{"id":323321,"date":"2026-03-05T14:32:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T14:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/323321\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T14:32:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T14:32:12","slug":"historic-tel-aviv-bauhaus-building-damaged-by-iran-missile-explosion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/323321\/","title":{"rendered":"Historic Tel Aviv Bauhaus building damaged by Iran missile explosion"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Iranian rocket strike that killed Filipina caregiver Mary Anne Velasquez de Vera<\/a> and injured over two dozen others on Saturday night as it destroyed an entire apartment building also devastated the historic building next door, one of the architectural treasures of the White City in Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one can live there right now,\u201d said architect Alon Bin Nun, whose firm handled the apartment building\u2019s restoration more than a decade ago. \u201cAll the windows are broken; it\u2019s uninhabitable for the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bin Nun said someone sent him a message on Saturday night saying the rocket struck the block on which the building is located.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw it on TV and could immediately identify it,\u201d said Bin Nun.<\/p>\n

The downstairs cafe, Grasyani House, a beloved neighborhood bakery and coffee spot, was also destroyed in the blast.<\/p>\n

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The Home Front Command determined that a complete Iranian ballistic missile \u2014 not fragments \u2014 impacted next to the apartment building, causing extensive damage and a large crater. The missile carried a warhead of several hundred kilograms, the Home Front Command assessed.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tPeople look at a building damaged in a reported overnight Iranian strike in Tel Aviv on March 1, 2026. (Ilia YEFIMOVICH \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

The building was relatively old, without its own safe rooms. Most residents had evacuated to a nearby public bomb shelter, according to the Home Front Command.<\/p>\n

The historic building next door was a familiar landmark in the neighborhood, noted for the two external staircases with rounded walls and the busy ground-floor cafe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese houses were more than concrete and balconies,\u201d wrote Tel Aviv\u2019s Bauhaus Center on Instagram. \u201cThey were symbols of survival, modernity, and the rebuilding of life in Tel Aviv \u2013 the White City. Their clean lines and simple forms carried a powerful story: architecture as refuge, architecture as hope. We mourn the loss of this cultural heritage and stand committed to preserving the memory and values these buildings embodied.\u201d<\/p>\n

The historic building was initially\u00a0designated for preservation under what\u2019s known as the Lev Ha\u2019Ir, or City Center plan, associated with Tel Aviv\u2019s designation as the White City for its concentration of International Style (Bauhaus) buildings, which earned the city its 2003 designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tThe facade of 123 Yehuda Halevi Street and Grasyani Cafe in Tel Aviv, the historic Bauhaus building that was heavily affected by the Iranian strike on February 28, 2026 (Alon Bin Nun Architects)<\/p>\n

It was originally constructed for Fruma Gourevitz, whose descendants still own much of the building, said Bin Nun.<\/p>\n

The first three floors of the building are family-owned, and some of the Gourevitz\u2019s heirs still live there, said Bin Nun, even after the renovation and restoration.<\/p>\n

The building at 123 Yehuda Halevi was initially designed and constructed between 1935 and 1937 in Bauhaus, the architectural style brought to pre-state Israel by German Jewish architects.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tThe iconic exterior staircase at 123 Yehuda Halevi Street in Tel Aviv, the historic Bauhaus building that was heavily affected by the Iranian strike on February 28, 2026 (Grasyani House)<\/p>\n

It was designed by Technion-trained architects Mordechai Zabrudsky and Yitzhak Belkes (who later changed his family name to Bonneh, \u201cbuilder\u201d in Hebrew), who partnered together after immigrating to pre-state Israel, from Ukraine and Poland, respectively.<\/p>\n

The two operated their firm for about six years, during a period of increased demand for residential buildings in Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n

The Gourevitz building is located near the intersection of Yehuda Halevi and Shenkin Streets, across from a city park and part of the original streets of Ahuzat Bayit, the initial core of Tel Aviv that eventually expanded.<\/p>\n

Bin Nun noted that the apartments didn\u2019t have safe rooms, even after the recent restoration.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can be added\u00a0at the expense of the existing apartments\u2019 space, but that would require making changes to the current units,\u201d said Bin Nun. \u201cIn this case, the owners of the existing apartments did not agree.\u201d<\/p>\n


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