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Troubles, troubles, troubles in paradise… and in- and around Habima Theater

April 26th, 2011 | Comments Off

We wrote many times on Tel Aviv Fever about the ‘strange’ restoration project of the Habima Theater done by architect Ram Karmi. But now also the designer of the new plaza near Habima: the sculptor Dani Karavan joined the chorus of complaining about the whole project and the two top ” artists ” are blaming each other! In this article by Noam Dvir in the Haaretz Magazine: “Squaring off in Tel Aviv”, Dani Karavan has … Read entire article »

Filed under: architecture, art, city, future, history, life, restoration, theater

Tel Aviv Culture Square, a beauty next to the beast

October 17th, 2010 | 2 Comments

The frequent readers of our website will know by now, what we think of the radical ‘renovation’ of the Habima Theater. The moment they started with Habima, the Municipality also started to work on the new ‘Culture Square’, situated between Habima, the Mann Auditorium and the Helena Rubinstein Pavilion of Art. The huge square, once a parking lot, is newly designed by Dani Karavan… and: it looks absolutely awesome, with a lot of open spaces, greenery, water works, and with the parking now underneath the square. They are still working on the square, but I am sure, in a few months, this will be the place to be! … Read entire article »

Filed under: architecture, city, featured, life

Ram Karmi, the ‘gentleman’ architect

October 8th, 2010 | 1 Comment

Just watched the Israeli Channel 10 News yesterday with an item about the ‘renovation’ of the once so beautiful Habima Theater, designed in 1935 by Richard Kaufmann. The reporter asked the renovation architect Ram Karmi the following quite relevant questions: “Why was there no public discussion about this renovation-project? Why was there no tender issued to select the architect? Why the budget went from NIS 31 million to NIS160 million? Why are there old components missing? Why the sub-contractor went to court to stop the project? Why the opening date changed from last December to the Summer of 2011?” The amazing answer of the ‘gentleman’ architect was: “Everybody can kiss my arse!!” Before on Tel Aviv Fever where Habima was mentioned: HERE … Read entire article »

Filed under: architecture, city, featured, future, history

Habima, from National Theater to Shopping Mall

September 19th, 2010 | Comments Off

A few days ago, the Municipality of Tel Aviv decided to add another NIS 10 million to the never ending Habima (Tel Aviv’s National Theater) saga. The start-budget in 2007 was NIS 31 million, today the counter stands on: NIS160 million! For more then 3 years there is a large construction-site in the middle of Tel-Aviv. A few weeks ago the subcontractor of the project went to court and tried to stop the ‘renovation’ work, because of miss-management by the main-contractor. Ruth Ronen of the Tel Aviv District Court said that the ‘renovation’ work can continue, but that tests of the structure also must continue and its stability and safety must be confirmed before the building can be used. The big question is: When will the building have it’s … Read entire article »

Filed under: featured, TA Fever

Dvora Bertonov: Perpetual motion

May 4th, 2010 | 1 Comment

I did find a lovely article in Haaretz Magazine, last Friday, written by Ruth Eshl about the famous dancer, choreographer, teacher and scholar Dvora Bertonov,who died two weeks ago at the age of 95 in Tel Aviv. Dvora, born in Georgia in 1915, immigrated with her family to Palestine in 1915 and settled in Tel Aviv. After a short period for dance-lessons in Berlin (1929-1932) she came back to Tel Aviv and this awesome lady danced until a few weeks before her death… [picture: Habima, where Dvora Bertonov danced] … Read entire article »

Filed under: art, dance, theater

Amos Oz at Habima

February 26th, 2010 | Comments Off

From next week, the theater play: The Same Sea, directed by Hanan Snir, from the novella by Amos Oz, will play at Habima, Arison Auditorium (Saadia Gaon street). On stage: Yigal Sadeh, Sandra Sadeh, Yoav Donat, Tali Rubin, David Kigler and Aharon Almog. For dates and more information: 03-52.66666 … Read entire article »

Filed under: events, theater

The worst show in town

November 9th, 2009 | 1 Comment

A very good commentary I did find in Ha’aretz, November the 6th: “The worst show in town” about the ‘rape’ (so called restoration) of our national theater building Habima by the (so called) architect Ram Karmi. The editor of Ha’aretz wrote,e.g: “When every city resident wanting to expand a window or close off a balcony must go trough the purgatory of municipal red tape, it is puzzling that such brutal, environment-altering structure could have emerged (an enormous block of concrete, sealed by walls, rising like a dam along the street) in such an attractive part of central Tel-Aviv…” … Read entire article »

Filed under: architecture, future, history, restoration, theater

An other landmark in Tel Aviv destroyed?

October 15th, 2009 | 1 Comment

The last few months, we wrote a few items about the rape of our Habima theater building by Ram Karmi. But the Municipality of Tel Aviv has no limits at all. A few weeks ago, they agreed to a plan to destroy an other famous Tel-Aviv landmark: The Asia House in Weizmann Street 4, designed in 1960 by Ben Horin. This beautiful shaped building was a relief for a lot of architecture-lovers after a long period of Brutal style architecture (concrete, concrete, concrete!). The new owner of the building is Alfred Akirov… He build, the last few years towers all over the center of Tel Aviv, e.g. destroying the Rotschild Boulevard with this large ugly steel and glass monsters. The new plans for the Asia House are just unbelievable: a 12-stories … Read entire article »

Filed under: architecture, history, restoration

Up against the wall

September 6th, 2009 | 2 Comments

Three years ago, I wrote on my FaceBook Page: Architecture of Tel-Aviv 1909-1938 about the destructive restauration/renovation plans of the Municipality of Tel Aviv for our national theater: Habima (at the end of Rothschild Boulevard) designed in 1934 by Oscar Kaufmann. Also on our website Tel Aviv Fever, we wrote the last three month a few articles (here and here ) about the ‘rape‘ of Habima. The so called restoration architect Ram Karmi is building a concrete monster (he added two concrete floors) and the front of Habima (all green glass) will be like a shopping-mall. This weekend in the Haaretz-Magazine there was (the neighborhoud started to be awake!) a long article about this culture-crime of Habima, written by Yossi Klein. He writes: “Suddenly, on Tel Aviv’s Tarsat Street, a giant … Read entire article »

Filed under: architecture, history, restoration

Those ugly towers!

May 21st, 2009 | Comments Off

Two days ago, I was walking on the Nahalat-Binyamin, one of the loveliest streets in Tel Aviv, with lots of restaurants, bars and twice a week an exciting art market. But the view of this street, with some beautiful buildings from around 1920 is ruined by the ‘sight” of an other ugly high-rise nearby: a part of the so-called “Lev Hair” (Heart of the City) project, ‘designed’ by Adi Karmi (she is the sister of Ram Karmi, who is destroying at this moment the once beautiful Habima-building). Not so long ago, architect and the ‘enfant-terrible’ of the Israeli Architecture, Israel Goodevich, wrote a fantastic book (only in Hebrew) about this high-rise in Tel Aviv, called: “40 x 40″ (200 pages with great color-pictures) … Read entire article »

Filed under: architecture, books, history, restoration

Every time worse…

May 15th, 2009 | Comments Off

Today, during a tour of Tel-Aviv with a Dutch radio reporter, I passed again this ‘concrete monster’, once called the Habima Theatre (see our previous item). Today it looked liked a huge concrete underground shelter. Just can’t imagine it will looks even worse a few month more :( At the pictures, I took today, you can see now this enormous wall of concrete he added on top of the Habima-building. It just looks awfull!! … Read entire article »

Filed under: architecture, history

The first dance studio in Tel Aviv

April 22nd, 2009 | 2 Comments

In Ehad-Ha’amstreet no 42 , you will find a ‘simple’, small building designed in 1928 by the architect Ya’acov Ornstein. A building, of wich you will find hundreds of them in Tel Aviv; today with a black/brown facade and the concrete ‘rotten’. You will pass it by, without even notice it…. But this small building became the first dance studio in Tel Aviv, and Ya’acov Ornstein designed it for his wife Margalit Ornstein. The family emigrated, from Vienna, in 1920 to Palestine. The Ornstein-family was a pioneer of dance in Palestine. The ‘free’ (expressive) dance-revolution and the principles of the culture of the body, found fertile ground in this studio. Margalit Ornstein was the founder and theoretician of this new style of dancing. Later, she was the choreographer of the ‘Ornstein Sisters’, … Read entire article »

Filed under: architecture, dance, history, music, theater

Ram, what the ‘h*ll’ are you doing with ‘our’ Habima??

April 6th, 2009 | 2 Comments

Since October 2006, the architect Ram Karmi is “restoring” the Habima-theatre (Tarsat-boulevard no. 2). The whole area around Habima is looking like a disaster zone; and as it looks today, Karmi is creating an ‘architectural monster’. He is adding two floors and the famous stone columns of Habima will be hidden behind a glass-wall, while the facades on the side-streets are one big wall of concrete. It is the same Ram Karmi, who wrote an article in Ha’aretz (June 27th 2005) against the restoration-plans of the Mann Auditorium, under the headlines:“Toppling the temple of culture”… he wrote: “…the Kolker-Kolker-Epstein architectural firm, which is participating in this ruthless (!!) and destructive (!!) renovation-process, is entering the ‘temple’ without removing his shoes, in order to serve (!!) the stiff-necked imperviousness of the buildings … Read entire article »

Filed under: architecture