Book abstract - Museum of Art, Ein Harod

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H e ad e r
Kibbutz
Architecture Without Precedents
The Israeli Pavilion
The 12th International Architecture Exhibition
The Venice Biennial
Kibbutz: Architecture Without
Precedents
Ministry of Culture and Sports
Culture Administration
The Israeli Pavilion
The 12th International Architecture Exhibition
The Venice Biennial
August-November 2010
Director of the Culture Administration:
Zach Granit
Director of the Finance and Budget Division:
Shlomo Itzhaki
Director of the Museums and Visual Art
Department: Idit Amihai
Chairman of the Israeli Council of Culture
and Art: Haim Perluk
Chairman of the Visual Art Section: Sigal Barnir
Steering Committee: Sigal Barnir (chair),
Ulrik Plesner, Dan Eytan, Gidi Bar-Orian,
Thea Kisselov
Exhibition
Curators: Galia Bar Or, Yuval Yasky
Production: Productions’ Den Ltd. – Miki Gov
Director of the Israeli Pavilion in Venice:
Arad Turgeman
Exhibition design: Dan Hasson
Graphic design: Michael Gordon Studio
Archival conceptualization: Zvi Efrat
Video archive: Adi Biran; Archival research:
Adi Levy-Trau, Iris Kashman, Nur Efrat; Video
and sound installation: Doron Video and
Computer Projections; Printing: Top-Print,
Tel Aviv; Press coordinator in Italy:
Lucia Briseghella
Videography director: Itai Raziel; Videography:
Gideon Porat, Shalom Rufeisen; Video editing
director: Ayelet Gil; Video editing: Tahel
Azulay; Video production: Dina Kapchitz
Munio Gitai Weinraub installation:
Amos Gitai; photography – Gabriele Basilico;
editing – Isabelle Ingold; soundtrack editing –
Alex Claude; production – Laurent Truchot;
thanks – Ben Ori Gitai
Book
Chief editor: Galia Bar Or
Associate editor: Yuval Yasky
Design and production: Michael Gordon
Hebrew text editing and translation:
Daphna Raz
English text editing and translation:
Richard Flantz
Additional English translations:
Daria Kassovsky, Uri Bruck, Arlene
and Jerry Aviram, Shira Szabo
Graphic execution: Tom Kuris
Pre-press and printing: Top-Print, Tel Aviv
Binding: Kordova Bindery, Holon
© 2010, all rights reserved
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Division of Cultural and
Scientific Affairs
Deputy General Director: Arye Mekel
Director of the Arts and Literature
Department: Ofra Ben-Yaacov
Head of the Visual Arts Section: Yona Marcu
Administrative Assistant in the Visual Arts
Section: Yossi Balt
Director of the Administration and Budget
Department: Isi Yanouka
Embassy of Israel in Rome
The Ambassador of Israel, H.E. Gideon Meir
Cultural Attaché: Ofra Farhi
Consul: Avi Zairi
The exhibition and book were made
possible with the kind support of:
David Azrieli – the Azrieli Group Ltd.
Plasan Sasa Ltd.
Bank Hapoalim Ltd.
Rachel and Dov Gottesman
Ronny Douek
Mati Broudo – Rothschild 69
El Al Israel Airlines Ltd.
Hadera Paper Ltd.
Museum of Art, Ein Harod
Gan Shmuel Foods, Ganir Ltd.
Culture Mishmar HaEmek
Ricor Ltd., Ein Harod Ichud
Plasson, Maagan Michael
Maytronics, Kibbutz Yizrael
Yotvata Dairy
Osem Investments Ltd.
‫‏‬A Passover Seder in the dining hall, Kibbutz Mishmar HaEmek, 1953
[Photo: Tim Gidal, courtesy of The Israel Museum, Jerusalem]
1953 ,‫ קיבוץ משמר–העמק‬,‫ליל הסדר בחדר האוכל‬
]‫ ירושלים‬,‫ באדיבות מוזיאון ישראל‬,‫ טים גידל‬:‫[צילום‬
Foreword
The underlying theme of the exhibition and its book Kibbutz: Architecture
Without Precedents is the role of architecture as an active partner in the
shaping of a society and in contributing to the quality of human relationships
within it.
Kibbutz planning presents a unique architectural challenge, for the
kibbutz is a voluntarily way of life based on equality, mutual aid and full
partnership in all the social and economic aspects of life, including property
and land. This social ideal, which reformist and utopian architecture sought
to promote in various forms from the 19th century onwards, remained
mostly in plans on paper and was essentially ideological and formalistic in
its character. In the kibbutz, in contrast, the collective social vision was
from the very outset translated into architectural language and a form
of spatial organization, and these developed through many improvements
into a new settlemental typology that could assimilate both the experience
that was being accumulated and the contemporary processes of change.
The idea of communal sharing and egalitarianism found expression first
and foremost in the principle of a shared space for all the functions of
life – production (agriculture, industry), education, culture, health, etc. In
effect the kibbutz is a single undivided space, in which there are no fences
or private plots, which contains all the dimensions of life and is collectively
owned by all the members of the kibbutz. The central arena of kibbutz life
is the large lawn and the public facilities (the dining hall, the culture house,
the library, the members’ club), which are situated around it like a “forum”
or “agora” This center, together with the kibbutz garden, the landscape of
paths and the space among the houses, constitutes a significant focus of
social interaction.
Since 1910, 280 kibbutzim have been established throughout EretzIsrael – in the semi-desert Negev, in the hill country, on the coastal plain,
and many have been joined by immigrants from diverse countries of origin.
Over the years various alternatives of kibbutz life have taken shape in
these settlements, and kibbutz architects have been asked to provide
specific answers for diverse hues of social relationships, which have found
expression in distinctive versions of overall settlement planning, of the
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connection with the landscape, of the placement and design of the public
buildings, the residential and the production zones, and of the relations
among them.
The adaptability of the kibbutz architectural space to new demands
arising from orientations of change owes much to its complex undivided
character, but in recent years many kibbutzim have been undergoing a
radical shift: a transition from a socialist conception of “from each
according to his ability, to each according to his needs” to the principle
of differential earnings linked to the rules of the market, although the
“safety-net” still subsidizes education and health as well as social security
and mutual aid on a scale unknown in other forms of life. With regard to
architecture, many kibbutzim are today experimenting with varying degrees
of privatization of the collective kibbutz space, and its unique fabric is in a
danger of destruction. Nonetheless, in the past three years there has been
a discernible wave of return to the kibbutz, as well as a rethinking of its
architectural, environmental and spatial values, and a developing of new
and original models of solidarity and mutual aid.
Will we be able to think about the kibbutz not merely as a social
experiment that has exhausted its potential but as a proposal for a
very contemporary discourse, as a community structure that offers an
alternative, both to the nation-state, which is providing fewer and fewer
services, and to the generic-spatial default option of the separatist suburban
model? Is there a chance that the discussion about the transformation of
the kibbutz and about new forms of organization of mutual aid could extend
to beyond its Zionist origins and consequently generate new structures,
new spatial relationships unknown to us as yet, and a pertinent dialogue
between architecture and society?
To illuminate the fecund collaboration between a social vision and
architecture, the book of the exhibition juxtaposes social and ideological
pronouncements with texts on architectural theory and practice. In the
past, many researchers tended to read ideological formulations of a
social vision as no more than a mobilizing device used by a manipulative
leadership; in the present book, in contrast, such formulations are regarded
as a mirror reflecting how people perceived the narrative of their time and
endeavored to confront its challenges. The ideological projection in these
texts helps us to understand the principles implemented by the architects
when they prepared general plans for kibbutzim, shaped the character of
their institutions, and embodied in materials all the aspects of their social
and economic life to the last detail. The kibbutz experience teaches us that
true collaboration between architectural vision and in-depth social dialogue
is a necessary condition for the creation of meaningful architecture that
embraces a complete cycle of life and can absorb processes of change
judiciously.
Part One is devoted to the historical context of the period. Galia
Bar Or’s introductory essay considers a test case of fecund interaction
between social ideas and architecture, and discusses how these crystallized
together in practice to create a new and relevant architectural typology,
kibbutz architecture. This essay is followed by programmatic texts by
authors who were among the leading activists in the kibbutz movements
since their beginnings: Yitzhak Tabenkin, one of the leaders of the Kibbutz
Hameuchad movement, discusses the issue of building in the kibbutz in light
of the city-village conception; Shabtai Beeri, coordinator of the Building
Department of the Kibbutz Hameuchad, writes a brief survey of the history
of communal architecture in the world; and Haim Ben-Asher discusses the
significance of the cultural institutions in the kibbutz, in an address at the
inauguration of the “Culture House” in Kibbutz Givat Brenner.
Part Two deals with current processes of change, with a view to the
future. The essay by the architect Yuval Yasky discusses the present-day
trend of privatization in the kibbutz and its prospects and dangers, as well
as the complex systems of standardization being enforced today by various
authorities and committees, which are making it difficult to preserve the
kibbutz space; the article by the architect Freddie Kahana, written in 1992,
expands the scope to the field of regional planning and is evidence of new
thinking on the subject among kibbutz planners already at that time; and
the architect and researcher Zvi Efrat (in a conversation with Galia Bar Or)
relates to the unique vitality of the kibbutz space and examines approaches
for healthier planning confrontation with future processes of change.
Part Three introduces original texts by architects of the first generation
of kibbutz planners: excerpts from an article by Richard Kauffmann, the
most significant architect in the shaping of the fundamental models of
kibbutz planning; and articles by Shmuel Mestechkin, chief architect of the
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Kibbutz Artzi movement, and by Arieh Sharon, who did extensive planning
work for this movement (Sharon is represented here by a reproductions
of several pages from one of his books, in which text and images are
interwoven). Samuel Bickels, chief architect of the Kibbutz Hameuchad
movement, elaborates on the kibbutz “gardenscape”, with accompanying
illustrations. All these are followed by a key containing architectural, social
and linguistic elucidations of terms distinctive to the kibbutz, and notes on
the four architects referred to in the present paragraph.
The last part of the book includes a poetical text written by the film
director Amos Gitai in memory of his father, the architect Munio Gitai
Weinraub, who also did extensive planning work in the kibbutzim. The
junkyard playground in the kibbutz children's houses, the original creation
of the educator Malka Haas, is discussed in an article by her brother,
the landscape architect and researcher Carl Steinitz, and is presented
as a metaphor for the flexibility of the entire kibbutz space and for the
conception of a synergetic interconnection between the individual and the
group.
Many institutions, and marvelous people in them, have assisted us in finding
the materials for the exhibition and the book. Most of the materials were
provided to us by the archives of kibbutzim; to them and to their directors
we extend our esteem and gratitude: – the archives of the kibbutzim Ein
Gedi, Ein Harod Meuchad, Ein Hashofet, Gan Shmuel, Geva, Givat Brenner,
Mishmar HaEmek, Nativ HaLamed He, Nir Am, Reim, Kfar Masaryk, Yagur.
The exhibition also includes documentary films provided to us gratis for
screening by courtesy of the kibbutzim Degania Alef, Gan Shmuel, Geva,
Givat Brenner, and Mishmar HaEmek. Many thanks too to the central
archives that supported our work and assisted us with historical material:
The Central Zionist Archives (CZA), Jerusalem; the Yad Tabenkin
Archives, Ramat Efal; the Yad Yaari Archives, Givat Haviva; the Beit
Sturman Archives, Ein Harod; the Beit Trumpeldor Archives, Tel Yosef;
the Israel Architecture Archive (IAA); the collection of the architect Zvi
Elhyani, Tel Aviv. Our thanks, too, to the Pier Paulo Pasolini Archive at the
Cinetica in Bologna and to the Pasolini Foundation, Rome, for permission
to screen a portion of the film Location Hunting in Palestine for The Gospel
According to St. Matthew.
In the exhibition and the book we have made use of archival pictures
taken by unidentified photographers, and we apologize in advance
for this lacuna in the information provided. We want to thank the
important photographers whose photographs have been incorporated
in the exhibition and the book: Hanan Bahir, whose estate is preserved
in the archive of Kibbutz Givat Brenner; Eliyahu Cohen, whose estate is
preserved in the archive of Kibbutz Ashdot Yaacov; Ari Glas, whose estate
is preserved in the archive of Kibbutz Yagur, Zvi Nahor whose estate
is kept at the Yad Tabenkin Archives, David Perlmutter, whose estate is
preserved in the archive of Kibbutz Kfar Menachem; David Scherf, whose
estate is preserved in the archive of Kibbutz Ein Hachoresh, and – long may
they live – Azaria Alon, whose photograph collection is in the possession
of the Alon family; and Micha Bar-Am.
Our heartfelt thanks to the architects’ families and to the architecture
archives that assisted us with professional material: the Bickels Center,
Museum of Art, Ein Harod; the Bickels estate, Yad Tabenkin Archives; the
estate of Richard Kaufmann in the Central Zionist Archives; the estate of
Shmuel Mestechkin in the Yad Yaari Archives; the estate of Arieh Sharon
held by Yael Aloni and the family; the estate of Hanan Havron at Kibbutz
Reim; the estate of Ziva Armoni held by the Armoni family; the estate of
Shlomo Weinberg-Oren at Kibbutz Yagur; the estate of Yitzhak Kutner
held by Gideon Kutner; the estate of Lipa Yahalom and Dan Tsur in the
Yahalom-Tsur Landscape Architects archive. Thanks, too, to Professor
Winfried Nerdinger, chief curator of the Museum of Architecture of the
Technical University, Munich.
For the help they have provided we extend our thanks to Professor
Ruth Enis, and also to Yuval Danieli, Yael Aloni, Avital Efrat, the family
of Ziva Armoni, Ilana Havron, Muki Tzur, Guy Raz, Tami Porat, Noam
Segal (curator of Rothschild 69, Tel Aviv), Yaara Bar-On, Ami Gardi, Anava
Nur, Margie Peleg, Rachel Seidel, and the Forum for the Preservation of
Audio-Visual Memory in Israel. Our esteem and thanks to Anat Zeltser
and her team (Anat and Modi Inc.) and to Ada Etgar, who assisted us most
generously.
Endless thanks to the donors without whose assistance we would
not have been able to produce the exhibition and the book with all their
complex technical aspects: David Azrieli, the founder and proprietor of the
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Azrieli Group; Plasan – Kibbutz Sasa; Bank Hapoalim Ltd.; Rachel and Dov
Gottesman; Ronny Douek; Mati Broudo; El Al Israel Airlines Ltd.; Hadera
Paper Ltd.; and the Museum of Art, Ein Harod..
Last but not least, our thanks to all those who have taken part in
the production of the exhibition and the book: to Michael Gordon who
presided over the graphic design and production and contributed of his
spirit and his profundity of thought to the book; to Daphna Raz, the
Hebrew text editor, who accorded an additional dimension to the overall
conception and the clarity of the essays; to Richard Flantz, whose attentive
text editing and translations in the English version have successfully
preserved the spirit of the time of both the historical sources and the
contemporary texts; to Daria Kassovsky, Uri Bruck, Arlene and Jerry
Aviram, and Shira Szabo for additional translations into English; to Tom
Kuris who wisely and professionally navigated the intricate procedures of
the graphic execution; to Zvi Efrat for his invaluable contribution, and to
Dan Hasson and Adi Biran who applied their talents to the design of the
exhibition and the compilation of the materials; to the research assistants
Adi Levy-Trau, Iris Kashman, and Nur Efrat, who traveled to many archives
in order to build the image bank for the exhibition; to the video crew: Itai
Uziel, the videography director; Gideon Porat and Shalom Rufeisen, the
videographers; Ayelet Gil and Tahel Azoulay, the editors of the films; and
Dina Kapchitz, the producer of the films.
Galia Bar Or and Yuval Yaski