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Jerusalem, July 6, 2003
UNESCO Designates Tel Aviv as "World Heritage Site"
Unprecedented U.N. recognition for city's "White City" architecture
(Communicated by the Ministry of Tourism Spokesman)
UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization, has designated the "White City architecture" of Tel Aviv
as one of 24 new World Heritage Sites. UNESCO now recognizes 754 world
sites it describes as being of "outstanding universal value."
Tel Aviv is one of the few UNESCO recognitions of a 20th century
phenomenon as a world heritage site. "What makes the designation of Tel
Aviv so unprecedented," says Minster of Tourism, Benny Elon, is that
almost every other UNESCO World Heritage Site is either a natural
wonder, or hundreds or thousands of years old. Designating Tel Aviv is
one of the few UNESCO recognitions of a twentieth century phenomenon -
and it makes us very proud."
Tel Aviv, founded as a garden suburb of the ancient Mediterranean port
of Jaffa in 1909, quickly bloomed into the commercial, entertainment
and cultural capital of the Land of Israel. Today, while Jerusalem is
Israel's capital and has the largest population of any single
municipality in Israel, Tel Aviv remains Israel's "New York," heart of
Israel's largest urban conglomeration that is home to almost 3 million
Israelis.
And it is Tel Aviv's uniqueness as home to more Bauhaus or International
Style architecture than any city in the world, that has earned it
UNESCO's seal of approval. During the 1920's and 1930's, as German-Jewish architects at the heart of the Bauhaus movement left Germany for what was
then Palestine, Tel Aviv - literally overnight - adopted their style as a
route to defining the character of the new "Jewish" city burgeoning on the Mediterranean. By the mid-1930's it was the only city on earth being built entirely in the International Style - its simple concrete curves, boxy
shapes, small windows set in large walls, glass-brick towers and sweeping terraces all washed with white. Viewed from the air, Tel Aviv appeared as
a vision of startling white, hence the appellation, "White City."
"The creation of the city of Tel Aviv is one of the greatest symbols and
successes of the Zionist Movement," Elon observed, "so for UNESCO - a body
affiliated with the organization that once passed an odious resolution
equating Zionism with racisim (the resolution was subsequently overturned)
- to recognize the specialness of Tel Aviv, is particularly sweet."
THE "WHITE CITY" TODAY
Almost every Bauhaus or International Style building in Tel Aviv is an
architectural landmark - a delight for visitors, if sometimes a nightmare
for owners. Sixty, 70 and 80 years after they were built, many are in
disrepair, but the Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality gives generous subsidies
to owners performing restorations. Hundreds of "White City" buildings have
been restored in recent years, and many are apartment buildings, offices,
private houses, restaurants and hotels. One of the loveliest "White City" restorations is that of the former Esther movie-theater in Dizengoff
Circle, reborn as the "boutique" Cinema Hotel, that retains the sweeping
staircases, tall windows and curving balconies of its former identity,
plus dozens of architectural and design details that recall its heritage.
There are four UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Israel: the walls of the
Old City of Jerusalem; Masada; the Old City of Akko - and Tel Aviv's
"White City."
hi ,
the above is the official MFA statement
have a nice day
UNESCO Designates Tel Aviv as "World Heritage Site"
Unprecedented U.N. recognition for city's "White City" architecture
(Communicated by the Ministry of Tourism Spokesman)
UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization, has designated the "White City architecture" of Tel Aviv
as one of 24 new World Heritage Sites. UNESCO now recognizes 754 world
sites it describes as being of "outstanding universal value."
Tel Aviv is one of the few UNESCO recognitions of a 20th century
phenomenon as a world heritage site. "What makes the designation of Tel
Aviv so unprecedented," says Minster of Tourism, Benny Elon, is that
almost every other UNESCO World Heritage Site is either a natural
wonder, or hundreds or thousands of years old. Designating Tel Aviv is
one of the few UNESCO recognitions of a twentieth century phenomenon -
and it makes us very proud."
Tel Aviv, founded as a garden suburb of the ancient Mediterranean port
of Jaffa in 1909, quickly bloomed into the commercial, entertainment
and cultural capital of the Land of Israel. Today, while Jerusalem is
Israel's capital and has the largest population of any single
municipality in Israel, Tel Aviv remains Israel's "New York," heart of
Israel's largest urban conglomeration that is home to almost 3 million
Israelis.
And it is Tel Aviv's uniqueness as home to more Bauhaus or International
Style architecture than any city in the world, that has earned it
UNESCO's seal of approval. During the 1920's and 1930's, as German-Jewish architects at the heart of the Bauhaus movement left Germany for what was
then Palestine, Tel Aviv - literally overnight - adopted their style as a
route to defining the character of the new "Jewish" city burgeoning on the Mediterranean. By the mid-1930's it was the only city on earth being built entirely in the International Style - its simple concrete curves, boxy
shapes, small windows set in large walls, glass-brick towers and sweeping terraces all washed with white. Viewed from the air, Tel Aviv appeared as
a vision of startling white, hence the appellation, "White City."
"The creation of the city of Tel Aviv is one of the greatest symbols and
successes of the Zionist Movement," Elon observed, "so for UNESCO - a body
affiliated with the organization that once passed an odious resolution
equating Zionism with racisim (the resolution was subsequently overturned)
- to recognize the specialness of Tel Aviv, is particularly sweet."
THE "WHITE CITY" TODAY
Almost every Bauhaus or International Style building in Tel Aviv is an
architectural landmark - a delight for visitors, if sometimes a nightmare
for owners. Sixty, 70 and 80 years after they were built, many are in
disrepair, but the Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality gives generous subsidies
to owners performing restorations. Hundreds of "White City" buildings have
been restored in recent years, and many are apartment buildings, offices,
private houses, restaurants and hotels. One of the loveliest "White City" restorations is that of the former Esther movie-theater in Dizengoff
Circle, reborn as the "boutique" Cinema Hotel, that retains the sweeping
staircases, tall windows and curving balconies of its former identity,
plus dozens of architectural and design details that recall its heritage.
There are four UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Israel: the walls of the
Old City of Jerusalem; Masada; the Old City of Akko - and Tel Aviv's
"White City."
hi ,
the above is the official MFA statement
have a nice day
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