Open House Tel Aviv, the urban festival of architecture, will be held for the eleventh consecutive year on May 18-20, 2017, showcasing to the public the architecture of Tel Aviv. The Open House Tel Aviv is part of the Open House World Wide Organization, which invites residents to get to know the most interesting houses and buildings that compose the landscape of their city. There are over 150 tours available to the general public. Some of them require registration on line through the website, and many of them require no reservation at all. All of them are free.
This year there will be the rare opportunity to explore among others Beit Ariela, the largest and oldest public library in Israel and to go behind the shelves and into the archives and explore the treasures of the library. In addition, the architect Ganit Mayslits Kassif will be talking about the renovations that are taking place at Beit Ariela, which is in the midst of a multiphase refurbishment process. The renovations are expected to produce a dramatic change in the building and transform it from a public library into a knowledge and learning center that includes work and meeting spaces open to the public. During the tour, Mayslits Kassif will talk about the planned changes in the building and their impact on the entire complex.
The architects Rami and Hila Lotan will lead a tour at Yad LeBanim on Pinchas Street, which now serves as a municipal cultural center. Designed by their grandfather, the building is scheduled to undergo renovation and expansion works that are expected to start soon. The renovation is part of a refurbishment process taking place at the community center that will enable it offer more activities.