At 2 Leon Blum Street, a mega-building rises, which, like the neighboring T-block, was also created under the influence of the "residential unit" of the renowned French architect, Le Corbusier.
Leon Bloom 2
Unlike some of the other public housing projects of this magnitude, which were built at the initiative of the Ministry of Housing, this building did not become a "slams". The building was designed and built in the 60s of the last century, according to the plans of the architects Shlomo Gilad and Daniel Havkin.
The building contains 130 apartments with 2 and 3 rooms. Access to the building is via a wide flight of stairs that connects the street level with the colonnaded floor where the entrance is located. This floor serves as a kind of "street" of a small city, with various commercial services for the benefit of the building's residents. Below the public floor are 2 more service floors.
The access to the apartments is through open corridors along their entire length, towards the street or towards Huadi. They divide the mass of the building into "portions" of 3-4 floors, thereby reducing the heavy appearance of the building.
The apartments are spread over 3 half-levels and open to both fronts, namely to Leon Blum Street and to Huadi. The hallway leads to apartment foyer rooms. There are entrances from which you can go up or down half a floor, to an "upward apartment" or a "downstairs apartment". Inside the apartments there is a difference of half a floor between the living level and the sleeping level. The interior design is efficient and minimalist, in the spirit of the 60s.
French influence
Similar to the T building, the neighbor, this building is also influenced by the "living unit" design of Le Corbusier, one of the fathers of modern architecture. The "residential unit" of his design was built in Marseille in the 50s, against the backdrop of European reconstruction efforts after the destruction of World War II. The impact on the building in question is evident in the large amount of apartments in one building, the nature of the apartments (duplex), the use of balconies, the combination of public functions within the building and also in the general sadness reminiscent of a huge box containing "living boxes".
Buildings similar to the "residential unit" in Marseille were built in various places in the world, including Warsaw, Katowice, Barcelona and also New Delhi.
Leon Bloom (1872-1950)
Leon Bloom, after whom the street is named, was a French Jewish politician, the leader of the SFIO party, the predecessor of the French Socialist Party. He served as Prime Minister of France for three separate periods, between 1936 and 1938. In 1943, he was transferred to the custody of the Germans and sent to the Buchenwald camp. Towards the end of World War II, the Nazi command ordered his execution, but the forces in the field refused to carry out the order. He was released in 1945. In May 1948, on the eve of the end of the British mandate on Israel, Leon Blum expressed firm support for the declaration of the state, saying that "This is a one-time historical opportunity. If you don't take the risk now, such an opportunity will not return.'
Architect Shlomo Gilad (1922-2005)
Shlomo Gilad (1922-2005), born in Poland, immigrated to Israel with his family in 1933 and lived in Haifa. Studied architecture at the Technion (1944). Starting in 1955, he ran an independent planning office but also taught at the Technion Faculty of Architecture (senior lecturer).
His office was involved in many projects in the Haifa area and throughout the country. As part of the kibbutz movement, he planned projects from Margaliot in the north to Sde Boker in the south. Apart from the building reviewed here (jointly planned with architect D. Havkin), his projects in Haifa include: the Municipal Theater and the Pevzner Library, the Stairs Building and the "Eshkol Tower" at the University of Haifa, the student house at the Technion and the Biram House at the Reali School.
Architect Danny Havkin (1925-1993)
D. Havkin was born in Haifa, studied architecture at the Technion, where he graduated in 1950. He taught at the Technion and served twice as Dean of the Faculty of Architecture. Was a partner of Prof. Al Mansfeld (1964-1974). His works in Haifa include: the residential building at Leon Bloom 2 in Ramat Hadar (with Edr. S. Gilad), the Shaar Aliya neighborhood (1976, with Prof. Al Mansfeld) and dormitories at the Technion campus in Neve Shanan (with his wife Aksa Havkin).
Adequate disclosure: I was privileged to be appointed with the students of Professor Danny Havkin.
Sixty years old, well preserved...
During my visit to the building for the purpose of preparing the article, I was very impressed by the well-kept appearance of the entrance floor and its surroundings. From conversations with several tenants - a non-representative sample - I heard words of satisfaction with the building, despite its advanced age. In their words, there was also a clear "singular pride" in the fact that architecture students frequently visit the place to closely observe the design quality of the building.
If it weren't for the air conditioner cubes scattered across the facades and the balconies that the tenants closed one by one according to their taste and ability, one could even say that the building is well preserved, although there is (still) no sign indicating that it is declared a "building for preservation".
My thanks are hereby given to the reader Cherry who drew my attention to this building and thus led to the writing of this article. We invite our readers to suggest buildings as subjects for articles and if interesting stories are found behind them we will be happy to review them in this section.
Dear readers,
The articles in this section are based on open information published in sources such as Wikipedia and other websites and may include various historical inaccuracies arising from the aforementioned sources.
We lived there for around 20 years, what a wonderful childhood we had
If they didn't show up: the Foundation House, the Great Synagogue, a building in the old Smet, the old Technion, the lighthouse in Stella Maris, the Carmelite Monastery
What is interesting is how the aforementioned architects were able to work in Haifa with the municipality's negative attitude towards building to height
Thank you for your response. I am not aware of a principled approach that excludes building for height. In any case, don't forget that the building was built in the 60s.
In the 60s, Haifa was a dynamic city that thought ahead and wanted the most modern construction available. Haifa was not afraid to take chances with large, tall and experimental prefabricated construction. That's how she got some of the most interesting neighborhoods on the one hand, but today they are dangerous and outdated, built without earthquake standards. After Abba Khushi, Haifa sank into a kind of coma with the new low-rise and anti-urban neighborhoods of the Ridge that did indeed create an elite in Carmel, but the preoccupation with the new neighborhoods in the Ridge and turning their backs on the lower city and Hadar and the neighborhoods of West Haifa created the worst polarization (Gini index) in Israel and all the problems we see Today in the neighborhoods that were left behind in the level of urban investment and into which another 80 immigrants were brought in, that is, a population that cannot deal with the difficulties in those neighborhoods that they were just looking for and are looking for a way out of, and those who enter the place in many cases are already criminal elements, foreign immigrants, construction workers, etc. and the neighborhood is further weakened and my Book closing.
Today, new high-rise buildings in the center are built to higher standards with sophisticated systems and with (even) high maintenance costs. The advantage of a high-rise, high-density neighborhood if it is built correctly is at street level, which can include malls, offices, and municipal services such as clinics, educational institutions, and recreation within walking distance, so that in such neighborhoods it is possible not to own a car at all and rely on the great proximity to everything you need. In Haifa, neighborhoods that have a high potential to be neighborhoods that are also close to a train station (Bat Galim) are Bat Galim, Kiryat Eliezer, Kiryat Eliyahu and the Mosheva.
צריך לדעת לתכנן נכון גם לגובה שלא ייוצרו חומות בנויות שמסתירות לשאר העיר כמו 10 מגדלים 30 קומות בבת גלים שיהיו בכייה לדורות אחרי שיתברר שזה יצר חומת ענק שמסתירה לקרית אליעזר את כל הנוף לים למעשה "כולאת" אותה מאחורי חומת הבנייה של בת גלים.
The ugliest building in Haifa, also called the suicide building.
Maybe a handsome face
But outside, an architectural mistake in the wrong city...a block of concrete that hides a view.
The building was built well in front of Kesferi Street and the entire neighborhood that is reached through it. It did not hide the view from anyone
Thanks for. The article about Leon Bloom 2. It's a shame I didn't see it before you posted it. In my opinion, a very important element is missing; The interior of the apartments. The apartments are special and beautiful with a spectacular view from them (not from all of them). You can see a model in; ynet - A housing apartment in the Ramat Hadar neighborhood (by the way - it's not a housing unit at all).
As usual, I thanked you for your suggestion for the subject of the article and thereby fulfilled my duty. You can refer those interested to the article mentioned in the comments.
Thank you
Nice review.
The choice of this intriguing building.
The detailed description is broad but not precise.
Standard Hebrew (its name is Shemayim, without the phrase "the building feels")
Like all David Bar On's reviews.
Thanks
Thank you very much for your comment and words of appreciation. Yours Shabbat Shalom
Curious to know how many people committed suicide from this very beautiful building?
It's nice that the writer was able to find some positive points to say about one of the ugliest, Soviet buildings that don't fit in with their surroundings in Haifa. Tenants from the neighborhoods overlooking the Leon Blum building claimed at the time that it was a constant visual hazard for them.
If the building's occupants were of the same opinion as you, the building would not look like this.
Thanks, very interesting.
thank you for your response.
These buildings do not meet any fire and earthquake standards.
The buildings are ugly, outdated and it is time to demolish them and build a new construction instead.
I don't know if it is possible to do a construction evacuation for old towers in Ramat Hadar and Jezreeliya, but it is mandatory.
The state should help with budgets or give the contractor additional land so that it pays for him to demolish towers that do not have the possibility of evacuating buildings on their own.
Such outdated towers must also be renewed. The Bretner towers in Bizraelia on the side of the mountain in the area most prone to tremors on the axis of the Yegor fault are a real danger to lives.
Hello David
I contacted you before in response, I would love for you to write an article about the Spanish nursing home in Haifa
When I have enough information, I will consider publication. You have material, send it to me privately.
Thanks for drawing attention to this amazing building...
thank you for your response. Shabbat Shalom!
One of the biggest misses in the most attractive spot in Ramat Hadar.
A complicated building like a maze with many passageways and passages, in some two-story one-room apartments that are clearly uncomfortable, and in some flat apartments, with a steep descent of stairs to reach the building.
It is not clear why this structure is not renewed.
In fact, it is clear - the mayors in Haifa are gray and do not renew the shabby and old neighborhoods and buildings in Haifa
Thank you for your response. Some think otherwise, including many of the building's residents.
I am publishing the response of Reverend Monica Tivon (with proof) as written and in her words:
"Goodbye to David Bar-On,
I find a lot of interest in your architecture articles in the Haifa newspaper.
Quite a few of the articles concern me personally (I am a 96-year-old architect, Technion alumni section
whose studies were stopped in 1947, when the Technion closed its doors, became lecture halls
to mass bedrooms (boys-girls together) and from there students were sent to courses, bases
impromptu, and more.
When I write "personal" I will give 3 examples:
1) I moved with my family to the Blaon building
Bloom 4-24 upon its establishment. ;
2) I worked as an employee at the Mansfeld-Weinraub office and then Weinraub
בנפרד, ובהמשך מנספלד בנפרד;
3) The person of the late Arch Haim Tivon played a central role in the battle
Against the Carmel Beach Towers project.
Even what does not concern me personally, it is about buildings/neighborhoods of Haifa, and I try not to miss a single one
One of the articles and not the charming sketches that accompany them
Well done!
Regards, Monica Tivon
And here are my words of response:
"To Reverend Monica Tivon, hello!
I thank you for your words which moved me very much. I will add and say that I have been appointed
with your husband's students.
Furthermore, the late Chaim was my first supervisor in my master's thesis and we often held work meetings at your house. Later, I changed the thesis topic and also the supervisor.
But I will always remember the pleasantness of his ways and the friendly spirit with which the late Chaim conducted our conversations.
I see this exchange of messages as closing a circle.
Would you allow me to post your comment on the live here site?
I thank you again, from the bottom of my heart, for your words and I wish you good health and Shabbat Shalom!'
I think that, beyond its design, it had another innovative feature of throwing garbage directly into the containers and without leaving the building with the garbage. Is it true? And does the patent still work?
Yes, it works, I lived there for a few years and it's a great arrangement