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2018
אוגוסט
114 #
אדריכלות ישראלית
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החדר הירוק
93
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girl", I said, hoping for a continuation.
"Well that's it", laughed father, "I promised
Yossi I would personally watch out for
her", he winked his small eyes with
another burst of his irritating laugh. "So
keep your distance" he warned me with
sudden gravity.
I shifted uneasily in my wooden chair.
"Sure father" I said and got up to go. "We
need to discuss our trip to London", said
father. "Grandfather wants me to register
you at the AA. Let's meet at that little café
next to Habima and talk about our trip to
London".
"Fine", I said turning to the door, musing
about the strange relationship I had with
my father - more like friends than a father-
son relationship. On one hand I wanted
an authoritative father who would set a
personal example, and on the other hand,
I enjoyed this friendship with a father
who indulged me with money, clothes,
and would even lend me his prestigious
Pontiak when I asked.
I went downstairs to the large work
area and immediately approached the
secretary's counter. The beautiful girl
examined me with a serious expression.
"I hear you've come to work here during
the summer. It's very hot, isn't it? Would
you like to go to the beach with me after
work?" I said, surprised by my daring and
directness. "Yes, okay," she responded.
"Give me your address so I can pick you
up" I asked, feeling my heart miss a beat.
That evening I put on my green swimsuit
and a T-shirt with a picture of Jimmy
Hendrix and drove my father's Pontiac
Firebird to Beeri Street to pick up Naomi. I
hooted several times under the building. A
few minutes later she appeared, dressed
in a short skirt that exposed her gorgeous
long legs and a short green vest that
showed off her prominent breasts and her
tanned belly and arms.
"What an amazing car", said Naomi
admiringly, glancing at the impressive
Firebird. She got in and we went to
Sheraton Beach. Somewhere in the
background the David Bowie song,
Changes
, was playing and when we sat
down on the hot sand and Naomi took off
her clothes I saw to my surprise that her
swimsuit, which showed off her gorgeous
young body, was also green.
The sun went down and the sea and
the horizon were stained with red and
orange. I felt suffocated with excitement
rising in my throat. I was suddenly utterly
who had studied architecture at The
Bauhaus, adored proportion which, for
him, expressed stability and security.
The building itself was in bad shape, like
an abandoned ruin, yet simultaneously
showing the signs of a prestigious
architectural past. On both sides of the
building were abandoned structures that
at the time served prostitutes, occasionally
causing employees to lock themselves in
the toilet and watch prostitutes at work
from the window, instead of drawing,
I hesitated at the red office door. It was
always difficult for me to cross the
threshold and be absorbed into the work
atmosphere of the office, I perceived
it as a prison. I felt incarcerated by my
grandfather's ambitions and this made me
uncomfortable. Finally, when I gathered
up the courage, I opened the door and
found myself facing grandfather - a tall
man with a large belly and a big head with
a crest of white hair.
He conveyed authority and his eyes,
that were very blue, examined me with a
mixed expression of humor and severity.
"Well, and what kind of an hour is this to
come to work?" The old man arrived at
the office every morning at exactly seven
o'clock, and at seven-thirty he would eat
breakfast with the employees. The menu
was the same – bread with white cheese
and black olives, followed by tea or coffee.
"How are you, grandfather", I asked
smilingly. I loved the old man. "Excellent!
My dear grandson", grandfather smiled
back at me, "come inside with me."
Grandfather had a large room located on
the entrance level of the office. In the room
was a rather simple wooden table. On the
walls were art works among which were
photographs of buildings the office had
designed. Maquettes of buildings not yet
finished were scattered about and there
was a smell of wood and dust in the room.
"I'm registering you at AA. I have already
written to the Dean. You should know
that today the AA is the finest school of
architecture in the world". Again he smiled
at me, "I asked your father to register you
now; you'll go with him to London and he
will register you because the academic
year starts in two months time".
"You'll enjoy studying there. It's a very
good school with students from all over
the world", said grandfather, reading my
thoughts. "But use your time well before
you leave. You should be well prepared
for your studies and read books in
English, mainly about architecture. Here,
take this book to start with", handing me a
thick book about Hans Meyer, his favorite
architect.
Joy, grandfather's mythological secretary,
came into the room. Although she was far
from being a joy with that hairy wart next
to her nose, she was office mother and
ruled employees, grandfather and father
with a rod of iron. "Your father wants to
speak to you", she called to me, smiling
her scary smile.
I went into the large secretarial space and
gasped. There sat the most beautiful girl
I'd ever seen. She was a young girl, no
more than sixteen, picturesque, with a
perfect face - a small nose, red mouth, full
shapely lips and blue eyes. Short, black,
straight hair framed her wonderful face.
I noticed her long legs and large breasts
crammed into a tight pink vest. The girl
looked at me with a mixture of apathy and
an elusive, slightly cynical smile. "Your
eyes will pop out of your head if you aren't
careful", barked Joy. "Go upstairs to your
father; he wants to talk to you". I barely
heard her. My heart was beating so hard.
I felt weak. It was hard to take in such
unexpected beauty.
Confused, I wondered where that
loveliness had suddenly come from,
and what she was doing in the office,
I went up the creaking wooden stairs
that led from the entrance level - where
grandfather's office and the secretary's
counter were situated - to the gallery level
where maquettes of projects were built
- to father's office, located between the
entrance and the gallery levels.
A view of the sea that flooded the large
window filled the whole room. I stood in
the doorway, gazing at the impressive
view. Ships and sailing vessels moved
slowly through the blue water. On the
horizon rested white clouds and, nearer
by, I noticed cranes on hotel building
sites, strangely located on the waterfront.
Father was busy on the phone. "Let's go to
cafe Kassit.. Yes yes. I finish early today…
ha ha ha…" His reversed laugh burst out
and he gestured to me to sit down. "That
was Tumarkin" he finished laughing with a
flushed face.
"I was told you'd called me", I said.
"Yes", said father. "Do you know Yossi,
our project manager at Ichylov Hospital?
Well, Yossi has a daughter, Naomi, and he
asked me to find her a summer vacation
job in the office".
So that's the beauty sitting next to Joy, I
thought. "I've seen her, father. Avery lovely