Green & Modern (Rehavia Garden Suburb Walk) (Richard Kaufmann)

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Eric Mendelssohn, eat your heart out. I stumbled upon this long pedestrian path on a recent walk through the Rehavia neighborhood in West Jerusalem. Built by socialist pioneers of the Gedud Ha’Ivri in the 1920s, the well heeled neighborhood was designed as a garden suburb by German Jewish architect Richard Kaufmann, who immigrated to Palestine around the same time. All the houses are built in Bauhaus/International Style. Kaufmann was recruited by Arthur Ruppin. He designed practically the entire country, including neighborhoods in North Tel Aviv, Herzliya, the Carmel neighborhood in Haifa and settlements like Degania Alef and Nahalal. His Wikipedia page provides more complete information, but even better is this website here designed by his daughter, with lots of articles and information. His personal archive is located at the Central Zionist Archives in Jerusalem (record group A175). Looking at Google maps, the pedestrian walk looks like it runs a good length through much of the entire neighborhood. It’s a grey line running along Yad Ben Zvi if you’re looking for it. The built urban environment is green and modern.

About zjb

Zachary Braiterman is Professor of Religion in the Department of Religion at Syracuse University. His specialization is modern Jewish thought and philosophical aesthetics. http://religion.syr.edu
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