BAUHAUS renovation: Max-Liebling House takes on the role of documentation centre
In Spring, supported in their task by the non-profit Sto Foundation, German trainee plasterers and painters joined forces with Israeli trade professionals and students to renovate the listed facade of the BAUHAUS-style Max-Liebling House in Tel Aviv. On 19 September 2019 the building will then be officially handed over to assume its new role as a German-Israeli documentation, exchange and competence centre.
Konrad Richter, Foundation Council Member for Trades at the Sto Foundation, was excited about the successful project: "The successful workshop at the Max-Liebling House in Tel Aviv has shown just what can be achieved through cross-border cooperation. Working together, learning from each other, and organising their spare time together – that is our contribution to an open-minded society."
But there is more: A team comprised of two aspiring lecturers and three students at the vocational college in Wuppertal are planning to revisit Tel Aviv in Spring of next year. In cooperation with three Israeli painters, the plan for the next stage envisages renovation of the internal walls, ceilings, doors and window frames in line with building preservation guidelines.
Young craftspeople renovate the old facade
The renovation of the facade was planned as a youth camp that brings together young German and Israeli craftspeople. It is part of the "Open for Renovation" cooperative initiative that is being coordinated by the Federal Buildings Office (ABB) in Mainz as representative of the German government and the White City office in Tel Aviv. The non-profit Sto Foundation financed and organised the German-Israeli facade renovation workshop. The project is also supported by the vocational school in Leonberg, the competence centre for plasterers in Rutesheim and students of the seven vocational colleges in Germany.
A deeply symbolic world cultural heritage site
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Germany and Israel, which was celebrated in 2015, both governments agreed to the complete renovation of the Max-Liebling House in accordance with regulations for listed buildings. Jeramie Hoffmann, the head of Tel Aviv's office for the preservation of monuments and the architect in charge, summarised the purpose of the project: "The renovation of the Max-Liebling House is a symbol for the entire White City and its Bauhaus architecture: It facilitates greater public awareness of the city's cultural heritage."
The project is significant both from a cultural-historic aspect as well as from a structural engineering and intercultural perspective: 100 years of Bauhaus. The now renovated Max-Liebling House is one of approximately 4,000 residential buildings in the "White City" built in Tel Aviv after 1933 by Jewish Bauhaus architects from Germany. The buildings are a typical example of the "International style” characterised by Bauhaus elements and are now part of the UNESCO world cultural heritage. Approximately 2,000 buildings are listed.
Information on Tel Aviv's White City: www.whitecitycenter.org.
