Spartan Beauty, Tel Aviv

Currently located on Lillenbloom Street in south Tel Aviv, this stone structure was one of the firsts in Tel Aviv, built in 1909 by Mordechai Ben Gillel Hacohen, who was a dealer of timber and olive oil in Russia.

The architect Ori Goor came across the building when searching for flats for his newest project. He was confronted with five studio flats and decided he would convert them into one large space, using an ecological and minimalistic concept. He wanted to keep everything in its natural state, adding very few synthetic materials.

In the past, Ori Goor has focused on treating and polishing every detail of the interior space to achieve a “magazine look”, but after experimenting with stripping and exposing natural states in his previous apartment, he gained more confidence to go with this style for the new project.

The process involved removing walls, floors, ceilings, kitchens, bathrooms, as well as multiple layers of wall coverings until the original natural stone was exposed again. The windows are timber windows, imbedded into the old iron system, in a sense the new resembles the old.

As you can see in the photos, this minimalist concept was even applied to the amount of furniture added within the space. The space has been left open and airy to really appreciate the nature of the building.

“It’s about real minimalism. It is not defined by its appearance but only by its consumerist qualities.”