A Renovated Apartment on Feibel St., Tel Aviv

Minimalist art appeared during the 1960s particularly in sculpture. Where form was reduced to a minimum, it became nearly anonymous, and the abstract artistic message was conveyed mainly conceptually (Donald Judd, “Untitled”). When the trend trickled into architecture, it was expressed by simple geometrical forms which left the artistic message open to interpretation (Mis Van Der Rohe, “Less is More”).

A neo-conceptual-minimalist version of this trend is seen in a three bedroom apartment with an area of 75 sq. m. on the third floor of a typical Tel Aviv residential building from the sixties. At its center is a virtual hallway, formed on one side by mobile bookshelves used as a workstation, and on the other - by a light  partition with a television on an adjustable arm. With another bedroom television, which can be viewed from the bathroom, the two sets allow the apartment to be changed to suit the varied daily activities - resting, eating, bathing or working.

Seen from the third floor, the green view is framed by the windows, while the urban scenery is only hinted at by texts from Italo Calvino’s “Invisible Cities”, printed on the skylights. All furniture including the refrigerator, are embedded in the walls or the partitions. The result is a minimalist design which enables complex function in a slight limited space.

Architect: Amir Navon