Tel Aviv’s love affair with design dates back to the 1930s and ’40s when the city’s architects—influenced by Germany’s modernist Bauhaus movement—constructed more than 4,000 iconic, clean-lined apartment houses and commercial spaces. Today, Israel’s “White City” is moving into the future as an incubator for new artists and designers.
Design Museum Holon, Tel Aviv, Israel
8 Pinhas Eilon St., Holon, 972/7-3215-1515
From the moment the Design Museum Holon opened in February 2010 in the city of Holon, five miles south of Tel Aviv, it attracted international attention. Like the exhibitions within, architect Ron Arad’s swirling, ribbonlike steel structure combines art, design, and sculpture.
Art + Hotel, Tel Aviv, Israel
Ben Yehuda St., 972/3-797-1700, atlas.co.il.
Situated close to the beach and the Gordon Street gallery district, Art + Hotel’s lobby sets the tone: Visitors are greeted with a video installation by Sigalit Landau, an Israeli artist whose work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. The 62 rooms here are modern and spare, and each hallway in the building features work by a different local artist. Don’t miss the roof deck and the extensive Israeli breakfast buffet, complete with salat katzutz (chopped salad), smoked fish, and cheeses.
