Lecture 3. Nation-building and the Israel Project

The third lecture focuses on the attempts of Zionist organizations, and later the state of Israel, to create a local architectural culture. It begins with the first settlements during the late 19th century and then focuses on the rural Kibbutzim and Moshavim. Illustrating their development and spatial concepts this lecture presents the social, cultural, and territorial functions of these settlements while analyzing how their spatial features corresponded with the desire to create a [new] native society. The lecture then focuses on the urban Zionist settlements and neighborhoods of West-Jerusalem, Haifa and Tel Aviv. Continuing to the statehood years, the lecture explains how architecture and planning became an integral part of the physical and spiritual Israeli nation-building endeavors. Therefore, we will focus on the early strategic plan of the 1950s, the newly built development towns, and the buildings of key national institutions. Then, the lecture focuses on the privatisation of Israel, the suburban turn and the growing involvement of private capital in the development of the built environment and how this affected the local architectural culture.


supporting documents:

Handout

Lecture Notes

Quiz with Answers