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Tel Aviv’s Gran Mediterraneo Tower Could Transform the City’s Skyline

by Rick Anderson

Tel Aviv is well known for its concentration of Bauhaus buildings—three-and four-story homes collectively nicknamed the White City . Though clusters of high-rises have sprouted up over the years along the beach and in business districts, the city has stayed mostly true to this low-slung scale. But as in most busy urban areas around the world, Tel Aviv’s housing and infrastructure demands don’t always align with its architectural history.

This is why Paris-based architect David Tajchman’s proposal for a mixed-use high-rise has gained so much traction since he released the renderings this month. The Gran Mediterraneo would bring together housing, office space, retail, and car parking (to alleviate Tel Aviv’s current shortage), with a provision for recharging electric cars, as well as plans for a car-sharing system, which Tajchman also designed. “There is a lack of efficient public transportation in Tel Aviv, and the city has not adapted to the rising amount of vehicles,” says Tajchman, pointing to the tower’s capacity to reduce traffic congestion and emphasizing that his design is not just a seductive form. But seductive it is. Its curvilinear concrete slabs create a series of cells on the building’s façade. Mirrored glass would reflect the city’s famous sunlight and keep inside temperatures cooler. The concrete nods to Tel Aviv’s Bauhaus legacy. “My project is built in white concrete to pay tribute to this architecture,” says Tajchman.

A view from inside David Tajchman’s proposed project.

Tajchman is hoping public authorities will approve (and help finance) the design because of the way it addresses transportation and congestion. He is also looking for private developers to invest in its market components such as apartments, hotels, and retail space. His ambition is to give contemporary skyscrapers the same architectural merit as the city’s famous Bauhaus buildings. “Current and future developments of skyscrapers in Tel Aviv do not make the evolution of the city’s skyline specific to its architectural qualities in a Mediterranean environment,” Tajchman says. With the Gran Mediterraneo, he hopes to change that.

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