Tel Aviv Museum of Art
Construction 2007-2010
by Preston Scott Cohen
Located in the center of the city's cultural complex, the program for the Tel
Aviv Museum of Art Amir Building posed an extraordinary architectural
challenge: to resolve the tension between the tight, idiosyncratic triangular
site and the museum's need for a series of large, neutral rectangular
galleries. The solution: subtly twisting geometric surfaces (hyperbolic
parabolas) that connect the disparate angles between the galleries and the
context while refracting natural light into the deepest recesses of the half
buried building.
The building represents an unusual synthesis of two opposing paradigms for the
contemporary museum: the museum of neutral white boxes and the museum of
architectural spectacle. Individual, rectangular galleries are organized around
the "Lightfall", an eighty-seven foot tall spiraling atrium. The
building is composed according to multiple axes that deviate significantly from
floor to floor. In essence, it is a series of independent plans and steel
structural systems stacked one atop the other, connected by geometric episodes
of vertical circulation.
The new building refers to the original building in such a way that the two can
be seen as having a family resemblance. At the same time, it relates to a
larger tradition of the new that exists within Israeli architectural culture.
The multiple vocabularies of Mendelsohn and Bauhaus Modernism in Tel Aviv are
re-synthesized in an architectural language that is internationalist and
progressive in its cultural orientation.
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Client: Motti Omer, Director and Chief Curator
Project Team: Preston Scott Cohen, Inc., Cambridge, MA, Preston Scott Cohen
(Design); Amit Nemlich (Project Architect); Tobias Nolte, Steven Christensen,
Guy Nahum, Gjergj Bakallbashi, Bohsung Kong (Project Assistants); Models:
Jonathan Lott (Lightfall); Isamu Kanda (Massing in Situ); Renderings: Chris
Hoxie (Exterior, Lightfall); Agito Design Studios (Lobby and Gallery Views);
Competition Project Team: Scott Cohen, Cameron Wu, Andrew Saunders, Janny Baek;
Competition Consultants: Ove Arup and Partners, Caroline Fitzgerald, Tom Dawes,
Mark Walsh-Cooke (Structural and MEP); Hanscomb Faithful and Gould (Cost
Estimator) Project Schedule: First Prize Winner in the Herta and Paul Amir
International Competition, 2003; Design Development and Construction Documents,
2005-2007; Construction, 2007-2010
Project Budget: $ 55,000,000
Program: 200,000 sq. ft (18,500 m2) includes Galleries of Israeli Art,
Architecture and Design, Drawings and Prints, Temporary Exhibitions;
Photography Study Center and Archives; Multidisciplinary Auditorium; Seminar
and Conference Rooms; Art Library; Restaurant; Administrative Offices; Loading,
Unpacking and Storage.
General Contractor: Hezkelevitch Engineering
Project Consultants:
Project Management: CPM Construction Management Ltd.; Structural Engineers: YSS
Consulting Engineers Ltd., Dani Shacham, Principal; HVAC: M. Doron - I. Shahar
and Co., Consulting Eng. Ltd.; Lighting: Tillotson Design Associates, New York;
Accessibility: Michael Roitman; Acoustics: M.G. Acistical Consultants Ltd.;
Alluminum: Landman; Auditorium: David Braslavi; Cost Estimation: Gamzo;
Electrical: U. Brener - A. Fattal Electrical and Systems Engineering Ltd.;
Elevators: ESL- Eng. S. Lustig - Consulting Engineers Ltd.; Food Services:
Zonnenstein; Maintenance: Valtman; Multi-media: Gera Yoav; Public Shelter:
K.A.M.N; Safety: S. Netanel Engineers Ltd.; Sanitation: Gruber Art System
Engineering Ltd.; Security: H.M.T., Tel Aviv; Soil: David David; Survey: B.
Gattenyu; Traffic: Dagesh Engineering, Traffic and Road Design Ltd.;
Waterproofing: Bittelman; Photography: Iwan Baan, Ohad Malaton, Amit Geron
