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S1420 Between East and West: Modern Architecture in Mandatory Palestine and Israel

Bar Or Amnon

The history of a place and its people can be comprehended through the study of the history of planning and architecture of the place, corresponding with its history and human development. This course strives to enhance the importance of learning about place and its people through the history of their architecture.

 

History of architecture in Palestine and the European influence is a story of settlements and of cultural, social and political development as well as economical and technological growth of the various societies that lived, and mostly still live, in the region.

The dialectic between the European and the oriental cultures, i.e. between the imported and the local culture, articulates the Israeli culture particularly in its build aspects. Yet such dialectics could be found in other places such as Turkey, Cypress or Egypt.

 

The two trends often coexist in the collective consciousness and in most buildings and sites.

The Zionist movement, which originated in Europe towards the end of the 19th century, developed side by side with the spirit of Modernism, and was greatly influenced by it.

 

Among the immigrants to Palestine where Jewish European architects who were profoundly influenced by the modern movements and particularly by the German "Bauhaus" School.

 

The course will present a chronological historic survey of the planning and building in Palestine / Israel, with an emphasis on the conflict between east and west. , beginning with the Ottoman period (the 19th century to WWI), through the British mandatory period (1917-1948) and the planning and building that was carried out under the governments of the state of Israel (from 1948 till 1967).

 

The course will provide an understanding of the modern architecture in the Middle East and its influence on local culture over the years. During the course, architectural masterpieces as well as common architecture which are part of the architectural heritage of Israel will be analyzed and discussed, as well as their influence on recent architecture.