Richard Meier adds a sleek new addition to Tel Aviv’s White City
![Tel Aviv’s Rothschild Tower within the crowded city](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/oNdghLtmsNqJHEEx8QQGJF-415-80.jpg)
In Tel Aviv’s White City, a blanket of Bauhaus buildings unrolls across the neighbourhood like a pure, geometric, architectural picnic. And now, Richard Meier & Partners has added a sleek new addition to the UNESCO World Heritage Site – the practice’s first international residential tower and first project in Israel.
From the 1930s, the area was populated with white modernist blocks, designed by German Jewish architects who had escaped Germany during the Nazi occupation and settled in Israel. Meier’s new building was designed with this specific urban context in mind: ‘The design of the buildings in the White City made a deep impression on me when I visited Israel many years ago,’ Meier explains. ‘So to work in this context has been an aspiration of mine for a long time.’
Following Bauhaus design principles, the concrete building has a modular rectilinear emphasis, with a glazed façade layered with an aluminium gridded louvered screen. Described as a ‘veil’, the screen provides a graceful layer of protection to the apartments, a concept that was inspired by traditional Middle Eastern clothing.
The balconies and the louver frame system create an architectural buffer between public and private spaces
Sitting at the prominent intersection of Rothschild Boulevard and Allenby Street, the 154m high tower – with 42 levels above ground – brings a new sense of scale to the low- to mid-rise district, but the colour and lightness of the louvered façade allow a cordial conversation with the neighbouring buildings. At street level, retail spaces are left open and transparent to reduce the upper mass of the tower, which rests on slim piloti.
With service space at the core of the building, large window frames at the outer perimeter of the volume prioritise light and views into the open-plan apartments where the sliding louver blinds can be adjusted, forming a privacy buffer to the city.
‘It is my hope that inviting the timeless quality of this city’s light and views into an open layout for the residences, a design we haven’t seen much here, will bring together the existing elements with a fresh perspective,’ says Meier.
The tower holds 147 apartments, retail spaces and amenities including a pool, spa, wine cellar and lounges
Large window frames prioritise light and views into the open-plan apartments, where the sliding louver blinds can be adjusted
The aluminium gridded louvered screen provides a layer of protection to the glazed façade
The apartments have spacious open-plan interiors
The penthouse apartments feature double height windows
At street level, retail spaces are left open and transparent to reduce the upper mass of the tower, which rests on slim piloti
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Richard Meier & Partners website
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Harriet Thorpe is a writer, journalist and editor covering architecture, design and culture, with particular interest in sustainability, 20th-century architecture and community. After studying History of Art at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and Journalism at City University in London, she developed her interest in architecture working at Wallpaper* magazine and today contributes to Wallpaper*, The World of Interiors and Icon magazine, amongst other titles. She is author of The Sustainable City (2022, Hoxton Mini Press), a book about sustainable architecture in London, and the Modern Cambridge Map (2023, Blue Crow Media), a map of 20th-century architecture in Cambridge, the city where she grew up.
-
Feel at home at Auberge, Château La Coste's new inn for culture lovers
Auberge La Coste sits at the heart of the art-filled estate, minutes away from the joyful town of Aix-en-Provence
By Harriet Thorpe Published
-
This Nova Lima apartment is a Brazilian family oasis with striking Minas Gerais views
A Nova Lima apartment designed by Jacobsen Arquitetura celebrates its long, natural Minas Gerais vistas
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Commune’s sustainable personal care products look ‘quite unlike anything else’
Commune’s Somerset-made products stand out in the sustainable skincare crowd. Madeleine Rothery speaks with the brand’s co-founders Kate Neal and Rémi Paringaux
By Madeleine Rothery Published
-
Niemeyer’s modernism celebrated in Oscar Ibirapuera, an example of 21st-century São Paulo living
Perkins&Will completes Oscar Ibirapuera, next to Niemeyer’s modernist landmark park in São Paulo, Brazil
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Calming interiors characterise a 1950s mid century modern house in Mexico City
HEMAA Arquitectura celebrates the mid century architecture of a family house – designed by Mexican architect Augusto H. Álvarez – with a respectful renovation, plus a new material palette of light oak and grey stucco
By Harriet Thorpe Last updated
-
Join virtual tours of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural masterpieces
A new series of virtual tours offer you the chance to explore Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture from the comfort of your home. The campaign to continue educating and inspiring the public through the digital sphere is also a reminder of the importance of the physical experience of architecture, and an appeal for funding support to heritage sites all over the world during the Covid-19 crisis
By Harriet Thorpe Last updated
-
Dirk Engelen tours his restored Antwerp home – a 1970s architectural masterpiece
Belgian architect Dirk Engelen was surprised to find a John Lautner look-a-like house in suburban Antwerp. Drawn to its unique concrete and brick design, his curiosity got the better of him and he bought the house and renovated it, not without bringing some architectural abstractions of his own to the design
By Harriet Thorpe Last updated
-
Herbert W Burns’ Gillman Residence renovated in Palm Springs
A Palm Springs house designed by architect Herbert W Burns has been brought back to life, with plenty of contemporary improvements. ‘This house can truly be considered a brand new home with Herbert Burns’ bones’ say the designer-developer duo behind the comprehensive restoration and renovation
By Harriet Thorpe Last updated
-
Join a 1960s celebration of desert modern residential design
For Palm Springs Modernism Week the residents of Park Imperial South, a modernist community with zig-zag roofs designed by architect Barry berkus in 1960, are throwing a party to celebrate the architecture and the era
By Harriet Thorpe Last updated
-
Four architects on the influence of Palm Springs
Many contemporary architects working today have been inspired by the modernist architecture of Palm Springs. Modernism Week brings them back to the desert town for a series of events that focus on the work of contemporary architects from restorations and renovations, to obsessions and design expressions
By Harriet Thorpe Last updated
-
An Instagram hotspot in Tokyo is under threat, so snap it before it’s flattened
Designed by architect Kisho Kurokawa, the iconic Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo has become something of an Instagram pilgrimage for architecture enthusiasts. But as the building fell into a state of disrepair, the Metabolist landmark has long been in danger of demolition and the final decision is to be made by the building’s management society by vote
By Sanae Sato Last updated