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Leon Blum Street in Haifa and the import of the modernist model to Haifa

Ramat Hadar is located in the south-eastern part of the Upper Hadar neighborhood. The main street of Ramat Hadar is Leon Bloom Street. Most of the buildings in the neighborhood were built during the 60's and 70's of the last century and in the 90's they were joined by many new residences.

Leon Bloom, after whom the street is named, was a French-Jewish politician, leader of the SFIO party (predecessor of the Socialist Party) and founder of the Popular Front. Served as Prime Minister of France three times and was the first Jewish Prime Minister of France.

The thing that makes the street unique is the mass of particularly massive buildings, which are attempts by Israeli architects to realize the modernist vision of the architect Le Corbusier, who developed the concept of the "living machine" expressed in the construction of large apartment complexes, offering a variety of services to tenants.

Leon Blum 2, apartment complex in levels • oil on canvas 50/40 cm (painting: Yossi Lubalski)
Leon Blum 2, apartment complex in levels • oil on canvas 50/40 cm (painting: Yossi Lubalski)

The importation of the modernist model to Israel and Haifa in particular, faced construction in the mountainous topography of the Haifa Carmel slopes and the result is a street level that is approximately halfway up the height of the building, with access to it via a bridge, as in other housing estates built in the city during this period.

The buildings themselves include elements such as exposed concrete, protruding windows, a large number of apartments, a raised floor (pillared floor) and levels within the apartments.

Recently, the high school 'Hogis' was built in its new residence, which was inaugurated in 2019 and covers an area at the intersection of Leon Blum and Hana Sanesh streets. The school was designed by Uzi Gordon - architects and urban planners. The complex of buildings and design planning is in line with innovation and progress, in contrast to the nature of the surrounding buildings.  

Leon Bloom 2

Every Haifai knows the red building that stands tall and attracts the eye, a huge residential building, and its location near the intersection of Hasif, Leon Blum and Kish streets. The building stands in front of one of Carmel's wadis. Unlike other public housing projects, this building has not, over the years, become "slams", and still arouses interest and demand.

The complex was designed by the architects Shlomo Gilad and Daniel Havkin and built by the companies Resco and Shikon and Development. This is one of the most intriguing buildings, due to the nature of the apartments built on different levels, despite the fact that its external appearance is like a uniform and monotonous rectangular box.

Leon Blum 28-36, the blue wavy building, oil on canvas 50/40 cm, (drawing: Yossi Lubalski)
Leon Blum 28-36, the blue wavy building, oil on canvas 50/40 cm, (drawing: Yossi Lubalski)

Leon Bloom 4-24

 Another Israeli version of the Karbozian style is the largest block among the blocks built on the street, designed by the architects Al Mansfeld and Monio Gitai Weinroib in the late 1950s. Unlike the red building, here the apartments are on one level.

Here, too, the building has all the elements that Corbusier designed, including the stepped floor that serves as a shared balcony for the apartment owners. The building was originally bare concrete and recently underwent restoration and the concrete building envelope was painted. 

Leon Bloom 28-36

is another attempt at the style of the buildings on the street. Apart from the monumental appearance of the multi-residential box structure and entrance corridor to the buildings, it violates the principles of the Corbusian style. Unlike the others, its shell in the front is divided by longitudinal and not horizontal lines, which is one of the principles of Le Corbusier. The tenants got tired of the concrete look from the sky and initiated a new look for the building's shell as a kind of cloudy waves in the blue color for its shades that wrap the facade. Ask any Haifai about the wavy blue building and he will know to recognize it. Recently, there has been a response from the tenants to rehabilitate the facade and the shell of the building.

contact: At watsapBy email

Yossi Lubalski
Yossi Lubalski
Israeli painter, a resident of Haifa, a graduate of the School of Architecture. He teaches painting and paints the city of Haifa and the landscapes of the valley. The paintings can be purchased. 054-5745404 | [email protected]

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11 תגובות

  1. I have lived in different apartments over the years. Some are very beautiful and some less so. I have always especially loved my small apartment (2 rooms) that I renovated and rented out for many years. Every day I open my eyes to an amazingly beautiful landscape. On one side a green forest and on the other the sea and the port. I don't think there are many places like Ayala in beautiful Haifa. The levels in the apartment are special and unique after the renovation. The location is excellent. Tenant in the building

  2. Leon Bloom 2 stands in a fantastic location, you focused more on its exterior (which personally reminds me of Soviet buildings of the last century that housed/housed hundreds of families) and less on the interior: what did the architects think that some of the apartments they built there are 2 rooms on 2 levels with a steep staircase connecting them with a terrible partition It is likely that if this area was empty and they built a modern tower today, it would have a huge demand and double the price of apartments. Leon Bloom 24-4 is an old but comfortable and tidy building with 3-room apartments that are about 85 meters wide and with 2 apartments per floor, that is, it benefits from 2 opposing air directions And these are very bright apartments with an excellent breeze that eliminates the need for air conditioners in the summer, a disadvantage - one especially small elevator. The advantage of almost all the apartments on the street is the great view if to the forest/seas/front. Definitely a special street

  3. Happy for your response, Eve
    Because of a strong tenants council in these buildings they still nurture and care for the preservation of the buildings. The buildings have not yet been declared conservation buildings despite their architectural attribution.

  4. Leon Blum The 2 apartments on 2 levels in the apartment, an apartment going up and an apartment going down on each floor at a height of 6 floors, a unique building in Israel (tenant of the building)

  5. An interesting review that tells about the mobilization of architecture for the social needs of the newly established state. Glad to see that the preservation of the buildings is being considered so that we show respect to the tenants and the city

  6. Interesting. A striking street in Carmel. The paintings are really beautiful

  7. Thank you Yossi for the wonderful article!
    It's interesting to know such details about the buildings and to see your beautiful creations!

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