2 - Hebrew Space and Architecture

Summary

The Zionist revolution had a spatial and architectural dimension. Although the land Zionists bought in Palestine had been settled for centuries, they considered it virgin soil and wanted to reshape it in the spirit of Jewish nationalism. To take possession of this land, they spread small villages over it and introduced industrial farming. Most of the villages were agricultural cooperatives called kibbutz in Hebrew. Kibbutz cooperatives were developed to cope with the lack of infrastructure, means of production, lack of agricultural expertise and experience and expressed the national and socialist aspects of the Zionist movement. Land that could not be cultivated was covered by trees, small woods of pines and cypresses. Cities were less important for Zionists, with one exception, Tel Aviv, a low-density, green city that was inspired by anti-urban ideas imported from Europe.