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Architects: Yaniv Pardo Architects
- Year: 2015
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Photographs:Amit Geron
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Manufacturers: Jubran, Peled, Yalrom Projects
Text description provided by the architects. Jaggendorf House, at 10 Yehuda HaLevy Street, was designed in 1925, by the architects Liberson and Feinstein, in the eclectic style. The building was declared conserved according to the conservation plan and located in the area declared a cultural world heritage site by UNESCO. The house represents a somewhat minimalist style from the 1920s, with the symmetry mainly expressed on the west side. The façade includes an arcer and a projecting balcony with a parapet, as well as an upper section that conceals the tiled roof. The façade is rich in rectangular reliefs, decorated cornices and moulding at the roof edges. At the rear of the house one can discern the sandstone restricting the railway line that was laid here in 1892.
In the early 20th century the “Homestead Association” introduced a novel idea: no longer would small and crowded neighbourhoods be built, devoid of prior planning, such as Neve Tzedek and Neve Shalom, but instead a new, Hebrew, pre-planned city would be constructed, which would alter the face of the settlement in the land. This new approach constituted the complete opposite to the typical eclectic construction of the Homestead Association. The project revealed this new look not only through its turning to the city but also through the architectonic space of each of the apartments. The addition and the original building became one homogenous unit through the use of black zinc plating to coat the roof, walls, stairwells and window sills. The monolithic colour stressed the solid sculptured appearance of the building, shaped by the multitude of functional elements beyond the clean space of the apartments.
The design of the addition responds to the geometry of the original tiled roof that characterised the eclectic houses of Tel Aviv. The zinc-plated walls of the addition frame the urban landscape. The building’s functions that need to be enclosed (e.g. stairways, lift, toilets, etc.) are located in the tin “pigeon-holes” that protrude from the side walls. The geometry enables each apartment to have a view of the city, with the sun at twilight penetrating deeply into the space. The floor plan is simple but the change in vertical levels creates an experience of change in space and an inclined orientation inside the apartments, somewhat resembling that of a loft.
The project exploits a maximum use of the ground as determined by the conservation plan. The distorted and inclined body of the addition follows the restrictions of the conservation plan quite literally. Each individual point on the roof depicts the maximum height permitted for an addition. The amorphous shape of the addition is increased by the “pigeon-holes” – the reliefs – fire escape and access to the stairwells. These additional elements help to integrate the fragmented appearance of the project into the environment. The project overlooks the remains of the early settlement in Tel Aviv, like a theatre setting: the original building is the stage, the old houses create the second layer and the new town provides the background.
