Moshe Gerstel and Haifa, City of the Future

During the 1930's Haifa was often referred to as the "city of the future". It underwent significant development in the inter-war years when the Hadar HaCarmel neighbourhood was established with Modernism as the dominant architectural style. Perhaps the most iconic of the new buildings was the market hall of Shuk HaTalpiyot on Sirkin Street.

The shuk was built in response to the events of the Arab revolt of 1937-39 which caused the Jewish residents of the mainly Arab lower city area to flee the area and Jews from across Haifa to no longer feel safe to visit the markets there. Consequently plans were made to build a major market in the centre of Jewish Hadar. The site selected was extremely challenging, located on a steep slope on rocky ground. Nonetheless a design competition was held and architect Moshe Gerstel, working with engineer C. Cohen submitted the winning entry. His design was judged unanimously to be the best as it addressed the difficult issues of the site and required only local materials. Construction commenced in 1939 and the building was inaugurated in April 1940 when the city's Mayor praised the architect who "with imagination and ingenious creativity gave this city of the future a structure in which she can take pride". 

Gerstel's design included a rectangular structure at the front of the  building and a circular market hall to the rear. The stalls were arranged over three floors underneath a glass roof that flooded the building with natural light. There were also to be stalls on the ground floor and in the basement. Horizontal ribbon windows covered the surface of both parts of the building, giving views over the city and the bay. The exterior is striking due to the bands dividing the levels and the decorative fins above the main entrance. The fins are separated by a glass ladder, allowing even more natural light to flow in. The shuk quickly became a focal point for Haifa's Jewish residents. Nissim Levi describes it as "...the biggest and fanciest shopping centre in the Middle East...The central structure was roofed with a brilliant glass ceiling and the sunlight that seeped inside glittered on the fresh fruits and vegetables and created a colourful celebration that the eye can never get enough of". He also recalled  the wide range of products available and the songs and slogans made up by the vendors to attract customers.

Sadly the building has been allowed to deteriorate terribly and when I last visited two years ago only the basement remained in use for the sale of produce. The ground floor had a few low quality stalls and the upper levels were sealed off. Many of the windows were broken and feral cats roamed about. Netting had been installed to prevent pigeons causing further damage but serious action is required if the building is to survive. 

Gerstel was an extremely interesting character. Born in Galicia, Poland in 1886 he studied in Lviv and Vienna, saw active military service in the First World War and then lived and worked in Bucharest from 1922 to 1935, where he designed many buildings. He made aliyah in 1935. Settling in Haifa, he established a life long friendship with Hajj Tahir Karaman, a successful Arab businessman and deputy mayor of the city. Although Karaman was an Arab nationalist he was not opposed to co-operating with Jews and recommended Gerstel to several other wealthy Arab families who commissioned him to design homes for them. Their friendship was so strong that when the Gerstel family were in financial difficulties, Karaman not only took them in but added four rooms to his own home for them. Gerstel designed a house for his friend in the same street as the Shuk and continued designing for the family even when they left Haifa after 1948.

Karaman's recommendations resulted in commissions for three adjacent residential properties on Tchernikovsky Street on Mount Carmel. These include the Agnes Khouri house at number 29, built in 1937 and which has a spectacular glazed curved corner. One of the three properties is now divided into two with a Jewish family living in one half and an Arab family in the other, perhaps continuing the architect's tradition of good inter-communal relations. Gerstel's star began to fade in the 1950's but he remained in Haifa until he died in 1961. Several of his buildings have survived until today.

Picture post 52 - Modernism on Massada Street

Haifa is Israel's third largest city (after Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv) and is the main centre in the north of the country. Like Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem, Haifa has many modernist buildings spread throughout the city. I have written previously those in the heart of the Hadar district where there are many examples of this style, including residential and commercial premises and at least one former cinema.

37 Massada Street

37 Massada Street

A little further up Mount Carmel, Massada Street is well known for its cafes, bars and vintage shops that have sprung up over the last decade. It is also home to a collection of extremely attractive modernist buildings completed in the 1930s. Some of these treasures are difficult to see due to the mature trees in front of, or around them, and of course views of some of them are obscured by the ubiquitous wires, poles and parked cars that feature in most of my photographs below! However, it its well worth looking past these little annoyances to enjoy the architecture. I have not been able to secure details of the architects and date of construction for all of the buildings featured in this post and welcome any information that readers may have. Similarly it has proved difficult to find detailed information about the architects that I have identified so again all information is welcome! 

Perhaps the most imposing modernist structure on Massada Street is the apartment building at number 37. Completed in 1935 it was designed by David Wittmann. It is in need of some restoration but is still an striking building with its glazed "ladder"on the stairwell, art deco style portholes at the summit and rooftop terrace. The gardens in front of the building are overgrown but it is possible to walk up the steps from the pavement to the raised platform on which the house stands, look up, and appreciate this very large structure.The building's facade also features curved balconies with views over the city whilst it is also worth picking your way through the overgrown gardens to the side of the building to see more balconies, almost completely hidden from the street. Wittmann was also responsible for a modernist building at 35 Moriah Avenue further up the Carmel.

37 Massada Street

35 Massada Street

42 Massada Street

The corner building across the street, number 42 Massada was designed by the Hungarian born architect Leon Vamos and completed in 1936. Another apartment building, it too has a roof terrace and glazed stairwell but unfortunately some of the balconies have been enclosed - something that has happened to many of Israel's modernist buildings, in a bid to acquire extra internal space, often for growing families.

42 Massada Street

Number 33 is also worth a look, particularly for its glazed stairwell. Some of the panes are missing today but look up to see the impressive sweep of this cement clad and rectangular glazed section. The architect responsible for this building was Bruno Kalitzki. Born in Chemnitz in 1890, he graduated from the city's Royal Gymnasium in 1906 and went on to study architecture at the University of Charlottenburg in Berlin.  Kalitzki served in the German army during the First World War before going on to establish his own architectural practice with one Walter Naumann. He designed a couple of cinemas in Chemnitz but his promising career in Germany came to an end in 1933 following the election of the Nazis when together with his non-Jewish wife he left the country to live and work in Haifa until his death in 1953. His cinemas in Chemnitz were destroyed in bombing raids during the War.

33 Massada Street

Number 43 is a beautiful apartment building with a cafe on the ground floor and residential premises above. Unfortunately the details of the architect are unknown but it is probably safe to assume that it was built around the same time as the neighbouring modernist structures. I particularly like the two balconies, the upper one topped by a "lid". Note the red flag on the first floor balcony - its actually the flag of China!

43 Massada Street

43 Massada Street

Facing number 43 on the opposite side of the street, there is another beautiful modernist building. Dating from 1936 this apartment block is an interesting combination of styles. The small rounded balconies on the facade topped with a shelf to protect residents from the sun are modernist and many similar examples can be found in the city. The unclad stone around the communal entrance reflects the approach to modernism in Jerusalem and in other parts of Haifa and contrasts with the cement covered facade. However, the shape of the house and the taller middle section make mild references to some of the Arab architecture in the city. 

I was charmed by this building (which is again undergoing some kind of restoration) but it is a shame that those spectacularly ugly air conditioning units have been placed above the entrance, not to mention the prison style bars on the window at first floor level. On a more positive note, those curtains hanging outside the first floor windows are a photographer's dream! The exterior wall bears a plaque explaining that the house was restored in 2001 and won second prize in a competition to improve the look of the city whilst a further plaque names the "engineer" responsible for the building as one S. Rimon.

You can find out about the many other modernist buildings in Haifa from the recently published book "Carmel - The International Style in Haifa". The book is authored by Ines Sonder and features the photographs of Stephanie Kloss. You can buy a copy in most branches of Steimatzky or at Tel-Aviv's Bauhaus Center at 99 Dizengoff.

All of the buildings featured in this post are close together and can be seen in a leisurely 20 minutes visit. Massada is one of the stations on the Carmelit - Haifa's underground funicular railway and so it is easy to combine a stop here with visits to the attractions further up the Carmel or lower down the mountain in the Down Town area, German Colony or Hadar. There are also several good cafes on Massada Street where you can stop for a refuel before continuing to explore the city.

44 Massada Street

44 Massada Street

You might also like Picture Post 43 - Haifa's Shuk HaTalpiot - a neglected beauty.

Picture post 43 - Haifa's Shuk HaTalpiot - a neglected beauty

Haifa's Shuk HaTalpiot is one of the most vibrant parts of the city. Located at the junction of Sirkin and Lunz in the Hadar neighbourhood, the streets are filled with stall after stall of colourful and aromatic fresh vegetables, fruit, olives, cheeses and spices. There are also butchers and fishmongers and stalls selling household goods of all kinds from bedding to kitchen utensils, clothing to electrical goods.

Every day (except Tuesday afternoon and Shabbat) thousands of shoppers come to the Shuk for great locally grown produce at very competitive prices. Many of the customers are from the large Orthodox community that lives in the area around Herzl and Nordau streets, but everyone comes here and Arabic, Russian, French and English can be heard here as well as Hebrew. Even a few tourists manage to find their way to the shuk. On my recent visit I took away a large box of cherries for a mere 20 shekels, tasted other fruits, sniffed at the colourful spices and would have happily stocked up if I had been staying longer. There is something about the atmosphere that gives you the urge to buy! 

Whilst there are many open air stalls, the best part of the market is surely the basement level of the old shuk building. Descending from the street, the first thing that struck me was the riot of colour from the produce and the cacophony of sound from competing stall holders trying to attract custom. The place is packed to bursting with stalls, shoppers and the sounds and smells of this very Haifan experience. The produce is terrific but this building that once housed all of the market is now in very poor condition, giving only a hint of its original glory. 

Designed by Moshe Gerstel, this huge structure was built between 1939 and 1940, just after the Arab riots of 1936-39. A competition was held to design a large market hall that would not only serve the mainly Jewish population of the Hadar district but located on the border with the Wadi Salib neighbourhood, it would form a line of defence against possible attack. Gerstel's winning design  included a central space with a coloured glass roof slab above a horseshoe shaped hall, flooding the building with natural light. The exterior design was stark but included decorative fins over the main entrance, separated by a glass ladder which admitted even more light. The stalls were to be arranged across three upper galleries as well as on the ground floor and in the basement.

Whilst the basement remains in use, the only other part of the building still operational is the ground floor which has a few very low quality stalls and a small cafe. The upper levels are sealed off and the view down to the basement is blocked with hoardings. Many of the windows have been broken and feral cats roam around the ground floor and beyond. Thankfully netting has been put in to prevent pigeons causing further damage but the whole structure is in a sorry state and its future looks precarious unless urgent action is taken. Friends in Haifa told me that in recent years the city administration has been discussing the future of Gerstel's building and how to save it. That has to be good news. Slow but sure efforts are being made to revive other long neglected parts of the city including the port area, but the authorities need to act quickly with the shuk or the city will lose an important part of its heritage.

You might also like - Picture post 6 - Shuk Machane Yehuda, Jerusalem