2017       The Benjamin (House of Arcs)  /  Tel Aviv

Client: Peso-Gov
Size: 6700 sqm
Program: 56 housing units and commercial spaces
Computer images: 3Dvision

The House of Arcs complex is a rare combination of three buildings that represent the physical and historical space of Tel Aviv.

The first building, the one named "House of Arcs" due to the dominant ornamental elements decorating its main facades, is the perfect representative of the 1920s eclectic architecture – an architecture that strived to form a Jewish style by integrating oriental and biblical motifs with a cosmopolitan aspect.  

 The second building in Mohaliver Street is built in the International style and expresses the spirit of modernism. The technology that developed in Europe was brought to Israel in the 1930s and turned Tel Aviv into an innovative city.

And the new building, in Hatavor Street, provides a contemporary interpretation to the White City architecture. In a language that corresponds both with the eclectic House of Arcs and the International building, it complements the House of Arcs complex' composition.

The garden planned at the heart of the complex is a charming Tel Avivian garden, a refreshing pause that connects the three buildings. Even when the temperatures rise, it renders air-conditioning unnecessary and instead offers a suiting stroll in the flourishing greenery, among the fountains and the large pond, with shimmering bright colored fish and water-flowers that change their look in accordance with the light hours. The tamarisk and lentisk trees are planted in the English style, among oleander and sand lily bushes, integrated with the kurkar terraces. Similar to the pond built on Rothschild Boulevard, this pond is a reconstruction of the decorative ponds that the Baron Rothschild used to build.

A stroll in the complex that combines these three buildings is like an architectural time travel in Tel Aviv. Reinstating the old splendor and re-populating the complex as it used be in its good times, will greatly contribute to the face of the city and its conservation.