Be’er Sheva Brutalism Walking Tour
“Looking at Architecture? In Be’er Sheva?” is the incredulous reaction from locals of the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel.
Tel Aviv is famous for its White City, the largest number of buildings in the Bauhaus/International Style of any city in the world. The Bauhaus Center provides an excellent walking tour. They also offer a book on Be’er Sheva Brutalism.
However, the walking tour of Be’er Sheva is self-guided. There is no Brutalism Center to greet you and sell you souvenirs. Equipped with an article from Moshe Gilad at Haaretz as our guide, we set off to explore the capital of Israeli Brutalist architecture.
[Update: I made a TL;DR Google Maps version to make it easier to find the locations from this article: click here.]
Neighborhood Heh (H)
The first stop on the tour is the synagogue located at HaTsvi Street 20, in the Heh (H) neighborhood. [Note: Many of the neighborhoods in Be’er Sheva have names that are simply Hebrew letters, like Aleph (A), Bet (B), Gimel (G), Dalet (D)…etc.] At first glance, the synagogue seems like a regular building.
But if you walk around to the back of the building, the original concrete structure with a dome created by architect Nahum Zolotov is revealed.
In 2007, a new wing was added to the synagogue, which hides the original structure. This is what the front of the building looked like before this addition.
The people are very friendly, and they will invite you to look inside this incredible space-age synagogue. Because of the design of the façade, “a sort of Mashrabiyah (an Arabic term for a projecting oriel window with carved latticework) that is intended to filter out fierce sunlight,” the interior is cool and shaded, a respite from the harsh desert sun.
The next stop, a short walk from the synagogue toward Gamal Street, is the Shikun Shatiah (Carpet housing project) designed by Nahum Zolotov and Daniel Havkin. As you approach, you notice the wonderful pedestrian passages of this neighborhood.
In the 1960s and 1970s, it was considered an exclusive neighborhood, with a lot of academics and nuclear scientists. Today it is still a residential area, so please be mindful when taking photos to be respectful to the residents. You will find each passage has its unique character.
When you’re ready to move on, navigate to the main road, called Sderot Ye’elim (Ye’elim Boulevard). There is a bridge that crosses Sderot Ye’elim, and you will find yourself confronted by the quarter-kilometer-long housing bloc known as Merkaz Klita Yeelim.
“A sort of skyscraper lying on its side to rest,” this four-story structure with 135 residential units, designed by Avraham Yaski and Amnon Alexandroni in 1958, is truly awe-inspiring and impossible to wholly capture in a photo from street-level.
Avraham Yaski was only 31-years-old at the time he designed this building. Although he was awarded the Israel Prize in 1982, he described Merkaz Klita Ye’elim as “a conscious attempt that failed completely.”
Public Center Neighborhood
Our next stops in the tour are a short walk away (over 2km, or eight-quarter-kilometer-long-buildings) in the Public Center Neighborhood. The first is Be’er Sheva City Hall at Shazar Blvd 6, designed by Michael Nadler and Shmuel Bixon.
The Be’er Sheva City Hall has a lot of details to celebrate for fans of Brutalist and Soviet-era architecture.
Adjacent to the City Hall building (turn your head left) is the Yad LaBanim Memorial, designed by Yohanan Ratner and Mordechai Shoshani in 1981.
The Yad LaBanim Memorial also has many details for Brutalism enthusiasts to love: The strong lines and crisp shadows that have made the Brutalist style so popular on image-based blogging platforms such as Tumblr and Instagram.
A short walk away (700m) is the Synagogue Pyramid of the Iraqi community, designed by Nahum Zolotov, who you may remember from the Dome Synagogue at the beginning of the tour. The address is Moses Montefiore St 5. We don’t have a photo because we were lost.
The Negev Center
The next tour stop is at the address Derech Metsada 6. We also don’t have any photos from this stop because we were even more lost at this point. Here’s what the guide, Mr. Gilad from Haaretz had to say:
Welcome to the Negev Center (6 Metzada Road). This large concrete building seems to be the most significant symbol and center of controversy in Be’er Sheva’s Brutalist architecture. The structure combines commercial space, offices and housing, and the tour guide said it “was before its time.” The building was supposed to connect the Bet (B) and Dalet (D) neighborhoods, but only the first part was built, and after everyone was shocked by the result, it seems they could not continue. It is not a pretty building in the simple meaning of the word. Everyone seems to prefer to ignore it.
We did not try to ignore it, but we did so anyway. May you have better luck.
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Gimel (G) Neighborhood
Moving on to the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, where we find the prettiest and most well-cared-for examples of Brutalist architecture in Be’er Sheva.
The architecture style is prevalent before you set foot on campus. There are many concrete buildings in the surrounding Gimel (G) neighborhood.
Unlike college campuses in the United States, universities in Israel are closed to visitors who don’t have any business being there. In our experience, meeting someone at the Aroma cafe on campus is a justification more well-received than trying to explain you’re there to appreciate architecture.
The Humanities and Social Sciences building, designed by Amnon Niv, Rafael Reifer and Natan Magen, is one of the highlights of this entire tour in Be’er Sheva.
The exterior is very unique, but the interior is absolutely breathtaking. There are really no bad angles to photograph.
Directly across from the Humanities and Social Sciences building, is the picturesque Zalman Aranne University Library designed by Michael Nadler, Shmuel Bixon (from Be’er Sheva City Hall) and Yaakov Gal. This library is featured on the cover of the book, Be’er Sheva: Brutalist and Neo-Brutalist Architecture by Hadas Shadar. The roof detail resembles beautiful concrete clouds.
The Central Square and Auditorium were designed by Avraham Yaski, Amnon Niv and Yossi Sivan. The same trio designed the Sciences building.
We’re not sure if this next building is included in Mr. Gilad’s walking tour article from Haaretz, but it looks really cool:
The final stop in the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev leg of the tour is the Dormitory Gimel (G), designed Ram Karmi, Ada Karmi Melamede, Haim Ketzef and Ben Peleg. The student dormitories are not in the closed campus, but directly across the street, on the other side of the David Ben Gurion Blvd.
The Google reviews for Dormitory Gimel (G) are not exemplary, but at least the students get to experience living in a landmark.
Monument to the Negev Brigade
The final stop in the tour is not walking distance. If you have a car, the 50-year-old Negev Brigade Monument of Dani Karavan is located at the northwest corner of the city.
While the monument is not Brutalist in the full sense of the term, it is made of exposed concrete and includes simple forms and shapes. It is very cool looking at all times of day.
Although Google Maps falsely claims it is open 24 hours, it closes exactly at 6PM and the gate is closed and locked. If you’re visiting around that time, park downhill below the gate, so your car is not trapped. However, if you do find yourself in that situation, you can call the Be’er Sheva police station, who will unlock the gate and let you out. Or you can try off-roading around the gate.
This concludes the tour. We hope you have a fun and successful trip to the beautiful city of Be’er Sheva in southern Israel.
Bonus: Bank Hapoalim Tower and The Old City
The Bank Hapoalim Tower, located at HaAtsmaut St 40, stands in contrast to the stone buildings and stone tile façades in the Old City area of Be’er Sheva. The tower is near Abraham’s Well, which is a more traditional Biblical tourist destination in Israel.
Beside the tower is this overpass with a hole in the middle.
If you are walking to the Old City of Be’er Sheva from the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, you can stop by Hummus Said, at Keren ha-Yesod St 9, an expansion of one of the most famous and acclaimed humuserias in Israel (the main location is in Akko in northern Israel). You can avoid the long lines of the Akko Hummus Said at their Be’er Sheva branch.
