Notes on Local Architecture in Israel

In an era in which the world is becoming one global village, when buildings look the same in New York, Mumbai, Tel-Aviv or Tokyo, is there value to each place's unique culture? Is architecture a consumer product like the automobile, TV and cell phone? Or does it have an extra cultural value that characterizes its place in society? What is local architecture? What are its characteristics in general and in a country like Israel in particular?
In this book, architect Gilead Duvhsani lays out before us a systematic creation process for local architecture. The process and approach are important for every student of architecture, architect and whoever is interested in architecture that derives from the essence of a place, as an antithesis to architecture with common denominators that are widespread all over the world today. Taking interest in Israel is both all-encompassing and of special significance - as a society that built within a few decades a new state, as a meeting grounds between different cultures and an area of difficult conflicts.

"The art of integrating oneself in a non-spectacular way has become rare among architects today. I am glad to discover this quality in Gilead Duvshani's architectural work. Although the virtue of this book's approach has become very rare, it remains of fundamental importance for maintaining and continuing the tradition of the art of building." (Rob Krier)

Gilead Duvshani was born and raised in Israel and studied architecture at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. Since 1983 he has run a private practice in Tel-Aviv. He has led research programs, arranged exhibitions and has written extensively on Israeli architecture. He is a professor at the School of Design of the Holon Institute of Technology, and has taught in several schools in Israel and abroad.