White City - the world's largest collection of buildings in the style of the Bauhaus school, located in the center of Tel Aviv. A huge complex, with more than four thousand buildings, part of a UNESCO recognized World Cultural Heritage.

Bauhaus art school born of the same name that appeared in Germany in 1919. The composition of its creative core artists adhered innovative approaches. Having broken the centuries-old tradition, they abandoned the classical architectural orders and proclaimed a functional architecture based on mass production techniques. Bauhaus-style building at first seemed intolerable "naked", but soon the company to evaluate their clear outlines. The school made a breakthrough in the design of furniture, appliances, dishes - many of its development and now look completely modern.

The school has worked powerful international team: the Germans, the Americans, Hungarians, Jews, Russian. Wall painting, in particular, taught Wassily Kandinsky. Gaining strength Nazis considered the school a hotbed of communism that promote "degenerate art". In 1933, after coming to power, they immediately closed the Bauhaus.

Fleeing persecution, school teachers have emigrated to many different countries - from the US to the USSR. Many architects such as Arieh Sharon and Shlomo Bernstein, went to Palestine, which at that time was developing rapidly and Tel Aviv. Here they have adapted a new architectural language to the sultry climate of Palestine: use a flat roof, sun projections, wide balconies, narrow windows. The walls were made mostly white, reflecting the sun's rays - hence the title of this part of the city. Districts of Tel Aviv, built-up in the style of the Bauhaus, lie south of the Yarkon River and look at the Mediterranean Sea.

The very first building in this style, built in Tel Aviv in 1933 by architect Ze'ev Rechter, was built on pillars: so it is better cooled by sea breezes, and the children there protected from the sun's playground. The center of the White City - Rothschild Boulevard, one of the first streets of Tel Aviv, has become a public space. Citizens like to walk there - the evening when the heat subsides, the visitors heard the hubbub of dozens of outdoor cafes, trendy galleries open doors.

Tel Aviv appreciate so unusual for the Middle East architectural heritage. At Dizengoff Street, named after the first mayor of the city, is the Bauhaus center with a library and a gallery where exhibitions devoted to the architecture of Tel Aviv. Here are organized walking tours of the White City. Outdoor Bialik is also a small museum of the Bauhaus Foundation - it occupies the room of the first floor of the building, which was built in 1934. Everything is here, from furniture to fixtures and glazed pottery, made in the style of Bauhaus. Even the door handles in a small museum designed by Walter Gropius, founder of the legendary school that has experienced severe persecution of the Nazis.