2 Willow Road - Goldfinger in Hampstead

During the 1930's Hampstead became a magnet for progressive artists and writers due (amazingly today!) to the then relatively cheap property prices and the attractions of the Heath. An artists colony developed from the lower parts of Hampstead Village as far as Belsize Park. By the late 1930's, there were even rival factions in the colony with the Surrealists and the Abstractionists following different manifestos, despite both being politically left-wing. 

This creative milieu was joined by many refugees from Germany, Austria and other parts of central Europe as the European mainland became increasingly uncomfortable for  Jews, left-wingers and progressive artists and intellectuals. Architect Erno Goldfinger had come to London from Paris in 1934 and together with his British born wife and young son moved into a flat in the iconic High Point 1 apartment building in Highgate. High Point was designed by Berthold Lubetkin, who like Goldfinger was an Eastern European Jew - Goldfinger having been born in Budapest and Lubetkin in Tbilisi (now Georgia, formerly the Soviet Union) - and a professional rival.

Goldfinger wanted to build a house for his wife and family and acquired a piece of land in Willow Road, occupied by four small cottages built partly below the level of the road. His proposal was to demolish these buildings and to construct a modernist home for his family as part of a block of flats, but his detailed designs were rejected by the Council and he had to re-think his project. The final design included three properties (as today), the largest being the Goldfinger family home in the centre (number 2), flanked by smaller properties that were to be sold to finance the construction. 

Again his designs met with opposition. The then Hampstead Borough Council demanded a greater proportion of wall to window than he intended for the central feature windows at the front of the house. As if this wasn't enough, one Henry Brooke, secretary of the Heath and Old Hampstead Protection Society wrote a letter to the local press that sparked controversy and ran for several weeks before Goldfinger finally secured the necessary approvals. Numbers 1-3 Willow Road were finally completed in summer 1939, just a short time before the outbreak of war in September of that year. The much longed for family home was short lived as the by then two Goldfinger children, were evacuated to Canada - although they did return towards the end of the war. 

So what of the house? Many of its original features have been retained by the National Trust who now have care of the property. The ground floor lobby gives immediately on to a spiral staircase leading to the upper floors. The staircase is narrow but captures light from a skylight which together with the lobby lamps makes interesting shapes and patterns on the walls that must change throughout the course of the day. The balustrade is made of rope and Peter Goldfinger, the architect's son remembers it being re-tensioned every two or three years. Speaking of interesting shapes, the glass walls at the entrance are frosted - that's a good thing as they afford views of guests using the ground floor toilet!

The first floor is perhaps the most interesting space. It is extremely flexible and can either be a single large space or three separate rooms by virtue of a series of sliding doors. The short film that visitors see before touring the house makes reference to the glittering parties that the family held here over many years and which were attended by artists, writers, architects and other leading cultural figures of the day. Much of the furniture was designed by Goldfinger who also collected sculpture, painting and various objets d'art. The family art collection is impressive and includes works by Marx Ernst, Fernand Leger, Marcel Duchamp and Henry Moore. Like many intellectuals of their time, the Goldfingers were pro-Soviet and in 1942 staged an art exhibition in their home, the proceeds of which were donated to the Soviet war effort. Also like many left wing intellectuals of their time, they were what might be termed "champagne socialists" keeping servants to help run the house.

Still on the first floor, the spaces include a dining area, a room once used as a studio by Ursula, Erno's wife and a member of the Blackwell family (as in Cross and Blackwell - the soup people) and a sitting room at the rear of the floor. The studio is particularly fascinating, with a platform lit for posing and a collection of Erno's magazines, books and some of his professional papers. It seems that over time, the room became less of an artist's studio and more of a home working space for our man. The lounge is a fantastic space with a white painted convex screen wall, which supports a decorative cast-iron fire back held in a dark steel frame. There is also a green marble hearthstone which is flush with the parquet flooring. Just beautiful.  This room includes one of the quirkier pieces of art - a circulating spiral decorated, blue and white disc by Marcel Duchamp. It is operated from a wall switch and must have been extremely technologically advanced for its time. I looked at it for all of thirty seconds before feeling dizzy. I can imagine viewers becoming hypnotised by its never ending spiral!

There are books everywhere at 2 Willow Road. There are books on art, science, history, cookery and just about anything you could think of. There are also many works of fiction, which brings us to the "other" Goldfinger, known to fans of James Bond films and novels. Goldfinger had a reputation for being almost impossible to work with. Many employees parted company with him after very short periods of time - weeks for some, days for others due to what appears to have been a somewhat over-bearing personality, unable to tolerate dissent, disagreement or mistakes. However, there are also stories about him displaying unsolicited acts of generosity and of being able to accept a different point of view - so long as he could claim it as his own afterwards! For some reason, Ian Fleming, writer of the James Bond novels did not like Goldfinger and used the name for one of his "baddies". Erno Goldfinger was an extremely tall man but the film of the book cast an extremely small actor Gert Frobe in the role. The book describes the villain as a complete megalomaniac and an utterly obnoxious individual. Erno considered suing, but was advised against it by friends. The reasons for Fleming's depiction of Goldfinger are not clear, however he was openly anti-semitic, so who knows if this was a consideration?

Back to the house. The upper floor is where the five bedrooms are. These are fairly spartan spaces, not especially large and with only minimal furniture. The back three rooms are currently set out as a single room. This space was once the nursery, divided into three with the nanny's tiny room in the middle and her two charges in he rooms on each side of her. In later years, Erno's mother, Regina, moved into this space bringing her heavy Austro-Hungarian style furniture with her. I wonder what he thought of that! These rear rooms look over a large and beautiful garden that was once home (for more than 20 years) to a Henry Moore sculpture, left there by a family friend who eventually took it back to sell it!

The main bedroom has built in cupboards, again, extremely modern for the 1930's, one of which is not a cupboard, but a door into a rather roomy and stylish en-suite bathroom which contains a number of small items in 1930's packaging - a nice touch. There is also an enormous wash-basin hidden in a cupboard in the very spartan guest room and a second bathroom on this floor. 

Goldfinger has a mixed legacy. The Willow Road house is acknowledged as a significant modernist building, but he achieved notoriety for the design of two enormous social housing projects for the former Greater London Council, Trellick Tower in North Kensington and Balfron Tower in the east end. Much criticised in later years, Goldfinger truly believed in his designs, going so far as to move his family into a flat on the 27th and top floor of Balfron Tower for a couple of months in 1967. He also designed the monolithic Alexander Fleming House for the Ministry of Health at the Elephant and Castle. Following many problems in the 1970's and 1980's, all three of these buildings have had major works completed and are being sold off at huge prices. Alexander Fleming House is now a residential development known as Metro Central Heights with substantial prices being paid for flats there whilst in January this year a flat on the 31st and top floor of Trellick Tower was sold for more than 330, 000 pounds!

In fairness, Goldfinger's career was interrupted by the war. When building began again in the 1950's he was competing with younger, homegrown architects and found it hard to gain commissions. However 2 

Willow Road remains a real treasure of British modernist architecture and perhaps opinion on his larger, later works will change as their value increases. 

Picture post 18 - Majolica House, Vienna

This time next week, I will be in Vienna for the first time since 2006. Looking through some old photographs as part of my preparation for the visit, I came across this one from last time.

Numbers 38 and 40 Linke Wienzeile, better known as the Majolica House, and pictured above, are probably my favourite art nouveau buildings in Vienna and are the work of the architect Otto Wagner. Born in Penzing, now part of Greater Vienna, in 1841, he was responsible for many of Vienna's iconic buildings as well as, rather interestingly, the Rumbach synagogue in Budapest. He was also a founder member of the enormously influential Vienna Secession together with Gustav Klimt, Koloman Moser, Joseph Hoffman and others.

Wagner took both contracting and architectural responsibilities for this ensemble meaning he had almost total creative control and practically free reign to realise his vision. This included covering number 40 in   colourful stoneware tiles which led to the building acquiring its "Majolica House" nickname. It is the colours and floral designs that first strike the first time visitor, together with the gold plated relief medallions that decorate the facade of number 38. The medallions were designed by Koloman Moser. The photograph above centres on the small, rounded balconies where the two addresses link, the deep green "vegetation" on the tiles and the leaf motifs on the iron work must have been designed to give the resident a feeling of having their own garden!

The block became the epitome of modern city living not just because of the beautiful exterior, but because Wagner installed bathrooms and elevators and used a clever floor layout to configure space in an optimal way. The apartments also had uniformly designed basic furnishings - predating the more recent trend to this approach by a whole century! Critic and writer Ludwig Hevesi wrote "The interior furnishings of these houses, as a unified whole in the thoroughly modern form, at once aesthetic and practical, is really something epochal". It certainly was.

The block extends around the corner, taking in number 1 Kostlergasse and it is in this part of the building that Wagner established an apartment for himself. Described as a "night lodging" to differentiate from his real home in Huttledorf, it still boasted a bathroom, water-closet, kitchen, dining room and an ante-chamber, but lacked the salon and library of his other residences. But who needed extra rooms when the bathroom was a colossal 5.28 by 2.91 metres with a ceiling height of 3.6 metres. Not to mention the bath being made from glass with a nickel painted frame construction. The bath became so celebrated and well-known that it featured in an 1898 exhibition organised to celebrate Emperor Franz Josef having served fifty years on the throne.

The Majolica House is located directly opposite the wonderful Nachsmarkt and a short walk from the Secession and other important sites. There are many cafes close-by too - and we all know about Viennese patisserie...

More pictures of Vienna here...and more to come next weekend!

Children of the sun - Gorky at the National Theatre

Early on in Maxim Gorky's "Children of the Sun" currently playing at the National Theatre, Protasov, the chemist, complains that if no-one watches his experiment heating then it will boil over and be ruined. The same principle is explored thoughout the course of the play with Protasov (and others) neglecting to watch over their relationships and more importantly, neglecting to watch over developments outside of their comfortable surroundings.

Written in 1905, the play follows the relationships of a group of bourgeois intellectuals, their quarrels, desires, infidelities and inadequacies, played out against the background of growing discontent amongst the villagers, representing the "masses" of Tsarist Russia, most of whom lived in abject poverty and ignorance. These people are represented by the servants and a random vagrant who are treated as either figures of fun or part of the furniture by the circle of scientist, veterinarian, artist and their company. 

The old, accepting working class is represented by the ever dutiful elderly nanny who is also treated disrespectfully despite her devotion, whilst the younger servants grow openly scornful of their masters and in their own way rebel or revolt against them. Furthermore, as the hapless Melania, searching for love but not knowing how to find it, eventually recognises - everything in this society appears to be for sale - cloth and meat - and people too. Melania wants to buy love from the married and unobtainable Protasov whilst other characters discuss the cost of their love - in roubles. Meanwhile, Protasov's delicate sister Lisa has premonitions of approaching tragedy but is considered to be "unwell". This theme of "sickness" recurs throughout the play, again connected to poverty and ignorance.  

Gorky wrote the play in 1905 in response to the failed attempt at revolution that took place during that year and despite setting it in the 1860's, non-one was fooled. At first the Tsarist authorities banned it. When the ban was lifted, it was first performed in the Moscow Art Theatre in October 1905 where the performance had to be halted in the third act when off-stage noises from the mob caused panic in the theatre with patrons thinking the noises were coming from the street. The original cast included Olga Knipper, Chekhov's wife as Lisa and Vassili Kachalov as Protasov. It was Kachalov that calmed the audience enabling it to continue.

Gorky was briefly imprisoned during the Tsarist regime and became close to the pinnacle of the Soviet regime, including to Stalin. However, the dictator turned against him, placing him under house arrest, and it is widely thought that Gorky's death was the result of poisoning on Stalin's orders in 1936. Cynically, Stalin was one of the pall bearers at Gorky's funeral. During one of the many show trials of the late 1930's, former Soviet Bukharin was accused of being party to Gorky's murder. It is unlikely that the truth will ever be known.

Returning to the current production, there were outstanding performances from Lucy Black as Melania, Emma Lowndes as Lisa and Gerald Kyd who was thoroughly convincing as the self-centred dilettante artist, Vageen. Florence Hall as the servant girl Feema also put in a cheeky performance! As ever at the national there was a wonderful set and a special note on the costumers, especially those of Lisa and Yelena, Protasov's wife which were brilliant replicas(?) of Russian arts and crafts style of the early 20th century. A nice touch. The play runs until July 14th.

(Picture above - staircase from Gorky' House in Moscow)

Change in Haifa שינוי בחיפה

בעבר הגיעו עולים חדשים לארץ דרך נמל חיפה, אולם בשנים באחרונות הנמל חוזנח. הבניינים זקוקים לישפוץ ואנשים לא מגיעים לנמל כי אין שם מה לעשות. בערב המקום נראה מסוכן ולא בטוח. אבל לראש עיריית חיפה יש תוכנית לשנות את פני הנמל. התוכנית כוללת שיפוץ חלק מהבניינים למגורי סטודנטים, הקמת בתי קפה ובנית מלון חדש ברחוב הראשי. בנוסף, רוצה ראש העיר להביא לנמל אומנויות מבל הסוגים. בימי שישי יתקיים שוק אומנויות ברחוב משה אהרון עם מוסיקה חיה. בשוק יהיו דוכנים ואפשר יהיה לקנות חפצים מעניינים. נראה שיש עתיד לנמל חיפה

The port of Haifa  was where many new immigrants arrived in Israel. However, over  several  years  the  port was neglected . Many of the buildings  need repairs  and people do not come to the port because there is nothing to do there.  In the evenings, the port appears dangerous  and unsafe.  The Mayor of Haifa has a plan to change the face of the port.  His programme includes  renovating some of the buildings as accommodation for students  and establishing new cafes and hotels  in the main street.  In addition to this,  he wants to  bring  all  kinds of art to the port.  Every Friday there is an art  market in Moshe Aharon Street with live music and there are stalls where you can buy interesting items. It looks like there is a future for the Haifa's port after all!

Avishai Cohen - with strings!

"This is the project". That's what Avishai Cohen said last night at the Barbican at the end of two truly stunning sets of old, new and re-worked songs in the company of his regular trio partners, pianist Nitai Hershkovits and 20 years old drummer Ofri Nehemiah with five outstanding musicians - cellist Yael Shapir, violinist Cordelia Hagmann, viola players Amit Landau and Noam Heimovitz-Weinschel and oboist Yoram Lachish. Ms. Shapir also joined Cohen on some of the vocals. Very nice. "The project" was Avishai's reference to his latest musical development, incorporating stringed instruments into his musical repertoire.

The gig began with "Overture" an original Avishai Cohen composition that he said he had worked on for a very long time and which had a distinctly classical feel to it. The audience which included many regular Cohen concert goers seemed a little surprised at first at this approach but very quickly warmed up as he worked through a couple of Hebrew songs - his version of what he described as an old fashioned innocent love song and then Natan Alterman's slightly psychotically worded poem Nigun Atiq, which pledges undying love and devotion but also includes threats of death and destruction stemming from jealousy!  

Cohen's Ladino repertoire was well represented with Alfonsina, Morenika, Puncha Puncha and Yo Menamori all well received. There was a reference to Cohen's jazz roots with Thad Jones "A Child Is Born" which was completely beautiful with our man's playing, a terrific solo from Lachish, and the strength of feeling from the strings bringing at least one listener to the brink of tears. And those strings were frighteningly effective during a new arrangement of the old favourite "Shalom Aleichem" - the strength of Cordelia Hagmann's violin playing being the revelation of the evening for me. This piece showcased each of the musicians with Hershkowitz's oriental flavoured piano and Nehemiah's drumming also getting huge cheers from the totally involved crowd.

Three times the audience brought them back, with a cheeky solo of "La Cukaracha" from Cohen, "Seven Seas" from the whole ensemble and "Remembering" from the trio. And they really could have played all night if the audience had their way. This is indeed "The Project". The addition of strings, the new arrangements and the obvious joy of those musicians at joining our hero made for a very special night.

Now, when are we going to get an album of this? Avishai Cohen, you are a genius and we are priveliged.

London art deco - part three

I have already written about some of London's art deco treasures here and here, but there are many more gems from the deco and modernist period spread throughout our city. The deco style influenced the design  of residential, public, educational and retail buildings. This post has a look at examples from each of these functions.

Agatha Christie fans may find the building pictured below to be familiar. That's because it was used as the fictional home of Ms. Christie's detective Hercule Poirot in the TV series of his adventures. In real life, Florin Court is a private apartment block situated in a beautiful quiet square less than five minutes from the busy Barbican Underground station. Completed in 1936 and designed by architects Guy Morgan and Partners its most arresting feature is the undulating facade, which is a gift for photographers who can play with the "movement" of the building. I also like the recessed upper floors (there are nine floors and 120 flats in all) and the stylish main entrance with its deco features. A "deco style" swimming pool was added to the building for residents' use in 1980. There is also a small gym and a library. Unfortunately the original features in the lobby were tiled over some years ago. Time to take the tiles off?

Florin Court is located in Charterhouse Square, EC1. It is a beautiful, quiet London Square which is home to a number of older and interesting buildings as well as a private park restricted to residents of the square, who, according to the notice, can only take their dogs in "with permission". Quite right too. Residents, with or without dogs can stroll in this little park and admire its very beautiful cherry blossom - in full bloom when I passed yesterday. You can see more pictures of Florin Court here.

Diverting eastwards from Bloomsbury to Holborn, brings us to another great example of 1930's architecture - Summit House in Red Lion Square. The former home of the Austin Reed company, the house was built in 1925 and was the work of architects Joseph Emburton and Percy James Westwood. Emburton was responsible for several modernist/ art deco buildings including Simpson's Department Store on Piccadilly (now Waterstones).

Summit House (pictured below) is a six storeys, steel framed building clad in toffee coloured faience and which extends from Red Lion Square along Dane Street. It has recessed windows on each storey with black, metal frames. A low level wall at ground floor level shields the basement storey and includes decorative iron railings with a lotus leaf finial at the corners and on either side of the main entrance. The wooden doors have carved panels by sculptor and designer Percy Metcalfe. The House also has a blue plaque dedicated to John Harrison (1693 - 1776) who invented the marine chromometer which allowed ships to accurately calculate their longitude when at sea.

Today the House is home to internationally known lawyers Mishcon de Reya. Holborn has many other interesting sites. You can read more about them here.

London boasts many art deco freezes and sculptures from the 1920's and 1930's. The once controversial Jacob Epstein sculptures at London Underground's Broadway House were mentioned in the first of this series of posts on art deco. Somewhat less controversial but also well known are "Tragedy and Comedy" by Alan Durst that grace the Gower Street entrance to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). Just a short step from another major art deco building - Senate House - these figures from 1933 can easily be added to a visit to see the the next building in this post - the former Daimler Garage, which is perhaps a ten minutes walk away.

Hidden away from the main road, but in the heart of the west end, Herbrand Street's former Daimler Garage is one of London's hidden treasures. Designed by Wallis, Gilbert and Partners and completed in 1931 it is a precursor to their much larger (and in my opinion) masterpiece, the Hoover Building in west London. Originally the home of Daimler-owned cars in addition to up to 500 private vehicles, it has been tastefully refurbished as offices for the McCann-Erickson Company.  The exterior includes the  beautiful curved glass entrance lobby, the glazed stair well, the pristine white colour and several examples of the deco "rule of three" in terms of decoration. As well as being visually outstanding, the garage was also extremely modern in terms of its approach to service, making use of then cutting edge technology. It boasted an electronically operated pressure washing plant with a waiting room and an attendants office. Open House people - it would be great to get a look inside here some time!

There are other art deco or art deco influenced buildings very close to Herbrand Street. The huge apartment block, Russell Court is just around the corner in Woburn Place. It retains very stylish entrances and external metalwork in addition to its concave northern end which bears the legend "Woburn Place Car Park". There are also deco influences in one of the blocks on Coram Street, which you will have your back to if you are facing the old Daimler Garage.

I am lucky enough to be able to see one of London's best remaining examples of art deco almost every day as St. Olaf House (pictured below) in Tooley Street, is just a short walk from my office. Beautiful as it is, it is quite easy to miss if approaching from London Bridge because of the road layout and also because the many tourists that throng this part of London visiting the wonderful Borough Market, Southwark Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Tate Modern and the many other attractions in the area rush by not noticing it tucked away in its corner. But it really is worth taking the time to spend a few minutes admiring this building.

Built of Portland stone, it is the rear entrance of the Thames-side Hay's Wharf Company built from 1928-1932 and designed by architects H.S. Goodhart-Rendel. Its distinctive features include the stylised signage, differently arranged windows on the side columns and a figure of St. Olave, King of Norway, produced by sculptor Frank Dobson. This is a reference to a church of the same name that once stood on this site. The House faces the River Thames and the water side has a series of Dobson designed panels that will the subject of a future post. Today the building houses London Bridge Private Hospital's consulting and administration rooms. 

And finally to retail. T. Fox and Co. Limited at 118 London Wall, EC2 is a great example of an art deco designed shop which has retained most of its original features. Fox was an umbrella and walking stick manufacturers and although the business has now gone, the new owners "Author" have retained the streamlined frontage, merely adding their name to the facade. Built in around 1935, the facade is made of black vitrolite and was designed by the Pilkington Brothers. The original shopfitting was by Pollards. Very close to Moorgate station, it is dwarfed by the the more recent skyscraper buildings but still has a real presence due to its simple but timeless style.You can see the whole of the facade here.  Given that it is a short walk from nearby Florin Court, I wonder if Poirot bought his umbrellas and walking sticks here! 

Picture post 17 - Ades Syrian Synagogue - Jerusalem

I have tried several times to visit the Ades Synagogue in Shilo Street, Jerusalem only to find it closed. A few weeks ago I finally managed to see inside the building. I was not disappointed.

The very plain exterior of the building in the Nachlaot neighbourhood of the city, close to Shuk Mahane Yehuda hides a beautiful and unique interior with a high ceiling, chandeliers, wooden benches and a women's gallery. But the two most outstanding features are the Ark covering the entire eastern wall, which is made of walnut and covered in a geometric mother of pearl design and of course, the breathtaking murals which were the work of Ya'acov Stark of the Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts.

The synagogue was built in 1901 to serve the increasing number of Syrian Jews arriving in Jerusalem, fleeing blood libels and pogroms in Syria as well as economic migrants from the decline of the Ottoman Empire. It takes its name from the two cousins who financed its construction - Ovadiah Josiah Ades and Yosef Isaac Ades, the latter being a member of the Jerusalem City Council. The murals were added in 1911-12 by the aforementioned Stark who was born in Galicia and came to Eretz Israel as part of the Second Aliyah with a number of other artists who gathered around Boris Schatz, working with him to establish and develop the world famous Bezalel School.

Stark was a committed Zionist and wished to reflect this in his art - something the Ashkenazi congregations were not so keen on. The more liberal Syrian congregation of the Ades were accepting of his proposals. He worked for very little amounts (sometimes for nothing) and left an extremely important work to the city (and the world) featuring the 12 Tribes of Israel, a menorah, flora and fauna of the land of Israel and signs of the zodiac. The building sustained damage in the First World War and also during the War of Independence in 1948 but the greatest damage was inflicted on Stark's masterpiece in 2001 when a French artist commissioned to restore the mural did what is widely acknowledged to have been a botch job and which is now thankfully, being properly restored at the Government's expense.

Stark died of malnutrition - the fate of many impoverished Jerusalemites in the early part of the twentieth century and until recently he had all but disappeared from history. Efforts have been made to locate Stark's descendants which turned up an Israel Prize winner for law and resulted in the re-discovery of his grave on the Mount of Olives which had a formal stone setting late last year. In an interesting twist of fat, the house he lived in, in Nachlaot is now occupied by Yigal Tamir who restored the Ark in the Ades syanagogue. The house still contains a granfather clock given by Stark to Tamir's grandmother, the former owner and Stark's landlady, in lieu of rent. 

During my visit I witnessed some of the restoration work taking place and had a brief discussion with one of the workers who was delighted to have the opportunity to be involved in such an important project. I was delighted to have finally got inside the building...and what a treat it was!

See more pictures of the Ades synagogue here. 

Tel Aviv top ten

Regular readers will know that Tel Aviv is the place I most like to be. For those of you not familiar with the city, here, in no particular order, are ten of the many reasons that I love to be in Tel Aviv.

Let's begin with the cakes at Cafe Idelson 10 at 117 Dizengoff. I have been coming to this cafe for several years now. It is open every day, has friendly staff and most importantly, the best cakes in Tel Aviv if not Israel - and cakes are my specialist subject. The coffee is good too, but its the cakes that put Idelson firmly in my top ten. My favourite is the pistachio mousse, with elegant light green stripes set into the cream coloured mousse and a couple of maraschino cherries hidden in each slice. I can taste it now. Oh, and the strawberry tarts pictured below are pretty fantastic too!

The Bauhaus Center at 99 Dizengoff  is a place of pilgrimage for me. I first came to the Bauhaus  Center about 8 years ago and took part in one of their Friday morning guided walks around some of the city's wonderful Bauhaus architectural heritage. As well as organising walks there are regular exhibitions on a range of architectural themes (not just Bauhaus) and it is the absolute best place in Tel Aviv and probably Israel to buy books on the architecture and history of the city, as well as a range of cards, posters, gifts and gadgets to take home to remind you of your visit. I love it.

Walking along the beach from Tel Aviv to Jaffa doesn't cost you anything. I love walking along the sea shore from the Frischman beach, a few minutes away from busy Dizengoff, almost all the way to Jaffa. You get great views of the old port of Jaffa as you approach, and you can walk in the sea for much of the way if you like that sort of thing - and I do. You can pause for a rest on the rocks or on the benches along the promenade and there are plenty of beach bars to have a drink if you need refreshments along the way. Taking it easy and with a few stops to admire the view, take photos or check the sites en route, reasonably fit people can easily reach Jaffa in one hour. Taking this walk as the sun sets is a great experience, watching the colours of the sky change as night falls.

When you arrive in Jaffa there are many things to explore - the flea market, several cafes, historical sites and the artists quarter in the restored old city. The Farkash Gallery in Mazel Dagim Street in the old city makes my top ten due to its fantastic collection of vintage Israeli posters - all originals, but with copies of many available as the gallery own the copyright to many of them - cards, books and original art works by important Israeli artists. I especially like the collection of vintage Israeli advertising from the 1940's and 1950's and have happily parted with a few shekels to add some to my collection! It is a good idea to call before going along as once you've seen the window display you will want to go in.

Seeing a production at the Cameri Theatre is another treat. Tel Aviv has a great theatrical tradition dating back to the first days of the city. It is home to Habima, Israel's national theatre, but also the wonderful Cameri Theatre. The company is internationally acclaimed and has a repertoire that includes drama, comedy and musicals. And you don't have to speak Hebrew as several times each week, the Cameri offers performances with English surtitles. On my most recent visit I saw a stunning production of the musical Cabaret, but have also enjoyed several plays here over the years. Performances start late at the weekend (around 9 or 9.30pm) so you can have dinner first - or buy bagels from the sellers who wait in the plaza for the performance to finish.

Regular readers will know about my passion for jazz and going to a gig at Levontin 7 is the next stop in my Tel Aviv top ten. Levontin 7 is the name (and address) of a small live music club with a cosy ground floor bar and a basement performance space in the more edgy part of Tel Aviv - Florentin. The basement room is sparsely furnished with a simple bar and basic seats but plays host to world class jazz (and other genres) concerts with artists such as Shai Maestro, Yonatan Avishai, Maurice El Medioni and Omri Mor having appeared there in the last few years. The tickets are cheap, the crowd is friendly and its another great night out in TelAviv.

Beit Bialik in Bialik Street (pictured below) is my favourite space in all Israel. Built in 1924 in the Eclectic style as a home for Chaim Nachman Bialik, Israel's national poet, it became the centre of art, literature and creativity in the new city of Tel Aviv. Decorated in vibrant blues, reds and greens as well as with beautiful Bezalel ceramics designed by Zev Raban, the house is a reminder of the great period of creativity that took place in Eretz Israel during the pre-state days. On Bialik's death, his house passed to the City which established it as a museum to the poet. Major restoration was undertaken at the beginning of the current century and the house is open for visitors. As well as the house itself you can see Bialik's letters and personal library, admire the furnishings and some of his art collection which includes work by Reuven Ruben. Bialik Street incidentally is a great street for a number of reasons - it has two more museums (Beit Ruben and the City Museum) as well as the Felicia Blumental Music Centre and a small Bauhaus museum in the next street - Idelson.

The Eretz Israel Museum is a huge complex of galleries in the north of Tel Aviv which is home to a huge collection of art, as well as archaeological, ethnographical and other treasures. It is also home to some of the most interesting temporary exhibitions in Israel, if not the world. The current offer includes Ethiopia, Land of Wonders (poster below); Land of the Bible, an exhibition of photography from the late 19th and early 20th centuries and a further photographic exhibition on the story of the (sadly now demolished) Herzeliya Gymnasium. There is also an excellent shop that sells catalogues, items associated with the temporary displays, books, jewellery and other items. One ticket covers entrance to all of the exhibitions and there are special prices for children, families and retired visitors.

Another free activity is to admire Tel Aviv's amazing architectural heritage. The city is a World Heritage Site due to its huge collection of Bauhaus buildings from the 1930's and 1940's - many designed by German, Austrian and Czech Jews driven out of Europe in the years leading to the Second World War. These beautiful, functional buildings are the reason that Tel Aviv is sometimes referred to as the "White City". Many of the Bauhaus buildings have been restored and the already mentioned Bauhaus Center can direct visitors to the best examples of this style. More recently there has been renewed interest in the pre-ceding style and period - the Eclectic architecture of the 1920's. These buildings have been less well looked after although many are now protected in the way "listed buildings" are in the United Kingdom. I have written recently about the Eclectic style whilst I have also posted about some of my favourite Bauhaus buildings before.

Safed - Art, food and a fantastic view!

Many artists have been inspired by Israel's cities, nature and history. There have been long established artists colonies in a number of Israeli cities including Ein Hod, Rosh Pinna and Jerusalem, but one of the most well known is that of Safed. During the 1950's and 1960's, it was the capital of Israeli art following the establishment of the colony in the old city. Many leading artists chose to live and work there, including such luminaries as Moshe Castel, Yosel Bergner, Ziona Tagger and Menachem Shemi and today many buildings in the artists quarter bear notices acknowledging artists who lived or spent time there. 

During those two decades, Safed was quite different to the city of today and was also home to some of the country's best night clubs attracting important musicians and singers including Naomi Shemer who made her debut performance here! And at least one of my friends remembers going to some good parties there when she was just a little bit younger!

The city is somewhat different these days. The artists are still there and there are a number of small, excellent private galleries too, but the clubs and the parties are long gone as the city has become visibly more religious. The religiosity of the city is not new as many famous Rabbis lived and worked here, Safed is the home of the Kabbalah and there are some very old very beautiful synagogues here too - all worth a visit and many with some interesting stories! My favourite is the Yosef Caro synagogue located within the art market. It has a long and illustrious history including being destroyed in earthquakes in 1759 and 1837 but survived a katyusha rocket that arrived courtesy of Hizbollah in the 1980's, a piece which is on display. The synagogue also offers a terrific view across the Galilean hills - something we will come back too a little later, but here is a taster in the meantime (see picture below). 




It is three years since I was last in Safed and one of the main reasons for my return was to visit the Yitzhak Frenkel Museum which had been closed last time I was there. Getting in to the museum was a bit of a challenge. The website says the museum is open all year - but it wasn't. However, I did manage to have what turned out to be a private view, courtesy of the extremely helpful, friendly and knowledgeable Yakov Hadad. Yakov has his own gallery almost next door to the museum and it is a must see for anyone visiting Safed. It is located in Moshe Castel's former home - which is attested by a notice on the outside of the building. Yakov has works by Frenkel and his pupil Shimshon Holzmann as well as some interesting Cameroonian works in wood. Yakov's gallery is easy to find at 148 Arlozorv Street in the Artists' Quarter. You will recognise it from its beautiful main door (pictured below).



But back to Frenkel who was born in Odessa in 1899 and came to Eretz Israel in 1919. In 1920 he established an artists' co-operative in Jaffa but a few years later returned to study in Europe, becoming one of the most important artists at the Ecole de Paris and a contemporary of Chagall, Soutine, Modigliani, Mane-Katz and others. Returning to Eretz Israel in 1925 he taught in Tel Aviv before settling in Safed in 1934, before the establishment of the artists colony.

The Frenkel museum is housed in what looks like a small cottage, but once inside it is almost labyrinthine with one room of artistic treasure leading to another. The collection includes self-portraits, Biblical scenes and family portraits. I loved the picture in the final room of the gallery which shows the Frenkel family group playing musical instruments. There are many images of his children and of their mother, Ilana and many scenes of Safed - clearly both major loves in Frenkel's life. I also liked Frenkel's unusual portrait of French mime artist Marcel Marceau - unusual in that Marceau appears more than once in the same picture perhaps indicating the different lives of a mime. Thank you very much Yakov for showing me around!

One of my first stops last time I was here was the General Exhibition - the central venue in the Artists' Quarter where the work of many of Safed's artists is exhibited and offered for sale. I remember being fascinated by the work of Miriam Mehadipur. Her work makes strong references to Persian as well as Jewish art and tradition and includes many geometric patterns and floral motifs. Her paintings often feature a male and female couple and are deeply romantic. Some of the figures are pictured in a womb like space, growing together and protecting each other (see below - Song of Songs). The paintings are large, with deep, thick colour and many are enhanced with the beautiful carved wooden frames - the work of her Persian Jewish husband, Menachem.



I was lucky enough to meet Miriam this time. She explained to me that although she is not religious, she is spiritual and that this is reflected in her work. She also told me that she had painted in this way before meeting her husband and that she was unsure where this link came from. Miriam has a small gallery in the Artists' Quarter where visitors can see and purchase her work - including small prints of some of the larger pictures.  She is an extremely friendly and sympathetic person and I was lucky enough to share her hsuband's home cooking with her and another friend on the roof of the friend's house. Great food, great view, great art! You can see more of Miriam's pictures on google image.

Still on the subject of food, Safed is lacking in good quality restaurants. There is pizza and falafel aplenty, but for something different, try Ronen'sYemenite Food Bar in the old city (pictured below -with Ronen). The speciality is a Yemenite flat bread called lachuch, which is filled with the excellent local cheeses, tomatoes, onions, herbs and most importantly zatar. He also offers salads, dips and his flyer boasts a "rich wine cellar!" Together with my Persian treat this was easily the best food I had in Safed. You can also buy discs of spiritual music here as well as books and even the Yemenite headgear worn by some of Ronen's staff.



The Mikedem Fine Art Gallery is just a short step from the food bar. The gallery is filled with work by contemporary Israeli artists, currently including that of Leonid Balaklav. Balaklav is a religious Jew and emigrated to Israel from Moldova in 1990. His work is extremely moving. I was especially drawn to a family group with a mother nursing an infant whilst two older boys play chess. There is another boy, a little younger than the chess players, but with the most haunting expression. The gallery owner told me that Balaklav says that when he paints children, he is really painting himself. You can see a small version of this picture here. be prepared to have your heart broken with the boy's expression and your sense stunned by the Israeli light that Balaklav has captured. 

You can also see some of the sculptures of Zvika Lachman in the gallery. Zvika is probably Israel's greatest living sculptor and is currently working on a project with the Mikedem Gallery to provide a number of sculptures for the Ghetto Fighters Museum at Kibbutz Lohammei HaGetaot.  The Mikedem is another friendly place. I went in to make a cheeky request for help with a bus timetable (don't ask - long story!), got the help which was gladly given and then spent an hour chatting with the owner about Israeli art, the history of Safed, the music of Avishai Cohen and much more!

There are hundreds of small galleries on Safed and art is everywhere. That includes garage doors, external electrical supply cupboards and just about anything else you can paint or place a sculpture on. One of my favourites is below.




I came away from Safed having made some new friends, with a couple of prints in my bag (purchased of course!) and having sampled some great food. I promised earlier to return to the view of the Galilean hills. ell, I have to confess, that the view is probably my favourite piece of "art" in Safed and possibly in Israel. Those hills roll on and on to the horizon and as the sun begins to fall the changes in colour and light are breathtaking. Photography in fading light is not my forte, but I hope the picture below gives just a hint of how beautiful it is.

A Saturday walk in Jerusalem

Jerusalem is a great city to discover by foot. A good time to do this is Saturday morning when much of the busy traffic from weekdays is absent for Shabbat. Yesterday morning I spent a couple of hours strolling the area around Jaffa Street - one of Jerusalem's main thoroughfares. It is especially pleasant to walk on Jaffa Street at the weekend these days as since the inauguration of the light railway, cars are prohibited from some stretches.

This part of the city has seen much history and bears many reminders of the the past. Some of these are physical such as the many blue plaques that attest to former important and famous residents or to significant events that took place here. Many were during the period of the British Mandate from 1922 - 1948 when the British were in control. Several of the plaques commemorate incidents that took place during the struggle for independence. More dramatic reminders of this period include the bullet holes still visible in the original Jerusalem Municipality building at number 10 Saffra Square (pictured below), adjacent to Jaffa Street. This building is located at the meeting point between the eastern and western parts of the city and the ground floor was once the home of Barclays Bank. The  metal work on the front of the building still carries the Barclays "BB" logo to attest to this.

There are also reminders of an earlier period in and around Jaffa Street. Before the British arrived in 1917 towards the end of the First World War, the Ottoman Turks had held sway. A number of buildings remain that show reference to this period. One of my favourites is in Helene Ha-Malka Street. Pictured below, this apartment building has beautiful Ottoman style ceramic details around the windows, openings to the balcony and upper levels in classic blue and white vegetal designs. Whilst taking the photograph below and admiring the ceramic details, two passers-by stopped to see what I was so interested in. In one of those chance but rich moments that travellers often have, I became engaged in a short conversation with this couple about the building and about how we often don't see things if we pass them every day. They took a photo of this little gem before moving on!

Tel Aviv is world famous for its wonderful collection of Bauhaus buildings. But I wonder how many readers realise that Jerusalem also boasts many outstanding examples of this architectural style, several of which are a short step from Jaffa Street. One of my favourites is the Makower House at 8 Shmuel Ha-Nagid Street (pictured below). Real estate investor Mr. Makower commissioned architects Alexander Friedman and Meir Rubin to design an upmarket apartment block at the junction of Bezalel and Shmuel Ha-Nagid streets. The block is extremely dynamic with large rounded balconies, convex and concave elements and a stairwell enclosed with a glass box ladder. These two architects designed many important buildings in Jerusalem including the Yeshurun synagogue a little further along the same street, completing that project in 1936, two years before commencing on the Makower House which was completed in 1939.

Back on Jaffa Street itself, is the gloriously curved number 34 (pictured below), built some time around 1935 as a business complex. Unfortunately the architect is unknown (unless of course you have information - please post a comment if you do!). This three storey building occupies a large site along Jaffa Street and a small segment of Helene Ha-Malka street. The ground floor is occupied by shops with significant glass frontage enabling the traders to display their wares to passers by.  The upper levels have much smaller windows slightly recessed and are framed by ledges and cornices that provide shade. It is thought that the Russian Patriarchate commissioned this building, evidence of this being the Patriarchate's signet at the upper level on that delicious curve. Speaking of delicious, you can get coffee downstairs at Coffee Bean, although I must admit I am a Cafe Hillel man myself - and there is a branch on the opposite corner!

To avoid a detour into cafes, coffee and cakes, let's move on to another less well known dimension of this most surprising of cities. Some readers will be aware of Israel's large Ethiopian Jewish community and possibly of how they came to be here, rescued from danger in Africa in two major operations. However, there has long been a Christian connection between Ethiopia and Eretz Israel and this again can be seen in Jerusalem's built heritage. On my Saturday morning walk, I veered away from Jaffa Street, past Heshin Street's Russian Orthodox Church with its onion domes, along Shivtei  Israel and into Hanev'im Street which is home to a spectacularly decorated building that houses the Ethiopian Consulate at numbers 38-40. This building has seen better days but still carries the Lion of Judah, Amharic inscriptions and Ethiopian decorations about the facade's windows. Built between 1925 and 1928 for the Empress Zewditu, she never actually lived here. She was a remarkable woman, the first female head of state in Africa in the 20th century, ruling from 1916 -1930, enabling reforms but suffering from many political intrigues within her court. She died of diabetes in 1930 although there is some conjecture about the circumstances of her death.

Continuing with the Ethiopian connection, I proceeded along Hanev'im Street turning right into the aptly named Ethiopia Street which is home to another of Jerusalem's secret treasures - the Ethiopian Church. This large circular structure, completed in 1893, is accessed through a narrow doorway, with Amharic scriptures overhead, into a pleasant courtyard. The exterior of the building is undecorated but imposing due to its size and circular shape. However, the interior is a riot of colour and decoration with pinks, blues and greens on the walls, ceilings and dome. There are also many icons of saints important to the Ethiopian Church and Amharic scriptures throughout the building. The interior is cool, quiet and peaceful and apart from a gently napping cleric, I had the whole place to myself. The picture below gives a hint of the beauty of the interior.

The final stop on my walk is a ten minute stroll, back onto Hanv'im Street,  along King George Street, crossing Jaffa and Ben Yehuda Streets until reaching the Old Bezalel Building at 10-12 Shmuel Ha-Nagid Street, close to that lovely Bauhaus building. I have written before about the Bezalel School for the study of fine arts, its founders Ze'ev Raban and Boris Schatz and its continuing legacy. Today the building acts as the Artists' House, hosting exhibitions of contemporary art as well as being a sales gallery. The House is open on Shabbat and I spent an enjoyable thirty minutes chatting with the helpful and interesting lady in the gallery who told me about the sculptures of Aharon Bezalel, a Jew born in Herut, Afghanistan and who came to Eretz Israel in 1938. His bronzes are exquisite - but a little out of my price bracket!

The building dates from the Ottoman period whilst a few items from the original Bezalel School can be seen in the lobby, including doors designed by Raban. There are also some interesting carvings on the pillars at the foot of the steps leading to the entrance and the building is known for the large menorah on its roof - pictured below. 

Oh yes, and just across the road from the Artists' House there is a nice looking cafe. It is closed on Shabbat so I didn't get to sample its delights, but I swear it was fluttering its eyelashes at me - just look at those shutters! I sense a theme emerging since I had a similar architectural experience in Tel Aviv. No doubt its a sign that if you treat the city nicely, many more secrets will unfold.