Pitsou Kedem Architects

House on the Sea

House on the Sea
© Amit Geron

HOUSE ON THE SEA

Pitsou Kedem Architects

DESIGN TEAM
Irene Goldberg, Tamar Berger, Pitsou Kedem

STYLING FOR PHOTOGRAPHY
Eti Buskila

ARCHITECT IN CHARGE
Tamar Berger

LIGHTING DESIGN
Orly Avron Alkabes

PHOTGRAPHS
Amit Geron

AREA
280.0 sqm

YEAR
2015

LOCATION
Shavei Tzion, Israel

CATEGORY
Houses

Text description provided by architect.

Light and horizon play together within the design of this home located on the mediterranean shore. 

House on the Sea
© Amit Geron
House on the Sea
© Amit Geron

The shining sun, a long wire thin line, and the blue of the sea serve as everlasting starting points that guide the architectural plan from a historic beginning to its current moment.

Within this edifice resonates a rich history of architectural creation.

House on the Sea
© Amit Geron
House on the Sea
© Amit Geron

The vernacular of its design is embedded with western, modern principles, but also those of the Romans, that of the mandate period, and that of Israel today.

In the 1930s and 1940s it was the international style that reigned supreme and tens of thousands of buildings were made in its image, most of them in Tel Aviv and the rest split between Jerusalem and Haifa.

The unique architectural style that eventually arose in Tel Aviv was a by product, among other things, of that imported by the students of German Bauhaus, which many Israeli architects had been schooled in.

House on the Sea
House on the Sea
© Amit Geron
House on the Sea
© Amit Geron

The style gained acceptance in Israel for its universality, cleanness of design, functionality, and rejection of symmetry which appealed to the nascent nation’s desire to forge a new society while still remaining a part of the world.

Three main factors influenced the adaptation of global architecture in Israel. The economic milieu popularized cheap materials such as silica bricks and white plaster exteriors that further emphasized the sun of the blue israeli sky.

The building upon empty, open land void of an urban context allowed for a new and iconic style of low rise buildings which stressed the horizontal.

House on the Sea
© Amit Geron
House on the Sea
© Amit Geron

The climate influenced the size of buildings’ openings and encouraged long exterior terraces enclosed by socalled “apron walls” which directed the flow of air.

The language of design created through the terraces and balconies of Israeli architecture became themselves an icon of identity sharpened and perfected through reiteration.

House on the Sea
© Amit Geron
House on the Sea
© Amit Geron

The balconies, horizontal handrails, and broad openings not only suited the desert climate but they provided a rich visual image without offending the style from which they were hewn.

Echoing within this home is the style of international architecture. Alongside the functional, modern character of its design one feels the builtin masses, the asymmetry, and the dismantling of space all of which project upon its urban environs.

House on the Sea
© Amit Geron
House on the Sea
© Amit Geron

The outer, linear envelope of the building evokes both the international style of the moment while subverting it to its own purpose; protecting the building from overheating under a desert sun.

Not only do the windows soak in a resplendent view but they provide the comfort of technological developments, which have emerged in the last few decades.

House on the Sea
© Amit Geron
House on the Sea
© Amit Geron

An example of this are the westernfacing windows and doors who are shaded by a permanent frame allowing for the uninterrupted pleasure of those who peer through them.

They act as a perfected detail of the exterior that innovatively frees the architect from the climatic restrictions.

House on the Sea
© Amit Geron
House on the Sea
© Amit Geron

In contrast to these frames, the southern windows are framed by thin, broad, metal lintel, creating an extra dimension from which to view the sea while simultaneously protecting the glass.

Then just as today the horizon which disappears into the expansive blue before us provides a sense of natural transformation.

The details of the facade’s windows capture this very transformation through their observation of the surroundings.

House on the Sea
© Amit Geron
House on the Sea
© Amit Geron

A life of comfort, organically promoted by the form of the building, resonates within the physical expression of its design.


House on the Sea
© Amit Geron
House on the Sea
© Amit Geron
House on the Sea
© Amit Geron
House on the Sea
© Amit Geron


House on the Sea
East Elevation
House on the Sea
West Elevation
House on the Sea
South Elevation
House on the Sea
North Elevation


House on the Sea
Section AA
House on the Sea
Section BB
House on the Sea
Section CC
House on the Sea
Section DD


House on the Sea
Ground Floor Plan
House on the Sea
First Floor Plan

Pitsou Kedem Architects
T +972 3 6204493 F +972 3 6292835
Pitsou Kedem Architects
Maze St 39, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel