yael c. agmon

Recycled Space: Renewal of Dizengoff Circus in Tel-Aviv 

#Architecture #Urban Design #Restoration #Preservation

Collaboration with Eilam Tycher

Conceptual proposals exhibition
Presented at the Bauhaus Gallery, Tel-Aviv, May 2010

The original Dizengoff Circus was an exceptional urban site: a round open space surrounded by modernistic facades. During the 1970's, after raising the surface of the plaza above ground for traffic reasons, the harmonic visual language and proportions of the open space and the buildings surrounding it were disturbed.  This imbalance, the trees that grew wild, the neglected facades, and the random additions of new materials to the site created an unbearable visual noise.

This proposal offers a realistic alternative to repair the unique space of the old circus, simply and mainly by raising the buildings around it, to recreate the formal relations between the masses and the void:  if the square and trees rose, so should the buildings surrounding it.

The solution often proposed - the destruction of the current plaza for the return to the original configuration - would be a waste of public resources and hard to execute. But above all, it would be untrue to city's character: Tel-Aviv is a modern city by nature and by its 

architecture, not clinging nostalgically to its past but looking ahead to the future. An attempt to go back following a romantic and non-exciting past will only succeed in proving we haven't learned anything, choosing once again to demolish instead of develop. 

The magic of Tel Aviv lays in the connection between the street and the buildings defining it. In order to renew this balance, the project suggests the elevation of the buildings, using public revenues from this act to sponsor the renovation of the public areas as well. The replacement of the pavement and benches and the dilution of trees will form a coherent, visible and pleasant sense of place, inviting pedestrians to stay. A fountain put instead of the statue at the center of the circus will morph during the evenings to a small stage for street artists. Thus, by bringing back the "Bauhaus" facades to the center of the urban stage this proposal will preserve the spirit of the original design, not by destruction but by moving forward.