In 1925 the Scottish urban planner Sir Patrick Geddes was commissioned to structure the then fledgling Tel Aviv settlement with a master plan. He envisaged a garden city with a strictly hierarchic traffic network, organically organised and including numerous public squares.
Many of the architects living in Tel Aviv were inspired in their designs by the formal language and examples of Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius and Erich Mendelsohn. However it was not only the immigrant architects from Europe who had fled the economic and political crisis to 
Palestine that ensured Tel Aviv became – and to an extraordinary degree – an experimental arena for the basic principles of modern architecture. There were also Austrian architects who had enjoyed their training at the most highly reputed architecture colleges in Europe and so come into contact with the spirit of the new functionalist style and left their mark on the 'White City'. Of course the architectural language learned in Europe had to be adapted to suit the entirely different local climate: particularly noticeable in this context is the lack of large glazed surfaces and the increased use 
of balconies with parapets – features intended to help keep out the ocean heat. Tel Aviv is the only city in the world with a centre almost completely built in new functionalist style. However today many of the buildings are urgently in need of renovation. Nitza Szmuk, for many years head of the Preservation Group for the city authorities in Tel Aviv and curator of the exhibition, has dedicated years to the conservation of this valuable heritage.
The Exhibition:
Historic and contemporary photographs provide an insight into the architectural language of the time, showing the influence that the European heritage had on what was created there. The master plan of the Scottish urban planner Sir Patrick Geddes is presented in the form of plans and models as well as a selection of historic film footage which provides an animated image of the development of the city between 1920 and 1958. The diversity of surface quality and colours of different plaster are shown, as are precise analyses of the detail planning (e.g., the different types of balconies). Animated 3-D graphics of eleven representative buildings add depth to an understanding of the architecture of ’The White City‘. Almost 100 brief biographies of architects who worked in Tel Aviv round off the overall image.
Further information:
A special issue of ’Hintergrund‘, the Az W‘s quarterly journal, is being published to accompany the exhibition. The accompanying programme includes:
Symposium ’Renovating the Modern Heritage‘ on Sat, 12.04.2008,
Twin Pack. Guided tours ’From Vienna to Tel Aviv‘ in cooperation with the Jüdisches Museum Vienna on Sun, 02.03. / Sun, 06.04. / Sun, 04.05.2008 at 11am,
Guided tours ’The White City of Tel Aviv‘ on Wed, 05.03. / Wed, 02.04. / Wed, 07.05.2008, at 6pm.
Exhibition: 21.02. – 19.05.2008
Opening: Wednesday 20.02.08, 7pm
Architekturzentrum Wien – Alte Halle, Museumsplatz 1, 1070 Vienna
Pictures: Nitza Metzger-Szmuk and Az W