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- Collection: Chester Smolski Photographs
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Tel Aviv: Dizengoff St. Retail
This photograph was taken at 99 Dizengoff St. in 1980. The film 99 Dizengoff had just been released the year before which perhaps prompted the taking of this photograph at this particular address. Also pictured are some of the retail clothing shops…
Tel Aviv: Dizengoff Street
This photograph shows the cafe culture and wide sidewalks that once lead people to compare Dizengoff Street to Champs-Elysees. Since the 1970s commercial activity on the street has declined, perhaps due to the construction of the Dizengoff Center, an…
Tel Aviv: Dizengoff Center
Named after the city’s first mayor, Meir Dizengoff, the Dizengoff Center was Israel’s first mall. The building was built by the architect Mordechai Ben-Horin starting in 1972. It has since been completed in 1983, but the first store opening was in…
Tel Aviv: Dizengoff Shopping Mall
Seen in this picture is the large number of people that have come to enjoy the many retail offerings of the Dizengoff Center. With its 420 stores, the center welcomes around 20,000 people on weekdays and an estimated 45,000 people on Fridays. The…
Tel Aviv: Residential Street
The International style dominates residential structures in Tel Aviv developed between the 1920s and 1960s. Patrick Geddes, at the request of Mayor Dizengoff, drafted a plan for the city that was adjusted for the comfort of the pedestrian. This…
Tel Aviv: International Style in Residential Architecture
The Geddes Plan, which drew influence from the garden city movement, is illustrated in this photograph of a residential street in Tel Aviv. Drafted in 1926 and put into effect in 1927, the plan favoured the city dweller, regulating everything from…
Tel Aviv: Atarim Plaza
Built by Ya’akov Rechter between the years of 1971 and 1975, Atarim Square was meant to be a recreation and leisure center. The square is nestled between the Tel Aviv Marina, seen clearly in this photo, and Gordon swimming pool. In the lower levels,…
Tel Aviv: Atarim Square
Since its completion in 1975, this multi level entertainment and tourism center has greatly degraded in popularity and recognition. This complex is an excellent example of Brutalist architecture. These types of buildings tend to be made out of…
Tel Aviv: Bus Stop on Allenby Street
Allenby Street is a main commercial street in Tel Aviv. It is also a main route on the city bus system. At night, Allenby Street is a destination for nightlife, while during the day it is a busy area for retail shopping. Alleby Street is known for…
Tel Aviv: Allenby Street
Allenby Street is a commercial street in Tel Aviv that is also a hub of nightlife known for clubs, pubs and restaurants. It has a reputation for hosting some of the cities undesirable areas, such as tourist attractions and adult clubs.
Tel Aviv: Carmel Market, Allenby Street
Located off Allenby Street, the Carmel Market is the largest bazaar market in the city. This photograph shows clothing for sale, but the market specializes mostly in food and home accessories.
Tel Aviv: Carmel Market
This photo was taken of Tel Aviv’s largest marketplace, Carmel Market. The market is a narrow alleyway that houses many vendors offering a huge variety of goods. Coming from the side towards Allenby Street, there are many clothing vendors followed on…
Tel Aviv: Carmel Market Butcher
Seen in this photograph is one of Carmel Market’s many street vendors. This one in particular seems to be advertising an abundance fresh poultry for sale. According to the Tel Aviv Guide online, there are two amazing butchers in the market that offer…
Tel Aviv: Carmel Market “Shuk Ha’Carmel”
Known in Israel as “Shuk Ha’Carmel”, the Carmel Market is Tel Aviv’s largest and busiest city market. Boardered by Allenby Street and Magen David Square, the market rests mainly on Carmel Street and houses a wide variety of vendors from clothing to…
Tel Aviv: Urban Greenery, Residential Neighborhood
This photograph of a residential street in Tel Aviv shows traces of Scottish planner Patrick Geddes plan in the narrow street and the patches of greenery. The Geddes Plan, drafted in 1926, attempted to design Tel Aviv in the style of garden cities, a…
Jaffa: Hassan Bek Mosque
This Ottoman style mosque was built in 1916 by Hasan Bek, the governor of Jaffa at the time. Ottoman style of architechture flourished from the 1550s to about 1700. Certain elements typical of the style include its use of ornamental patterns of…
Tel Aviv: City Hall & Rabin Square
Along the left side of this image amongst the crowds, a side view of Tel Aviv’s Ciry Hall can be seen. Comprised of a total of 14 floors, this concrete building stands 52 meters tall. The surrounding area around the building is known as Rabin Square.…
Tel Aviv: City Hall
This image portrays another side shot of the City Hall in Tel Aviv, Israel. Since its completion in 1966, the building has undergone several renovations. Starting in 2004, the asbestos-cement grid on the south side has been completely taken down.…
Tel Aviv: City Hall & Rabin Square Fountain
The City Hall of Tel Aviv is pictured as the right most building in this image. The large collection of water seen is Rabin Square’s Fountain. Every summer, the city of Tel Aviv hosts a water fight in which people either run around the square with…
Tel Aviv: Machei Israel Square, Modernist Housing
Following Israel’s independence concrete tenement houses were quickly constructed to accommodate large numbers of refugee’s living in ma’abarot, refugee tent camps. This 1980 photograph of Machei Israel Square also shows some of these modernist…
Tel Aviv: Machei Israel Square, City Hall
Proposed by city engineer Yaacov Ben Sera in 1945, Machei Israel Square was transformed over two decades from a place of recreation to the civic heart of modern Tel Aviv. This photograph show’s the plaza and Menahem Cohen’s city hall. The city hall…
Tel Aviv: City Hall, Machei Israel Square (now Rabin Square)
As early as 1945 Yaacov Ben Sera, city engineer, was suggesting a transformation of Machei Israel Square into the civic heart of Tel Aviv. This 1980 photograph shows the City Hall and the Yigal Tumakrin’s 1975 memorial to the Holocaust, located in…
Tel Aviv: Beach
Renowned as a city that never sleeps, Tel Aviv is a popular tourist attraction largely due to it's beaches. Considered to be some of the best beaches in the world, they play a major role in the city’s tourism industry and economy.
Tel Aviv: Chanky Beach
This section of beach in Tel Aviv, sometimes called Chanky Beach, is part of Tel Aviv’s coastline that draws in large numbers of tourists each year. The proximity to the Mediterranean Ocean brings the city approximately 2.7 million visitors annually.
Tel Aviv: Construction at Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University was formed by the merger of three institutions in 1956 eventually becoming Tel Aviv University in 1963. It is the largest academic institution in Israel. This 1980 photograph shows the early phases of constructing of the…
Tel Aviv: Beit Hatfutsot, Soldiers
Beit Hatfutsot the Museum of the Jewish Diaspora was opened in 1978. The design for the museum was decided by a competition in which renowned architect Miles van Rohe was the head of a panel of judges. The museum is located on the campus of Tel-Aviv…
Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv Marina
The Tel Aviv Beach was developed into a resort after it’s economic potential was realized by Mayor Dizengoff in the 1930s. Originally the development was to follow the Gruenblatt plan, which followed the Geddes plan for the city, but planned to…
Tel Aviv: Beit Hatfutsot
This 1980 photograph shows Beit Hatfutsot just two years after it was opened. It is the Museum of the Jewish People on the campus of Tel-Aviv University. The idea was proposed by Nahum Goldman, who wanted to create a monument to the Jewish Diaspora.…
Tel Aviv: Fence for Security around Tel Aviv University
This photograph shows security fencing surrounding Tel Aviv University campus. Tel Aviv University is the largest academic institution in Israel, and was founded after the merger of three colleges in 1956.
Tel Aviv University: Dormitories
Tel Aviv University was established in 1956 after the merger of the Tel Aviv School of Law and Economics, an Institute of Natural Sciences, and an Institute of Jewish studies. It’s campus was established in 1963 after theuniversity was granted…
Tel Aviv: University, Diaspora Museum
Beit Hatfutsot, the Museum of the Jewish Diaspora was designed by Eliahu Gwircmann and Itzhak Yashar after winning an international competition judged by a panel headed by Miles van der Rohe. Opened in 1978, the museum, located on Tel Aviv…
Tel Aviv University: Sourasky Central Library
Completed in 1968, the Sourasky Central Library at Tel Aviv University was named for Elias Sourasky. The library was designed by architect team Michael and Shulamit Nadler, who had also designed several other iconic modernist buildings in Israel.…
Bat Yam: Town Hall
The Bat Yam town hall, or municipality building, is an avant garde gem of 1960s modernist architecture. Located in the town of Bat Yam, just south of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, this building has seen considerable decay until recently when it was re-recognized…
Tel Aviv University: Entrance
This photograph shows the entrance to Tel Aviv University’s Ramat Aviv campus. Tel Aviv University was established in 1956 after the merger of the Tel Aviv School of Law and Economics, the Institute of Natural Sciences, and the Institute of Jewish…
Jaffa: St. Peter’s Church
St. Peter’s church was built over a medieval citadel in the seventeenth century, but has been destroyed twice since. The present structure was completed in 1894. It is a historically notable structure. Built on a hill, the building is visible from…
Rehovot: Weizmann House
Pictured is a side view of the famous Weizmann House in Rehovot, Israel. It was built for the first president of Israel, Chaim Weizmann and his wife and has since been the official home of the country’s presidents. The house was designed with the…
Rehovot: Main Gate at the Weizmann Institute of Science
This photograph shows the main gate at the Weizmann Institute of Science. The university was established in 1935 by Dr. Chaim Weizmann as the Daniel Sieff Research institute. On Dr. Weizmann’s 75th birthday in 1949, the university was renamed his…
Rehovot: Chaim and Vera Weizmann Grave
After Israel was recognized as a country by the US, Chaim Weizmann was chosen to serve as the country’s first President. He was elected in February of 1949 and served as Israel’s President until his death in 1952. It was in April of 1949 that he…
Rehovot: Weizmann House
Designed by Erich Mendelsohn, the Weizmann house was built in 1936 as a private home for Dr. Chaim Weizmann and his wife Dr. Vera Weizmann. Both being scientists, they chose to build their home next to the Daniel Sieff Research Institute, which is…
Rehovot: Koffler Accelerator at the Weizmann Institute of Science
The Koffler Accelerator, completed in 1976, was built to study atomic particles. The design by Moshe Harel joins two towers, one which houses the particle accelerator, and the other which has a winding staircase (shown) and the building cables,…
Rehovot: Memorial to the Holocaust at the Weizmann Institute of Science
The Memorial to the Holocaust at the Wizmann Institute of Science was designed by Israeli sculptor Dani Karavan. The site is a plaza with a split torah sculpted in the center. The torah sculpture is insrcibed with numbers, perhaps alluding to the…
Rehovot: Memorial to the Holocaust Plaza at the Weizmann Institute of Science
The Memorial to the Holocaust Plaza was designed by Israeli sculptor Dani Karavan and completed in 1972. It is a memorial plaza at the the Weizmann Institute of Science, the center piece of which is a bronze and stone sculpture representing a torah…
Rehovot: Memorial to the Holocaust at the Weizmann Institute of Science
This photograph shows Dani Karavan’s 1972 Memorial to the Holocaust. The sculpture, which is a large torah scroll split and inscribed with numbers, is installed at the Weizmann Institute of Science. It is the center piece of a plaza on campus.
Rehovot: Memorial to the Holocaust Plaza at the Weizmann Institute of Science
The Memorial to the Holocaust Plaza was designed by Israeli sculptor Dani Karavan and completed in 1972. It is a memorial plaza at the the Weizmann Institute of Science, the center piece of which is a bronze and stone sculpture representing a torah…
Jerusalem: al’Aqsa Mosque, View from the Dome of the Rock
Al’Aqsa Mosque translates to, “the furthest mosque.” First built in 702, and rebuilt again in 780, this mosque in Jerusalem reused parts from a Justinian period church. Since it’s being rebuilt in 780, it has undergone many alterations. This…
Jerusalem: Dome of the Rock
The Dome of the Rock, built over the Foundation Stone, is the oldest remaining Muslim monument. It has been meticulously maintained over the last 1400 years. The dome, spanning almost 20 m, had to be refitted with new ribs to support it after the…
Jerusalem: Dome of the Rock
The building is the earliest remaining Islamic monument. It is constructed on an artificial platform, has a 20 m dome, and richly decorated with mosaic. The shape of the building is octagonal. It was built by the Umayyad dynasty, in part to complete…
Jerusalem: Dome of the Rock
The exterior of the Dome of the Rock, adorned with both marble and mosaic, was covered during the Ottoman Empire in, “magnificent Turkish tiles” (Ettinghausen, 16). In this photograph, which shows the Temple Mount, on which the building is located,…
Jerusalem: Tourists at the Dome of the Rock
The Dome of the Rock, the oldest surviving Muslim monument, is built around the foundation stone. The need to build around the holy rock influenced it’s unusual floor plan. The Dome of the Rock’s form is that of an octagon, with four salient…
Jerusalem: al’Aqsa Mosque
Al’Aqsa, which translates to ‘the furthest’, is one of the oldest mosques on earth. It is located next to the Dome of the Rock, and was first completed in 702. It was rebuilt completely in 780, and alterations have continued over the last…