Tel Aviv Rooftop

Continuing this series on a few of the hundreds of sites open to the public at Tel Aviv's Houses from Within weekend, we lined up for a guided tour of  a newly renovated industrial building on Simtat Chelouche. Although close to trendy Neve Tzedek, this is a pretty desolate spot in an unkempt side road situated in the seam line between the old army museum and Derekh Yaffo. In this setting, the clean lines of the spanking white exterior are especially striking. This International Style building was not on the preservation list but was nevertheless lovingly restored and renovated. The building was purchased by a group of five friends  who commissioned an architect to create airy, light filled apartments with plenty of shared, communal spaces, like a rooftop garden.  A shower cubicle open to the roof. Behind it you can see a movable skylight.  A living room. On Day 2 we switched from bicycles to 'Vespa' to visit some sites a bit further...

Behind the sleek design studio (see previous blog ) lay a courtyard which, perhaps because of its seclusion had been given especially devoted treatment by street artists. A few blocks away, on the 11th floor of a commercial building on the corner of Shocken and Kibbutz Galuot, pianist Hagai Yuden is ensconced in loft that features a 150 year old Steinway Grand that used to belong to the mayor of New York. Yuden, who gives piano recitals set against the background of the constantly sprouting Tel-Aviv skyline that can be seen from his panoramic window, also has a view one of his neighbours.  This looks like the inside of a beit knesset (synagogue) and it is: a scale model of the interior of a beit knesset in Aden. It can be found in the museum devoted to the Jewish  community of Aden that recently opened in Lilienblum 5. The museum occupies the ground floor ( until recently, used for storing textiles) of the simple but elegant beit kness...

A section of an original wall painting This isn't the first time that I've done a post on the annual batim mibifnim event ( Houses From Within ). But it's such a rare opportunity to see the inside of some of the most interesting buildings and spaces in the city that it's just too good to pass up. So here are a few images from this weekend's harvest, with more coming separately. By the way, just skimming the programme online will give you an idea of the scope of Tel Aviv's architectural and urban treasures.     We started close to home, in a building on Rehov Mohliver built in 1926. The couple renting this apartment have done a lovely job of preserving many features of the old Eclectic Style with minimum expense and maximum care and taste. To reveal the lovely old tiles in the photo below they had to scrape away the linoleum that had covered it.      On the top tier of this antique magazine rack sits an original copy of a book of photographs ...

With  trusty Nikon under repair, I've been been relying on my smartphone camera to snap significant moments. Clumsy and slow, it's no replacement but, deeply conscious of failure to keep promise to blog more often (computer also in repair- it's one of those times...),  in the pragmatic Hebrew phrase -  ze ma yesh (it's what there is).  So, a few days ago I wandered a few yards up the road from the Rooftop and, completely blinded by the strong spring sun, pointed the phone in the general direction of the new hoarding blocking the view into what used to be the Beit Romano car park. The sign informs us that [ it will be] "hard now and easy (light) later" and that "the light railway is on its way to the Dan Bloc." 'Hard Now, Easy Later'. First, this conjured up an image of me sitting in the car a few yards from home but blocked by endless lines of trucks carrying mounds of sandy soil. Second, it had  a political ring to it too. The...