Guide to the Bauhaus Architecture of the “White City” of Tel Aviv

Atlas Obscura’s Israel Week is in partnership with Go Israel.com, your guide to Israel’s beautiful destinations and its many hidden wonders!

Detail of the Bauhaus Museum, Tel Aviv (photograph by BergA/Wikimedia)

The immigration of Europeans fleeing the Nazis to Tel Aviv in the 1930s just happened to coincide with one of the most experimental architecture movements of the 20th century. The Israeli city now has over 4,000 examples of Bauhaus or International style buildings constructed between the 1930s and 40s. 

In the Bauhaus architecture, symmetry is less important than style, white was used to reflect the sunlight and give the structures a simplicity, and ideas from architects like Le Corbusier on proportions were brought into these studies in function. In this way Tel Aviv has its alternate name — the White City.

The whole of the White City was recognized in 2003 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, and local organizations like the Bauhaus Center and the new Bauhaus Museum pay tribute to this architectural legacy. But much of the beauty of Bauhaus can be appreciated visually just with a stroll through the city.

Here are a few highlights:

Rabinsky House

photograph by Degser/Wikimedia

photograph by Deror avi/Wikimedia

via Wikimedia

Cinema Hotel

photograph by Robinbagon/Wikimedia

photograph by Robinbagon/Wikimedia

photograph by Robinbagon/Wikimedia

181 HaYarkon 18

photograph by Brian Jeffery Beggerly

photograph by Sagie/Flickr user

photograph by Sagie/Flickr user

Hechal Yehuda Synagogue

photograph by Avishai Teicher

photograph by Avishai Teicher

Dizengoff Square

photograph by Itaifortis/Wikimedia

via Wikimedia

photograph by Robinbagon/Wikimedia

Atlas Obscura’s Israel Week is in partnership with Go Israel.com, your guide to Israel’s beautiful destinations and its many hidden wonders!