Tel Aviv’s architectural heritage has achieved global attention through the UNESCO recognition of the city’s British Mandate-era International style and Bauhaus-influenced buildings. Less known is the city’s Brutalist heritage and historic builds designed in the succeeding decades. Brutalism played a significant role in the Israeli design sphere of the post World War II-era. Concrete’s inexpensive availability and fast construction capabilities were adopted into the early Socialist mentality of the state to accommodate its rapidly expanding population and willingness to portray a muscular exterior.
The exposed raw concrete of Brutalism came to define new builds during the era from governmental buildings, cultural institutions, sports stadiums to large-scale housing projects.
In recent years, many of Tel Aviv’s Brutalist buildings have been given a new lease on life for cultural and hospitality use as luxury hotels and world-class museums. Below are five examples of significant Brutalist transformations and restorations from sanitariums and office buildings into top hospitality and culture destinations.
