New Tel Aviv High-Rise By Richard Meier Nears Completion

Pritzker Laureate Richard Meier’s iconic new residential tower in the heart of Tel Aviv is nearing completion. Located in Rothschild Boulevard, the city’s bustling high-end commercial, cultural and financial district, it is no surprise that over 70% of the 42-story luxury tower has already been sold.

More on the tower, and its potentially controversial context, after the break…

Meier’s 590 feet tower offers a new interpretation of the locally adapted International Style, rising as an iconic transparent tower of white aluminum and glass, reshaping the “White City’s” skyline. One of the tallest residential towers in Israel, the project contains 141 spacious apartments of various sizes and four 20-feet ceiling penthouses, featuring private elevators, swimming pools, gyms, and breathtaking 360 degrees views of the Mediterranean.

However, the new tower raises serious questions about the direction the “White City” is heading in. In 2011, Rothschild Boulevard became the informal home for thousands of middle-class Israelis, struggling with the rising cost of living in the former socialist state (in fact, due to a lack of rent-control laws, rent in Tel Aviv has surpassed that of many European capitals). The new Meier-On-Rothschild, built on the footsteps of this former tent-city, is not alone; as in many growing cities, luxury residential condos have sprung up all over Tel Aviv in the last few years, taking over the city’s low-rise skyline and putting in question the place of the city’s less privileged populations.