AN INTRODUCTION TO TEL AVIV

Tel Aviv is too vast in terms of both size & history to cover in one article. As with a previous article I wrote entitled "Bauhuas Architecture & Tel Aviv" (posted 11th September 2019),my intention is to write about different aspects of the city in the hope that over time this & future articles will enable me to put together a comprehensive tapestry of the citiy's history & how it evolved over time.

Tel Aviv does have ancient Tel's (Tel Qasile, Tel Gerisa) which have revealed artifacts from pre-biblical, biblical & post biblical periods. The area was part of the biblical tribal allotment of Dan, who's most well-known member was Samson,of Delilah fame. The city & the surrounding area is to this day officially called Gush Dan, translated as the Dan block or Dan area.

Modern day Tel Aviv began as Ahuzat Beit & was established in 1906 under the guidance of Akiva Weiss, Meir Dizengoff & David Svilarsky. In 1910 Ahuzat Beit was renamed Tel Aviv & in April 1950 the ancient sea port city of Jaffa merged with Tel Aviv to form one continuous city. The name Tel Aviv is derived from Herzl's description of the Holy Land which he called "Altneuland" meaning "Old New Land". Tel implying "Old" & Aviv meaning "Spring", used as a metaphor to imply rebirth.

The city's layout is based on the principles of the Garden City Movement who's founder was an Englishman by the name of Ebenezer Howard (1850-1928). Ebenezer Howard was a sociologist, enviromentalist & urban planner who envisioned a city inwhich people could live harmoniously together with nature.

The overiding idea of the Garden City Movement, was to create a combination of the best elements of the city with the best elements of the country. In order to achieve this, by-laws were introduced which restricted both building heights & the percentage of the site which could be roofed. In addition, the city was divided up into different zones, namely commercial, residential, industrial & agricultural. The different zones being connected to each other either by public transportation or walkways. The Movement also encouraged the use of local materials in the construction of buildings which in Tel Aviv was initially plastered concrete. With the advent of the skyscraper & modernization, the height restrictions have been revised as have the zoning parameters. Of prime importance were green spaces that acted as the" lungs" of the city which manifested as parks and green belts. In this way the natural enviroment became an integral part of the city and provided pedestrian walks & meeting places for the city's residents. William Morris (1834-1896) an architect & strong proponent of the Garden City Movement defined architecture as, "The moulding and altering to human needs of the very face of the earth itself".

Sir Patrick Geddes (1854-1932) was appointed the urban planner for the city & saw Tel Aviv as a transitional place and a link between the over-crowded cities of Europe & the renewal of agriculture in "Palestine". He was a British biologist, sociologist, geographer, philanthropist and pioneering town planner, known for his innovative thinking in the fields of urban planning and sociology. In 1925 he presented his proposal. The city plan was linear in form and hugged the seashore that defined the western boundry of the city. A number of streets ran from north to south parallel to the seashore. East- west boulavards & streets were introduced that bisected the north-south roads, allowing the sea breezes to enter the city.

One of the first four streets built was named Rechov haAm (Street of the people) but later renamed Rothschild Boulevard due to the financial assistance given by Baron Edmond James de Rothschild. The street ran along a wadi (river bed) which was difficult to drain and was therefore filled up with rubble and converted into a pedestrian boulevard lined with trees & borded on either side by parallel streets & adjacent buildings. The boulevard is 1.5 kilometers in length & houses pedestrian and cycling pathways, seating areas, statues, monuments & a number of kiosks.On either side of the boulevard are numerous resturants & many Iconic buildings. Examples of which are Independence Hall where the state of Israel was declared on the 14 May 1948. (The building is at present being renovated). Other structures include The Hagganah Museum, Habima theatre, the Charles Bromfman Auditorium, the Helena Rubenstein Pavilion, & many examples of Bauhaus Architecture due to Tel Aviv having the highest concentration of Bauhaus buildings in the world. Resturants abound, & though not vegan myself, I have been told by many that Tel Aviv is home to the finest vegan resturants in the world.

Ron Traub ( Tour Guide & Architect ). Website : rontraub-tours.com Photo's : Rimonah Traub.