Page 200 - big friday
P. 200
It was Karl Schwarz who molded the building's current architectural identity. He
wanted to create a space suitable for a museum on the first floor, and so the floor of the
hall at the entrance was lowered, which had the effect of raising the ceiling and expanding
the available space. To this day, visitors to the hall descend a wide staircase.
D uring the '30s, the international style of building swept through Tel Aviv and other
towns in Palestine. In 1934, Karl Rubin, one of the most prominent of the modern architects
and a former student of Erich Mendelsohn in Berlin, started implementing a remolding
of the building's façade and of its inner spaces, based on the new style of "cube houses".
At around the same time, the lighting in the building was also adapted to the needs of
the museum. Another wing on the first floor was designated for concerts and lectures.
A further extension – albeit not a significant one in terms of the new architecture of the
building – involved more galleries that Karl Rubin built for the museum, and a library.
The new museum was opened to the public in February, 1936. Dizengoff died in September
of that year.
"The son of my old age, the child of my delight –
the Tel Aviv Museum"
L ess than two years before he died, Dizengoff wrote out his will on three sheets of
paper. It was dated, "The eve of Tuesday, January 1, 1935."
In his will, Dizengoff left most of his property – "my building and plot at 16 Rothschild
Boulevard… and all the furniture and other objects in my apartment on the third floor…"
– to the Tel Aviv Museum Company.
He also planned out the future operation of the museum, in all its detail. He stipulated
the various office-bearers who would serve on the museum's executive committee; asked
that his apartment on the third floor of the building be used for meetings of the executive
committee and for gatherings of the Artists' Association; and sketched the outline of a
plan for sources of revenue for the museum. He dedicated his assets in commercial bodies,
and funds that they held, to a foundation for the museum's growth, to be called "The Meir
and Tzina Dizengoff Foundation".
D izengoff also appointed trustees for his estate (Moshe Duchan, Yisrael Rokah,
Shoshana Persitz, the artist Hermann Struck, Arieh Shenkar, and Yehiel Rabinowitz) and
asked in his will that they meet every year on his birthday on the festival of Shushan
Purim, to discuss "all that has been done with the estate and the museum during the year,
to discuss the museum's activities, to upgrade and repair whatever needs fixing… and to
publish an accounting in the Hebrew press in Palestine."
In the most moving section of his will, Dizengoff writes: "My last request is addressed
to the residents of Tel Aviv: I have devoted a large part of my life to this city. Now, as I take
leave of you, I hand over to your supervision the son of my old age, the child of my delight,
the Tel Aviv Museum. Take care of it for it will bring blessing; this institution is destined
to bring glory and honor to our city…".
198 The Friday That Changed Destiny
wanted to create a space suitable for a museum on the first floor, and so the floor of the
hall at the entrance was lowered, which had the effect of raising the ceiling and expanding
the available space. To this day, visitors to the hall descend a wide staircase.
D uring the '30s, the international style of building swept through Tel Aviv and other
towns in Palestine. In 1934, Karl Rubin, one of the most prominent of the modern architects
and a former student of Erich Mendelsohn in Berlin, started implementing a remolding
of the building's façade and of its inner spaces, based on the new style of "cube houses".
At around the same time, the lighting in the building was also adapted to the needs of
the museum. Another wing on the first floor was designated for concerts and lectures.
A further extension – albeit not a significant one in terms of the new architecture of the
building – involved more galleries that Karl Rubin built for the museum, and a library.
The new museum was opened to the public in February, 1936. Dizengoff died in September
of that year.
"The son of my old age, the child of my delight –
the Tel Aviv Museum"
L ess than two years before he died, Dizengoff wrote out his will on three sheets of
paper. It was dated, "The eve of Tuesday, January 1, 1935."
In his will, Dizengoff left most of his property – "my building and plot at 16 Rothschild
Boulevard… and all the furniture and other objects in my apartment on the third floor…"
– to the Tel Aviv Museum Company.
He also planned out the future operation of the museum, in all its detail. He stipulated
the various office-bearers who would serve on the museum's executive committee; asked
that his apartment on the third floor of the building be used for meetings of the executive
committee and for gatherings of the Artists' Association; and sketched the outline of a
plan for sources of revenue for the museum. He dedicated his assets in commercial bodies,
and funds that they held, to a foundation for the museum's growth, to be called "The Meir
and Tzina Dizengoff Foundation".
D izengoff also appointed trustees for his estate (Moshe Duchan, Yisrael Rokah,
Shoshana Persitz, the artist Hermann Struck, Arieh Shenkar, and Yehiel Rabinowitz) and
asked in his will that they meet every year on his birthday on the festival of Shushan
Purim, to discuss "all that has been done with the estate and the museum during the year,
to discuss the museum's activities, to upgrade and repair whatever needs fixing… and to
publish an accounting in the Hebrew press in Palestine."
In the most moving section of his will, Dizengoff writes: "My last request is addressed
to the residents of Tel Aviv: I have devoted a large part of my life to this city. Now, as I take
leave of you, I hand over to your supervision the son of my old age, the child of my delight,
the Tel Aviv Museum. Take care of it for it will bring blessing; this institution is destined
to bring glory and honor to our city…".
198 The Friday That Changed Destiny
