The Lodzia or Red House as it is affectionately known to Tel-Aviv residents had its doors open to the public in a rare opportunity before it is renovated. I included it as part of my Houses From Within tours a few weeks back.

The Lodzia textile factory named after the Polish city Lodz, was built in stages by immigrants  during the 1920′s. It is one of the last remaining structures that stood next to the Ottoman Jaffa-Jerusalem railway during Tel-Aviv’s early days. In 1924 architect Joseph Berlin planned the original one story building.

Known for his use of silicate bricks as in the case of the Ohel Moed synagogue, Berlin inserted these rare reddish bricks into a massive concrete shell. That’s how it came to be called the Red House.

With European features of a slanted roof and very large windows, it only served as a textile factory until the 1930′s.

The visitors climbed the original steel staircase,

which was reinforced for the event.

The interior featured the “Milestones” exhibit: a collection of Land of Israel posters.

After lying in wait for many years the factory was recently bought by businessman Roni Duek who plans on turning it into four luxury apartments. He promises to open the building to the public for events such as Houses From Within. But most importantly that he will “refurbish the building and restore its impressive facade, just as it was in the 1920′s.”

Let’s hope so.

Dwarfed by Tel-Aviv’s downtown skyscrapers this little house of worship still manages to thrive.

The Ohel Moed synagogue was part of the Houses from Within tours that I was at the beginning of May.

In 1925 Joseph Berlin was commissioned to design a synagogue for the Yemenite Jewish community. Founded and funded with the help of Adeni Jews, it became the largest Sephardi synagogue of Tel Aviv.

Today the building is used for daily prayers by employees of the Electrical Company who work nearby and some 15 regular worshipers who come on the Sabbath.  The place is kept alive thanks to an entrepreneur who operates it as a trendy family occasion hall.

As I mounted the exterior red carpeted stairs I had the feeling that I was some V.I.P.

The three carved front doors enter you into an impressive sanctuary that is full of light reminding me of a joyful wedding ceremony.

Not until you look skyward do you see a giant dome made of 15 octagonal rows of stairs symbolizing the 15 elevations in the Temple. At the top of the dome glistens a polished diamond-like decoration.

Notice the arches supporting the dome are made up of 7 quarter arches to represent the seven branches of the menorah (candelabra).

I don’t know if this pew is original but I really liked the way the seat slid in so that congregants could easily pass by.

Although set on the dunes of Tel-Aviv, the building has Art Deco as well as Oriental influences.  Berlin used silicate bricks and given the limited resources of the time the building manages to convey originality and dignity.

The 22nd annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair has come and gone, and it was a complete overload of spectacular color and innovative design. While there were a few things my cohort and I deemed “same thing, different colors,” the majority of the show offered a uniquely original perspective on the modern home. And one thing that particularly caught my eye was the fantastic lighting that was showcased. So while I finish processing everything that’s bouncing around in my head, here are a few pieces that were, for me, love at first light.

Salvadoran designer Eugenio Menjivar’s breathtaking Loto lamp series—organically inspired by the lotus flower and crafted from recycled plastics—is best described by his statement on the collection: “An eco-experimental body of work that transforms discarded household materials into precious objects, allowing plastic to be reborn to educate consumers about sustainable design.” Be sure to check out his website, a whimsical work of art in itself.

The Box Light from Design House Stockholm is just downright fun, not to mention functional. Designed by Jonas Hakaniemi, the aluminum light box slides over the shade to reveal as much, or as little, light as you’d like, in a hands-on dimmer sort of way. Available in black and gray, the Box Light is simple, straightforward and smart.

From Lights Up! these ceiling lamps up the hip factor for lampshades thanks to fantastic patterns and some unexpected styling. From left, the WeeGee pendant is big, beautiful and bold, and shown in the Anna Green pattern. In the middle, the long and lean Louie pendant in the Black Mumm pattern (my favorite) is almost two-and-a-half feet long, and features a second 21-inch diameter shade situated just below the flared top. And finally, Louie’s more petite and streamlined sister Lucy in the bright and cheerful Anna Red pattern. Both Anna patterns are new introductions, and all three are printed with water-based inks on 100-percent recycled PET fabrics made from plastic bottles.

Using a tension/compressing based on the same principle as a suspension bridge, Areaware’s Orbit chandelier is a truly amazing way to light up a room. Designed by Patrick Townsend and crafted of wire and aluminum, the chandelier features 40 dimmable round lights of various sizes and spans almost three feet!

And finally, what can only be described as an absolutely breathtaking and immaculate installation from Spain’s LZF Lamps. A dozen Agatha lamps (a new introduction) come together with the Totem 4 lamp to create an illuminated butterfly that’s nothing short of monumental. And the fact that all of the pieces are made of wood veneers and paper parchment makes it all the more spectacular.

It’s that time of year! Tel-Avivans (or is it Tel-Avivians?) open their homes, studios and offices to the public as part of the Houses from Within weekend tours. Last Friday (May 7th) I managed to see a few of the more than a hundred locations! This is  the first of a series of posts.

At the front entry of these three (the third is not shown) 1926 buildings I was not prepared for the space that awaited me.

With light pouring in from all directions the space had a bit of an old European grandeur to it. It was an elegant solution to the growing need for office space by the S. Horowitz & Co. law firm which currently occupies the buildings.

The original architects of  31 Ahad Ha`am St. corner of Yavne St., Tel-Aviv were Huberman, Borner and Stark; and B. Margolin and G. Koigan.

The renovation architects: Miriam Meiman and Bruria Shaked-Okon in cooperation with Nina Chernobilski, incorporated urban preservation concepts but without compromising the relationship between the buildings, the street or the skyline.

Here is the front entry I just walked through.

Then I turned to the right saw this clean lined entry to some offices.

And stepped back and looked up to this vista.

And finally the glass enclosed top floor and roof.

I really liked the choice of industrial looking lighting combined with the warmth of the wood flooring on the foot bridges.

At the opposite corner were the elevator and stairs which were carefully integrated.

Here is a closer look:

And look at the attention to details:

Such a dignified message holder.

I really liked those port hole A/C vents.

The renovation managed to preserve the buildings as separate entities that merged into a flowing complex by means of a transparent entrance lobby.

All images and text copyright Judy Weiss. All rights reserved.

Anglepoise lamp

By this time next week, my friend Mandy and I will be on a plane bound for the Big Apple—plenty of shopping, visiting an old friend and hitting the 22nd annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair.

Billed as “North America’s singular showcase for contemporary design,” the four-day extravaganza of furniture, flooring, lighting, textiles and accessories will feature products from over 500 exhibitors from more than three-dozen countries. And in addition to all of that, there’s also the ICFF Studio featuring up-and-coming designers, the Materials Matter showcase of new materials, technology and production processes (something that completely fascinates me), and a juried exhibition of work by undergrad and graduate students from six of the world’s most prestigious design schools, including Parsons and the Pratt Institute.

There are also loads of programs, parties and awards to hand out, but then there’s the reason we’ll need an extra suitcase to get home—the ICFF Bookstore run by renowned NYC independent bookstore Archivia Books, which specializes in art, architecture, design, garden and interiors books from around the world. And rounding out the shopping portion of our trip, the designboom Mart, a global bazaar-style market where designers sell one to three products each—with stock limited to 100 pieces per stall—at prices ranging from $10 to $100. Did I mention we’re going to do all of this in two days?

I can’t wait to report back on what is sure to be a complete creative overload. But if you want to see it all for yourself, the last day of ICFF is open to the public, with tickets available for $50.

]]> http://www.tchochkes.com/wordpress/its-almost-time-icff-2010/feed/ 0 http://www.tchochkes.com/wordpress/apartment-becomes-art-space/ http://www.tchochkes.com/wordpress/apartment-becomes-art-space/#comments Mon, 12 Apr 2010 02:06:33 +0000 Daniel Klein http://www.tchochkes.com/wordpress/?p=15571

I spent most of my free time in the last month cleaning up a long-neglected apartment in south Tel Aviv with a group of fellow artists. We patched the many craters in the crumbling walls, hauled away mountains of trash left by past tenants, painted everything white, and built a dividing wall in the kitchen.

before

after

Three permanent members and three guest-artists of a group called BreakOn, we faced this dusty, grimey mess in preparation for our second exhibition in an alternative space. BreakOn’s purpose is to provide ourselves with opportunities to exhibit our art, without having to rely on traditional channels to get our work in front of an audience.

Cleaning up the space lead to the inspiration for the show’s theme and the title, Momento. The apartment is a strangely-oriented series of rooms with startlingly low ceilings and odd protrusions everywhere. It is hard to imagine anyone ever having lived in this place! We found all kinds of objects left behind by people years ago, plus remnants that brought us to the realization that the space was also used as a knitting factory for some time. The clothes, papers, and many other personal items we came across made us all think about human memory—how past events can be recalled by the simplest little image, trinket, or phrase. And we had our theme: each artist has expressed in their own way what a memento is or the meaning it can carry.

Included in the few-dozen works on display is an old plastic medicine cabinet that we found hanging on the kitchen wall. It has a red star-of-david on its door, and there were even some gross-looking old ointments left inside. As part of our effort to incorporate the character of the apartment into the exhibition itself, we decided to create a collaborative piece out of this weathered box. Each artist brought a memento or tchochke of our own to put inside the cabinet, and visitors to the exhibition are encouraged to examine these items closely. I left an oragami swan that a close friend sent me in the mail, and another person left a vintage button she somehow acquired on a trip to Lebanon.

I’m ecstatic to be able to exhibit my work alongside five extremely talented artists, but an added treat for me as a graphic designer and all-around design enthusiast is going through the process of branding the show and also configuring the space. In such a quirky environment, hanging fine art becomes a difficult balancing act. We did our best to maintain the character of the apartment in a way that felt appropriate for displaying contemporary art—being careful never to cross the many lines that could easily make this endeavor seem like some sort of craft project gone-wrong. The end result is an immersive experience on many levels.

One of our guest-artists is Mya Guarnieri, a young but well-traveled journalist and creative writer. While the rest of us are visual artists, Mya uses words to illustrate the power of memories. She has two pieces in the exhibition: the first is a series of four poems she has written to deceased women from previous generations in her family, and the second is a heart-wrenching short story that deals with emotional pain, loss, and how important personal belongings can be in difficult times.

Photographer Patti Ezratty, another guest-artist, emulates the way images of one’s past may appear in the mind. Using pinhole camera pictures she took in various places and times in her life, she has created a multi-dimensional collage of pictures. Each one has a story within it, while from afar the collection of memories has an amorphous quality that’s as complex as it is beautiful.

Nitzah Avigayil is an accomplished conceptual artist who has traveled a lot and who, like most of the other artists in BreakOn, has in the past few years moved to Israel from far away. She’s created an installation in one of the oddly carved-out nooks in the apartment. The viewer is invited to interact with a collection of her travel mementos, all sealed in plastic bags and suspended from above.

Also featured in the show are painter Diana Brody, guest sculptor Einav Uziel, and yours truly, Daniel Klein. My primary medium is silk-screen printing.

"Reines Street" by Diana Brody is a series of square compositions on canvas using impressions of the trees that the artist sees on her street

"That's Not A Bird" by Einav Uziel is part of a body of work that explores the spiritual mementos used in Jewish religion

"Tangerine Boys" is a work I created to remind me of a recent trip to Tangier, Morocco. The print is made from a photo I took of some kids chasing each other in the street; nearby, through a massive arched gate, stood a mountain of discarded pieces of tile with gorgeous patterns. I brought a few of these shards home with me and used one of them here.

Momento is at Salame Street number 97 in Tel Aviv through the 22nd of April.
open hours: Monday – Thursday 11 – 2 and 6 – 9, Friday 11 – 3
viewings also available by appointment
closed on Israeli national holidays
please visit the BreakOn site for more information

Last week I wrote about the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre in Whistler Village.

This week I would like to focus on an extraordinary Olympic structure: the Olympic Oval in Richmond, B.C.  hosting the 2010 Olympics speed skating.

The building is a unique structure incorporating native design and some very unusual building materials.

Photo by Kris Krug

Richmond Oval was built on a site beside the Fraser River. From the air it is the first Olympic venue visitors see flying into Vancouver. The roof takes the stylized native shape of a heron’s wing -  a tribute to the Salish First Nation and the large wading bird that cohabited the riverbank when the  first Europeans made contact some 230 years ago.

The structure contains more than a half a million square feet of space in order to accommodate 8,000 spectators. The Oval qualified for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Scale (LEED) Silver certification; for example excess heat from ice-making and rainwater that falls on the arching roof are captured for use in the building.

The distinctive feature of the Richmond Oval is its unique “wood wave” roof. This roof, which at 6.5 acres is the longest wooden roof in the world, includes one million board feet of B.C. pine-beetle kill wood linked together in undulating sections to create a rippled effect. These one of a kind wood panels were designed by structural engineers Fast + Epp.

“We collaborated on producing not only a fully integrated and multi-faceted sustainable design, but one that opens up new possibilities for the use of pine-beetle kill wood which is proven to be a unique, durable and aesthetically beautiful material.”

“Pine-beetle kill wood must be harvested rapidly in order to preserve its structural integrity,” said partner Gerald Epp.

As a result Cannon Design of Vancouver was given an award of excellence in architectural innovation by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada specifically for innovative use of pine beetle-killed wood in its ceiling.

For the structural design of the Oval, Fast + Epp won the top award for a sports or leisure structure by the Institution of Structural Engineers based in London.

Other aspects of the building were inspired by Canada’s native wildlife.

“Some of the initial concepts that we had in developing the overall form of the roof had to do with bringing a lot of elements of fluid motion, reaching back to cores like the heron, which is an indigenous and common species in the Vancouver area,” said Peter McCarthy, one of the designers working for Cannon. “It”s sort of graceful and fluid motion in flight and to walk in and see it constructed in this immense scale was pretty fantastic.”

Outside there is a sculptural environment designed by artist Janet Echelman – a pond filled with rainwater that is collected from the roof. It serves as a gathering space and water supply for irrigating surrounding landscapes and for flushing toilets. Above the pond hangs the artist’s “sky lantern” sculpture: Water Sky Garden. The sculpture is made of Tenara architectural fibre, supported by painted galvanized steel rings. 

A fountain designed as part of the public art program will include pieces created by local Musqueam artist:  Susan Point which will also re-oxygenate the pond.

Richmond Oval – an altogether awe-inspiring design.

We are in the midst of the 2010 winter Olympics in my former hometown of Vancouver, Canada. So while watching the games from halfway round the world I thought I’d look at some of the buildings that were built in association with this world event.The first is the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre in Whistler Village.  It is a landmark in Olympic history that indigenous peoples are partners in hosting the Olympic Games. The Lil’wat, Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations, known collectively as the Four Host First Nations (FHFN), have lived in the Vancouver and Whistler area for thousands of years.

The construction of a new cultural centre is one of the most visible and permanent legacies of First Nation Olympic involvement.  Designed by Alfred Waugh Architect, an aboriginal himself, it reflects both a Squamish traditional Longhouse and a Lil’wat traditional Istken – earthen pithouse dwelling.

The centre opened in 2008 and for the first time in recent history the two First Nations worked together to build this three storey, 300 sq.m. $32 million complex that demonstrates their distinct cultures, heritage and languages of the past, present and future. A large cedar deck  surrounds an amazing building with floor to ceiling windows that reveal spectacular views of Whistler and Backcomb mountains. Fortunately you can be warm and dry inside while still being able to appreciate the beauty of  the scenery.

Boulders painted with colourful pictographs are placed along the walkways to the cedar entrance doors, which feature an image of a bear carved by well-known local Lil’wat Nation artisans.

Inside the centre giant Douglas fir beams anchor the seven-metre-high Great Hall where there are Aboriginal artifacts from the Squamish and Lil’wat people.

Above massive hand-carved replicas of spindle whorls (an essential tool in traditional weaving) revolve overhead.

In addition to the indigenous cultural influence the Centre was built to respect the landscape. The elders believe that each part of creation has a spirit of its own and teach that seven generations should be kept in mind in everything they do.

Since sustainability was very important to them, the design team kept within the LEED® certification. The building is tucked into the natural incline to minimize excavation and 64% of the land was preserved as a natural habitat. The centre reduced energy by using double-glazed, thermally-broken and low emissivity coated windows, non-incandescent lights and occupancy monitors in most rooms. Water conservation was maximized through the use of water-efficient fixtures such as dual flush toilets. And the roof of the Iskten Hall is a planted “Green Roof”.

Special thanks to Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre and  SABMag for photos and plans

More next week……

I don’t know about you but when I think of Valentine’s Day more often than not four general things come to mind: flowers, chocolate, perfume or a romantic meal. Here are four ideas that are non-fattening, non-scented and last longer than a few days.

The Heart Cone Chair by Vitra is as simple and elegant today as it was in 1959 when it first appeared to a shocked design world. Designed by Verner Panton, it is available from Hive for a hefty $3,670.  Still it is a lovely take-off on the classic winged-back. Luxurious for one and cozy for two.

For those rainy day blues pick up this heart-shaped cane umbrella for $60. Designed by Art. Lebedev Studio in a variety of colours. But I do wonder what to do if all the rain water collects on the feet of the fellow behind you?

In honor of  legendary 20th century artist and master of modern design – Alexander Girard, this pillow has his “International Love” design (“LOVE” in 19 languages) applied to it. The cotton/linen feather filled pillow is available from Urban Outfitters for $38. Nice year round touch for any artists or lovers of art.

This is a beautiful big love spoon to share your sorbet with

in this removable stainless-steel ice creme bowl which rests on a clear PMMS plastic base. Both designed by Miriam Mirri for Alessi. Available separately from Alessi for $32 and as a set from MoMA for $54

Oops! I forgot my earlier premise. Well sorbet doesn’t actually count……

A challenging economy routinely brings creativity to the forefront, new ideas on how to save money are popping up everywhere.  Home themed swap parties are a smart way to purge the old and welcome the new without spending a dime.  I recently got my feet wet hosting a cookie swap over the holidays and now I am considering a home themed swap. 

Perhaps an old collection is starting to wear out its welcome… swapping for something more useful may be just the thing you need to liven up the energy in your home.  Hanging onto unused housewares takes up valued storage space, why not swap for something that you need? 

Troll Collection

Here are 4 simple steps to get you swapped in style:

1)  Invite interested guests and assign a number of items to bring, this way you will know how much display space you will need beforehand.

2)  Mail out sale tags to your guests beforethe party so the item arrive priced ready for sale. This will cut on prep time and allow your party to get into full swing mode immediately.

3)  Be fair.  If more then one guest wants the same item you will have to draw straws. 

4)  Do a good deed and donate leftovers to your local thrift shop .

There are many types of swaps to choose from.  Click here  for more creative suggestions.