BACK TO THE FUTURE

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Company: Senan Abdelqader Architects

Website: http://www.senanarchitects.com/

 

Collaborating Firms: Senan Abdelqader Architects, Efrat-Kowalky Architects, Matanya Sack Landscape Architects.

 

Senan Abdelqader Architects Team: Hania Halabi, Safi Barar, Issam Saba

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A preservation strategy for Tel Aviv Port’s former national heritage site and home to the Levant Fair. The fair dates back to the 1920’s, established by the British Government as an international symposium for exhibitors from 24 different countries. The national symbol of the fair, known as ‘The Flying Camel’ is derived from the connection of East meets West.

We were invited by Tel Aviv Municipality to establish proposals for Tel Aviv Port’s regeneration strategy. Our planning proposals remained sensitive to the area’s strict conservation policies, whilst adopting a futuristic outlook; the key objective was to retain the area’s complex historical parallels; the Levant Fair and the Yarkon estuary.

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Our main design intention was to redefine the local boundary between the city and the sea, which was achieved through the location of our proposed buildings along the harbor and on the site of the former Levant Fair. The resulting impact was improved public infrastructure along the sea front and landscaped areas on the Yarkon river.

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Our heritage strategy sought to preserve all the buildings for preservation allocated by the Tel Aviv Municipality, and to restore those for restoration. Our conservation proposals were enhanced through the design of a circular walkway surrounding the perimeter of the Levant Fair site. Through conserving the materials and objects recovered from the Fair, we were about maintain the Fair’s historic legacy, and reinterpret its story in a new, modern context.