in what was happening there. The fears of each nation that another would conquer the Holy Land from its weak Turkish rulers led to a strict preservation of the existing situation, and they stopped each other when they felt that one of them was trying to take control of the country. Against this background, the Crimean War broke out.

But while they prevent one of them from gaining control of the land, they competed with one another for their influence on the country’s inhabitants, and the struggle soon focused on the purchase of land and the construction of large and magnificent buildings in their national styles. During this period, dozens of buildings were built or renovated, almost all of them for public institutions: churches, monasteries, churches, orphanages, hospitals, hostels and consulates. Mishkenot Sha’ananim , the first Jewish neighborhood to be built outside the walls of Jerusalem, also belongs to this style, and in fact is one of the first swallows to celebrate his arrival. The building, which was built with funding, planning and a British building style (Sir Moses Montefiore initiated, Smith Architect), represented the British power despite being a residential building designed for the Jewish population.

In the years following the construction of Mishkenot Sha’ananim, fierce competition began when the Russians, the French and the Germans led the race. During the same period, the various buildings were built at the Russian Compound in Jerusalem, which was intended primarily for the service of pilgrims from Russia; German churches and orphanages in Jerusalem, Nazareth, Shafun (today – Netzer Sereni ) and more; French hospitals, monasteries and churches throughout the country; As well as buildings representing the power and architectural culture of England, Greece, Austria, Romania, Italy, and others.

This massive construction, made out of a sense of superiority of the Western world , completely ignored the local construction, exposing the inhabitants of the country to new building technologies and luxurious European styles. It is no wonder, then, that the influence of colonialist construction was great and during this period almost all the construction in the Land of Israel took on a distinctly European character: Thus the colonies of the Templars , the colonies of the pioneers of the First Aliya , the homes of the Arab rich (and especially the Christians in Nazareth, Jaffa and Bethlehem) The new buildings built by the Turkish authorities ( the Saraya House in Jaffa , the clock towers in Haifa, Jaffa, Nazareth, Akko, Nablus, Jerusalem and Safed, the governor’s residence in Be’er Sheva), and only the poor and rural residents continued their traditional Arab construction.

The Israeli Style
The strengthening of Zionism, along with the aspiration of the new immigrants to disengage from European culture and create an independent Jewish-national culture, brought about the revival of traditional Arab architecture. The new immigrants, especially those of the Second Aliyah , tried to merge their Western culture with the local culture they encountered in Israel and to create, through this merger, the Hebrew culture. These efforts were evident in almost all areas – in music (an effort that has not stopped until today); In dances; Fashion; In linguistic pronunciation; Character and manner; And of course in architecture. The two most prominent architectural works during this period were the Hebrew Gymnasium in Tel Aviv (Braski) and the Technion in Haifa (Bravald). A large proportion of the small houses in Tel Aviv bore similar characteristics, as did some of the moshavot and courtyards built throughout the country.

The characteristics of the Eretz Israel style are, as stated, the effort to merge elements of eastern architecture into mostly Western construction: the construction was mostly symmetrical, in quite large dimensions, and according to the principles of organizing the rooms that were common in Europe at that time (long corridors, Including the use of arched arches or horseshoe arches, oriental decorations, flat roofs and domes, multiple balconies, and even biblical elements such as altar horns.

Particularly conspicuous against this background was the construction of the “Arab houses” in Metula , when Baron Rothschild tried to change the colonialist worldview that had been prevalent in the moshavot until then, and to move on to construction in a local style. Its architects planned for the settlers of Metula (new immigrants from Romania) stone houses with pointed arches, high ceilings and roofs with domes, but the settlers themselves refused to live in these houses, either because of their eastern appearance or because of their fears of dampness.

The effort to create a synthesis between the West and the East, in architecture, in culture and in Zionist politics has not ceased to this day, although since the 1920s it has become the province of a minority. Therefore, it is possible to find structures that meet the definitions of “Eretz Israel architecture” in the eclectic, modern, brutal and even contemporary architecture.

Eclectic style
The eclectic style, for the younger, is characterized by its very ornate decoration, but it draws the decorations – consciously and deliberately – from a large variety of cultures. It was very common in the Western world and developed since the end of the 19th century. The eclectic style was a little late to be absorbed in the country, since until the 1920s almost no new cities were established, and the few that were established (Jaffa outside the walls, Acre, Be’er Sheva, Jerusalem is renewed). Beginning with the Second Aliya, and especially in the 1920s, many new and large cities began to be built in Israel, most of which were built in this style.

The characteristics of the eclectic style are that it is western in its base and, as noted, on the western / classical base (symmetry, hierarchy of floors, emphasis on verticality, golden triangle, tiled roofs, emphasis on front fronts only, etc.) In the United States, for example, there are quite a few buildings decorated in the style of “Inca” or “Maya”, and even native culture of North America. Classical, “oriental”, biblical, and even “Greek” decorations were popular in Israel, since in those years the styles known as Art Nouveau and Art Deco also developed in the world, also adopted into the Bank of Cultures, they.

Another characteristic of eclectic construction in Israel was the economic constraints: the Fourth Aliyah , Polish, which was the main economic force in the 1920s, saw fit to invest in yielding real estate, thus creating typical types of houses for the period: a commercial floor for rent on the ground floor Another feature is the use of ceramic tiles in the Jewish neighborhoods, especially in the Jewish neighborhoods – mainly painted ceramics By Bezalel students , On ceramic tiles, displayed biblical images, landscapes of Eretz Israel, portraits of Biblical heroes, and quotations from the sources. At the same time, the art of Armenian ceramics flourished in Israel, which found its architectural expression in Armenian and Arab homes, and even in the British state building.

The eclectic style was also accepted by other populations in the country – the Arabs, the British, the Greeks, the Armenians, and others. The only community that almost refrained from adopting the eclectic style was the Templars, who moved directly from the colonialist simplicity to the modernistic simplicity, and very few of the buildings they left bore embossed decorations.

Modern Style
With the rise of the Nazi party to power in 1933 , the Bauhaus school was closed in Germany by the regime. Two years later, a group of painters and architects from this school came to Israel and began spreading the teachings of the international style in the spirit of the new foundations of modernism . The effect was immediate: entire neighborhoods were planned and built on the basis of modern architecture, free of ornamentation, simple and purposeful. The cultural ideology behind this style overlapped the social outlooks of the socialist movement that set the tone for Israeli-Palestinian politics at the time. Following the many international style construction, the ” White City ” of Tel Aviv was recognized as a World Heritage Site in 2003 by UNESCO .

World War II , the War of Independence and then the burden of establishing the state, caused a deep recession in construction, as in all areas of life. The need to accommodate the large waves of immigration led to the search for modern, industrialized and cheap solutions for construction. This trend also contributed to the psychological orientation, to the repression of design features identified with the Mizrahi mentality in favor of a tendency toward Western culture, which was perceived as more advanced and “right”.

After the establishment of the state, the state was flooded with new immigrants, many of them destitute, and an urgent need arose to house them. Thus, from the early 1950s industrial architecture created, inter alia, the buildings – series of rectangular rectangular concrete structures, which allowed for simple planning and prefabricated construction. Most of the new construction in the early years of the state was public, so that the housing projects were the main building type during these years. Most of them were occupied by new immigrants, many of whom were Sephardim who had difficulty adapting to the foreign environment. The need for rapid construction was then integrated into the global trend of modern architecture, which continued its attempts to create simple, efficient and useful architecture, and increasingly used exposed bare concrete.

The brutalistic style
n the early years of the State of Israel, the country was exposed to the style of “the new brutality ” – a stream circulated by the Swiss architect Le Corbusier and the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer . This current is well received in England and Brazil . The stream was brought to Israel by architects who studied in England during the same period and are members of the “bare concrete” generation (the term “brutality” is derived from the French expression “brut beton”) and by architects who toured Brazil and France. The style was essentially identical to the industrialized construction that was then practiced, and many public buildings that needed to be built were inspired by it.

Period of Towers and “Build Your Home”
It is customary to mark 1967 as a turning point in Israeli architecture. The victory in the Six-Day War and the expansion of the significant borders that accompanied it led to economic and social euphoria, accompanied by changes in design and architecture. The minimalist modern architectural line, which originated in European architecture, was abandoned in favor of other forms. Many architects have referred to Arab and “oriental” buildings in planning, which was expressed, inter alia, in the planning of new neighborhoods in Jerusalem. As in the culture as a whole, in architecture, too, American influences began to make their mark in planning and building. The result led to extensive private construction in the suburbs of the cities, which included ostentatious structures, in contrast to the modest scale that had been customary in previous years. In the postmodern spirit that began to blow back eclecticism, some would say exaggerated, dictate the nature of the design – Swiss roof tiles over Corinthian columns, arched windows alongside exposed concrete beams, plaster plaster next to glued tiles – as imaginative to the entrepreneur. In the early 1980s, the phenomenon expanded, the expansion of the neighborhoods became institutionalized and was given the nickname “Build Your Home.”

The 1980s and 1990s were a direct continuation of that period, and in the spirit of privatization , the state’s status as a planner and influence on the built-up area was devalued. The result was rapid suburban development and the development of a significant real estate market.

Architectural styles
The Arabs built small stone houses on the hillsides with flat or dome roofs. The Crusaders built fortresses on strategic hilltops. The Christians built churches to mark sites where Jesus walked. The Templers built homes with tiled roofs like those in the German countryside. The British Mandatory authorities passed a law requiring all construction in Jerusalem to be of Jerusalem stone and introduced the idea of garden suburbs. 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. First named the “White City” in 1984, the White City of Tel Aviv has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As property values have risen, skyscrapers are going up around the country. The Moshe Aviv Tower in Ramat Gan is the tallest building in Israel to date.

Leading 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 Miestechkin, Lucian Korngold, Jacov Ornstein, Salomon Gepstein, Josef Neufeld and Genia Gideoni.

Dov Karmi, Zeev Rechter and Arieh Sharon were among the leading architects of the early 1950s. Rudolf (Reuven) Trostler played an important role in designing the country’s early industrial buildings. 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.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 and the Rechter Prize for iconic Jerusalem buildings such as the Israel Goldstein Synagogue and Brigham Young University on Mount Scopus.

Historical developments

Traditional rural house
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.
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.

Fortified house
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.

Farmhouses
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.

Modern housing (British Mandate)
Modern housing built during the British Mandate was urban in character, with flat roofs, rectangular doorways and painted floor tiles.

Biomorphism, blob architecture
The Pavie House in Neve Daniel is a rare case of non geometric biomorphic architecture (blobitecture) in Israel. Yonatan Kanti of the Israeli daily Ma’ariv compared Pavie architectural style to the futurism of Eero Saarinen’s TWA Flight Center.

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.

The Politics of Architecture
The persistent existential threat posed by rival ideologies impacts how architecture is used as a powerful means of determining who gets to control and use land in Israel. Eyal Weizman advances a detailed argument concerning how the power relations expressed through architecture explain built form. .

State of Israel
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. Municipal laws in Jerusalem require that all buildings be faced with local Jerusalem stone. The ordinance dates back to the British Mandate and the governorship of Sir Ronald Storrs and was part of a master plan for the city drawn up in 1918 by Sir William McLean, then city engineer of Alexandria.
Museums and archives
A small Bauhaus Museum was established in Tel Aviv in 2008. The Munio Gitai Weinraub Museum of Architecture opened in Haifa in 2012.

Israeli Architecture Today
The past few years have been characterized by an attempt to establish new national, social and environmental priorities in urban development. Long-term national plans have been implemented, thinking of future generations. Lessons from the past are learned, with the aim of adapting the building to future needs. The perception of the modernist street as a traffic artery slowly changes in its perception as a lifeline, and the values of urban renewal permeate discourse and planning. A good example of this is Dizengoff Square , where it was decided to demolish the level separation that was built in the 1970s and bring it back to its old state.

Source From Wikipedia